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In 2007, Crime was 'Fashionable'

Think of all of the great designers whose work has appeared in the top women's fashion magazines: from Oleg Cassini to Donna Karan to Halston to Tommy Hilfiger to Giorgio Armani. Think of all the models who became "super" by wearing them: from Lauren Hutton to Twiggy to Cindy Crawford to Elle Macpherson to Iman. Some, notably Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, have been deviant, but at least modeling is their profession.

Now think of Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and Lindsay Lohan. Three women arrested for driving under the influence (add cocaine possession to Lohan's rap sheet) and sentenced to imprisonment in 2007. And think of Britney Spears, who may have received no more than a parking ticket through this summer but had a knack for continuous stupidity best exemplified by her trying to smash estranged husband Kevin Federline's car with a baseball bat.

Fine fodder for the gossip-loving People/Us Weekly/In Touch/Life & Style Weekly and O.K.! But Paris and Nicole on the June cover of Harper’s Bazaar? Britney in the October 2005 Elle? Lindsay in the May 2007 Allure? All were beauty and fashion versions of Damn Yankees: selling your soul to make an extra newsstand buck.

What we have heard from editors--in different variations--is that in 2007, celebrity and fashion intertwine, which is why Hollywood took over the covers about a decade ago. Yes, Paris, Nicole, Lindsay, and Britney look gorgeous "dressed up." But Glenda Bailey (Harper's Bazaar), Robbie Myers (Elle), Linda Wells (Allure), and their colleagues should heed the advice of Men's Health editor-in-chief David Zinczenko, who has written that being “mentally fit” is as important as physical appearance. More than just clothes make the woman.

Think, too, if this were the men's side and editors Jim Nelson or Stephen Perrine decided to put a dapper Michael Vick on the cover of GQ or Best Life in the aftermath of the suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback pleading guilty of cruelty to animals. Nelson and Perrine would be run out of town, yet if Lindsay or Britney stooped that low, the impression from such celebrity sites as tmz.com is that the public would clamor for more.

I say no more. So, in her way, does Seventeen editor-in-chief Ann Shoket, who increased first-half-2007 newsstand sales 8.5% by, per Newsweek (August 20), "putting girls on the cover who live life to the best potential." No Lindsay or Britney exposure for Shoket, who says: Girls are very smart. If they are giving attention and respect to a celebrity who’s not repaying them with the same respect, it's not fair.

Maybe they are listening. Myers told Women's Wear Daily (August 29) that she postponed a completed interview of Owen Wilson for the December Elle after the actor’s attempted suicide.

That's good taste. We need more of this.

Women's fashion magazines have a history of quality in the U.S. and the world that is arguably unequaled in the business.
Vogue has been the great est influence on runways since Condé Nast himself launched it in 1892.
Harper’s Bazaar was the first to define American women's fashion, as it launched in 1867—just two years after the Civil War.
Elle gave a morale lift to war-torn France when it launched in 1946, and its 1983 entry into the U.S. heightened our interest in European style.
W was an upscale, tabloid- sized high-fashion trade magazine when it launched in 1972. It went “consumer” in 1994 with the same lofty reputation and tradition.

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