Fashion

15 Iconic Vogue Pics Recreated With Target Clothes

by Renata Certo-Ware

The Beyoncé-fronted September issue of Vogue is hitting stands later this month. Aside from the usual abundance of earmark-able editorials, beautiful ads (yes, I actually love all the ads), and devourable articles, readers will also find a twenty-page spread of iconic Vogue images recreated using Target clothing, shoes, and accessories exclusively in place of the high-fashion pieces originally featured. The images will feature equally iconic models like models like Candice Huffine, Edie Campbell, and Karen Elson. Supermodel Veruschka will also be back in action, recreating an image that she also originally modeled in which she rocks a huge, 360-degree braid.

Target got super creative in incorporating its home goods, apparel, and even groceries into the reimagined photographs. Couture dresses are made from carpets and drapes. An over-sized pearl necklace, inspired by a January 1929 issue of Vogue, is recreated with volleyballs. The peacock from the April 1918 cover is sculpted with a feather duster as the plume and a snail-shaped brass placeholder as the eye.

The issue hits stands on Aug. 25, but you'll be able to snag a copy on Aug. 14 at Target, which has exclusive early access.

And, in true "then-versus-now" fashion, technology will play a big role. Readers will be able to use the new visual recognition that Shazam rolled out last Spring to get the full experience.

By "shazam-ing" images from the spread, readers can view the archival originals to compare and contrast with the new ones, as well as check out BTS stories, gifs, and shop from the spread, as well.

According to an article in New York Times about the partnership, there will be around a hundred items from Target throughout the images, with 30 available to instantly shop.

Vogue doesn't just let anyone into its archives, and it feels especially poignant that the partnership is with Target, a department store that is significantly lower-prices that the items that Vogue typically features in its pages. In an era where people become supermodels overnight thanks to their Instagram profiles, this feels like another step forward in the democratization of fashion.

It's also a really interesting evolution in advertising, and in particularly, the way editorial content and advertising mesh with each other. This seems to be a marriage of the two in the truest sense; it's clearly an advertising initiative, but it's done in a way that honors the magazine, the magazine's history, and it's readership. I'm usually pretty skeptical about this sort of thing, but this one seems to have hit the nail on the head in terms of feeling organic.

Check out some stills from the teaser video, then watch all the behind-the-scenes fun:

Images: Courtesy of Target; Target/YouTube