Vogue Editors and ICON days...

Last night, I finally got to watch the HBO documentary In Vogue: The Editor's Eye.

I've been looking for the documentary for the longest time because I really am curious to watch it. The documentary features several generations of Vogue fashion stylists - from Babs Simpson to Phyllis Posnick, Tonne Goodman and of course, Grace Coddington.

For about an hour, I was in cloud nine as I watched the legends talk about their work and do their work. To some people, or maybe to a lot of people, the world of fashion is seen as one that is shallow and frivolous. To some extent, it probably is. However, upon closer inspection and if one really takes time to know the history, the people, then one can probably see that there is so much more to it than beautiful clothes and beautiful people.

I have always been a fan of US Vogue. My earliest recollection of reading Vogue was when I was just out of primary school. I was probably a freshman in secondary school. I was at my cousin's house for a family gathering. I saw a copy of the revered magazine in one of the racks beside the couch.

However, it would be much later when I would really fall in love with the world of fashion magazines and fashion itself. The September 2004 cover of US Vogue did it for me. It was a gatefold cover featuring the second generation of supermodels - Natalia, Gisele, Daria, to name a few. I loved the cover and I loved the pages that featured them. Since then, I made it a point to buy the September issue.

In the same year, a few friends and I embarked on an ambitious project. All of us were familiar with the LGBT magazines Out and Instinct, to name a few. We asked ourselves why there was no similar magazine available to the Filipino LGBT community. That started our journey of putting up ICON magazine.

We were a bunch of dreamers, but we were all driven to make it happen. We were also fortunate because each one had something to bring to the table and it helped make the dream a reality. One was working for a celebrity photographer. A bunch of us had freelance writing experience and have been published in newspapers or magazines. A few others are either in the advertising or broadcasting industry. We had everything that we needed. So, Richie became the Editor-in-Chief, Suki became the Managing Editor, I-van was Creative Director, I was Associate Editor.

For two years (or was it three?), we produced close to 10 issues of the magazine. I remember the time that the first issue became available. A few of us gathered at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Greenbelt 3 to get our hands on the first printed copies of the magazine.

For the first few issues, I was writing and editing articles. Later on, I became so interested in the photo shoots that I was lucky enough to have been able to style two fashion shoots. It was tiring, but it was definitely fun. We would borrow clothes and shoes and bags from different stores. I remember for one shoot, we borrowed jewellery from Tiffany & Co. The pieces we borrowed arrived on the set… with bodyguards. Hehe! I remember that time when we almost got into trouble with Borgy Manotoc's mom because we had him on the cover in skimpy swimwear. I remember the very hilarious interview with Melanie Marquez. It was also through the shoots that I met very inspiring LGBT individuals. These people have certainly influenced me and have been an inspiration to do something for the LGBT community.

ICON was such a wonderful experience. Though it's no longer around, I am grateful to have experienced it.

The short time we spent doing ICON is probably why I really am fascinated with the world of fashion magazines. ICON is far from US Vogue, but in a way there are similarities in the experiences since it both has something to do with the publishing world.

Writing this led me to dig up some old photos of ICON days. Haha! How's this as an early throwback Thursday post?!