Vogue France

Vogue France (stylised in all caps) is the French edition of Vogue magazine, formerly called Vogue Paris from its inception until 2021. The magazine started publication in 1920 and has since been regarded as one of the top fashion publications.

The French edition of Vogue was first issued on 15 June 1920, the first editor-in-chief being Cosette de Brunhoff (1886–1964). Her brother, Michel de Brunhoff [fr] (1892–1958) took over and was editor-in-chief from 1929 until 1954. Duchess Solange d'Ayen (1898–1976) was a fashion editor of Vogue from the late 1920s until the early 1940s.

Publication of French Vogue was put on hold in 1940 after its permission to publish was not granted by the occupying Nazi authorities. The assets of the magazine and French Condé Nast's other fashion publication Le Jardin des Modes were liquidated and both publications were placed under the protection of the Tribunal de Commerce. During the publication pause Brunhoff created l'Album de la Mode du Figaro based in Monte Carlo to fill the market gap left from the closure of Vogue. Regular contributors to Vogue including Germaine Beaumont, Paul Valéry, Georges Duhamel, and illustrators Bernard Blossac, Pierre Mourgue, and Pierre Pagès all contributed to the publication. Vogue Paris restarted publication with a special 'Liberation' issue in early 1945.

Edmonde Charles-Roux (1920–2016), who had previously worked at Elle and France-Soir, became the magazine's editor-in-chief in 1954. Charles-Roux was a great supporter of Christian Dior's "New Look", of which she later said, "It signalled that we could laugh again - that we could be provocative again, and wear things that would grab people's attention in the street." In August 1956, the magazine issued a special ready-to-wear (prêt-à-porter) issue, signaling a shift in fashion's focus from couture production.

She was dismissed from Vogue in 1966, as the result of a conflict for wanting to place black model Donyale Luna on the cover of the magazine. When later asked about her departure, Charles-Roux refused to confirm or deny this account. A black model on the cover of French Vogue did not come until 1988 when Naomi Campbell was featured on the cover.

Francine Crescent (1933–2008), whose editorship would later be described as prescient, daring, and courageous, took the helm of French Vogue in 1968. Under her leadership, the magazine became the global leader in fashion photography. Crescent gave Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin, the magazine's two most influential photographers, complete creative control over their work. During the 1970s, Bourdin and Newton competed to push the envelope of erotic and decadent photography; the "prone and open-mouthed girls of Bourdin" were pitted against the "dark, stiletto-heeled, S&M sirens of Newton". At times, Bourdin's work was so scandalous that Crescent "laid her job on the line" to preserve his artistic independence. The two photographers greatly influenced the late-20th-century image of womanhood and were among the first to realize the importance of image, as opposed to product, in stimulating consumption. Through the power photography within fashion both Bourdin and Newton were able to create new avenues within the world of fashion as well as advance the image of Vogue.

By the late 1980s, however, Newton and Bourdin's star power had faded, and the magazine was "stuck in a rut". Colombe Pringle replaced Crescent as the magazine's editor-in-chief in 1987. Under Pringle's watch, the magazine recruited new photographers such as Peter Lindbergh (1944–2019) and Steven Meisel, who developed their signature styles in the magazine's pages. Even still, the magazine struggled, remaining dull and heavily reliant on foreign stories. When Pringle left the magazine in 1994, word spread that her resignation had been forced.

Joan Juliet Buck, an American, was named Pringle's successor effective 1 June 1994. Her selection was described by The New York Times as an indication that Conde Nast intended to "modernize the magazine and expand its scope" from its circulation of 80,000. Buck's first two years as editor-in-chief were extremely controversial; many employees resigned or were fired, including the magazine's publishing director and most of its top editors. Though rumors circulated in 1996 that the magazine was on the verge of a shutdown, Buck persevered; during her editorship, the magazine's circulation ultimately increased 40 percent. Buck remade the magazine in her own cerebral image, tripling the amount of text in the magazine and devoting special issues to art, music, literature, and science. Juliet Buck announced her decision to leave the magazine in December 2000, after her return from a two-month leave of absence. The Sydney Morning Herald later compared her departure, which took place during Milan's fashion week, to the firing of a football coach during a championship game. Carine Roitfeld, who had been the magazine's creative director, was named as Buck's successor the next April.