Vanity Fair, 100 Years

This month marks Vanity Fair's 100 years of its globally recognized, top notch, chic, informative, and prolific print. With Kate Upton (Tower Heist, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit) donning the cover page of this issue as Annie Leibovitz's 20s, vintage, pin-up femme fatale, she makes her mark in history: being included into the creme de la creme of Tinseltown's finest.

* She is currently filiming The Other Woman alongside Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Don Johnson.

But enough about her.

Let's talk Vanity.


This first issue was published in 1983. Since then it has also been printed in American and European versions. Conde Nast is a a division of Advance Publications which produces Vanity Fair along with best-selling magazines GQ, Vogue, The New Yorker, among others. It's headquarters are in New York City and Robert A. Sauerberg is the President of this publication powerhouse. Editor-in-Chief of Vanity Fair is Graydon Carter.

After almost five decades after the original 1936 edition was shuttered, VF was revived by Conde Nast chairman, Samuel I. Newhouse, who brought the magazine back to life in 1983. 

This was the cover page.

Vanity Fair is best known for its exclusive content of popular culture, high fashion and current affairs. Its cover pages have housed some of the best known socialites of the 21st century. From Audrey Hepburn to Marilyn Monroe to Jude Law to President Bobby Kennedy and President Barack Obama, Vanity Fair is heralded for its timelessly classic portrayals of world leaders and popular figures.

Its writers cover a myriad of topics and are bold enough to push the boundaries of conversational pieces. This magazine is not for the hoity toity, bourgeoisie class despite its affinity with Silicon Valley, political and celebrity socialites. Instead, this magazine delivers its stories which bare all, and in so doing, invite all who are curious enough to find out. They disclose details many have not yet heard. They print interviews that are scrutinized by critics. They, in an artful manner, divulge secrets.

Vanity Fair is notoriously controversial. An April 1999 cover featured an image of Mike Myers dressed as a Hindu deity which warranted apologies from both photographer, David LaChapelle, and magazine. In 2008, a bare-backed 15-year-old Miley Cyrus posed for a Vanity Fair photo shoot, taken by rule-breaker Annie Leibovitz. This shoot received an immense amount of press and was touted as lacking class and discretion.

Leibovitz, a master, in my opinion, remains a VF favourite.

Pick up the October 2013 edition today!