“It is almost like the pages of the magazines are coming alive after all these years…”
An interview with Rossana Tich of magazine fan

In the age of uncredited inspiration on social media, Rossana Tich is steering the ship back, breathing new life into vintage magazines and bringing together—virtually—the teams who first created them. From discontinued gems to photography tomes, Magazine Fan is the enlightened fashion nerd’s Instagram resource.

Fecund Magazine: To start, we’d love to hear a bit more about your background. When did you first start collecting magazines? Was there a specific publication that inspired you? At what point did your hobby collecting become more “serious”?

Magazine Fan: I started collecting magazines when I was in my early teens. At the time, of course, I didn’t realise that I was collecting, and a lot of them did go by the wayside. I used to get the copies of French Elle and Marie Claire from the school library at the end of term, and when we went on a family holiday abroad, I would buy a magazine. I wasn’t the only one; my mother gave me a whole year’s worth of Observer Sunday supplement magazines a few years ago. She kept just one year’s worth from the early seventies. Magazines are a great snapshot of the time and place and, if you love social history, as I do, then they are great to delve into. I probably started getting Vogue regularly when I was sixteen, and then more magazines when I began art college. I used to get Marie Claire and Elle from the St. Martin’s library at the end of term—I still have some with the library stamp on them. Later, being in the PR business, I got a lot of magazines in order to collate clients’ coverage. I was sent a lot, too, by publishers, so I do have quite a collection of men’s and interiors magazines. The good old days, back in the nineties.

What’s a discontinued magazine you think we should know about?

Nova and Lei magazines. Nova is well-documented (see the book Nova 1965–1975 by David Hillman and Hari Peccinotti) but Lei, not so much. Nova’s magic was its editorial mixed with groundbreaking magazine design. It was not a fashion magazine—but it did excellent fashion content, edited by the fabulous Caroline Baker. Lei was the Italian version of Glamour magazine in Italy but very different in tone and experimentation. Launched by Condé Nast in the late seventies, the editor from 1980 was Franca Sozzani who, of course, went on to edit Vogue Italia. It was quite rough and ready on occasion, which is what makes it so interesting—none of the gloss and polish we are used to now. The issues were themed (I have posted from one issue that was based all around fairy tales) and gave photographers like Steven Meisel their first real break and room to experiment. Sozzani launched Per Lui, a men’s version of the magazine, in 1982. I did have some of those, too, but I can only find one now. Sozzani went on to edit Vogue Italia in 1988, and at some point, Lei was renamed Glamour.

Your account is distinct for consistently crediting all members of the creative team involved in each shoot. With the proliferation of fashion and print archives on Instagram, how do you feel about the lack of (consistent) sourcing?

The photography and illustrations that I post are someone’s work and therefore, their copyright. The Internet has blown away artists’ protection and revenue streams. I did check with a couple of industry professionals before starting Magazine Fan and was assured that as long as I did credit, then they thought that most photographers would be more than happy for their work to be highlighted. I am a stickler for this, and if I find reposts where the artist is not credited, then I ask the person to do so. It is becoming harder to do this, however, as Instagram does not alert me to people screen grabbing like it used to. 99% of people comply. I am not compiling a mood board from other people’s accounts—this is a personal project from my own collection of magazines. If you view my feed in grid format, you will see that there is often a connective thread between one set of photographs and the next (I post in series of three). Some are more obvious than others, and it is sometimes difficult to segue into a new theme.

Is there a favorite issue you keep returning to?

I have a few favourite issues of Marie Claire and Elle (the original, French ones) and a Vogue Paris Beaute from 1977, which I am very attached to for all sorts of reasons. Early issues of i-D are always great to look through, and have nothing in common with the magazine as it is now, except for the wink, perhaps.

Which publications, photographers, etc. today do you feel inspired by?

I still buy all sorts of printed publications regularly, from Grazia and British Vogue to Private Eye and the Economist. Whenever I travel, I always buy magazines, as I think that they are a great way to get an introduction to a country. But with more syndication and the reduction in titles, this isn’t as easy or as interesting as it used to be. Vogue Italia is still an inspiration. A lot of fashion stories are very polished, but look quite the same—and the celebrity angle can sometimes be limiting. British Harper’s Bazaar has a distinct look and works with a number of female photographers on a regular basis. The weekend newspaper supplements are still doing some interesting things with photography and layout. There are a lot of what I term “book magazines” (my grandmother always called magazines books, even when they were just flimsy weeklies)—the heavy tomes that fill the shelves of specialist shops and art galleries. I like a lot of them, but there are just so many of them and they don’t have that instant, pick-up-a-magazine, sit-on-the-tube-and-get-stuck in quality. I couldn’t possibly buy every issue of all of these titles; it would be just too much. But I do get every issue of Luncheon magazine and Beauty Papers. Regarding photographers whose work I admire today, I continue to love the work of Paolo Roversi, and my feed has featured his work spanning forty years, and it is good to still see the occasional Sarah Moon fashion feature. I like Erik Madigan Heck’s use of natural light, Nadav Kander for portraiture, Anton Corbijn’s increasing work in the fashion field, Alice Hawkins, Julia Hetta, Jack Davidson. I could go on…

What are your go-to sources for collecting? Are there notable stores in London or elsewhere—eBay, etc.?

My mother got Nova sometimes, and none of them were kept, but recently, I had the opportunity to buy some and actually drove to Wiltshire to collect them. This is the first time that I have actively purchased vintage magazines for my collection, except for the odd ones that I pick up at country fairs, old bookshops, etc. I have had donations from people who think that I would be a good recipient, such as [when I was gifted] a whole year’s worth of 1971 British Vogue. But I am not an obsessive collector in the sense that I have to have every single issue of a publication, stored in date order. Mine is more of an organic collection, based on my life and interests, which change over time—although fashion is a constant. I buy publications like Luncheon and Beauty Papers from Donlon Books and Art Words in Hackney. If I am in Soho, I can’t resist the newsagent on Old Compton Street that is still packed with publications from all over the world; all the art and fashion ones, but recently he said that he is selling fewer and fewer. I could subscribe to more things, but buying at shops is my way of supporting the independent stores and the high street (plus, I need to be able to get in through my front door). 

What is your relationship to digital publications? Do you engage with these platforms in addition to your extensive print collection?

I don’t have a relationship with digital magazines really. If I look at fashion online, it is content provided by a retailer, usually. Online newspapers, yes, but nothing can replace the magic of the feel of quality paper—and let’s not forget the smell of magazines! (If the Bodleian Library can have an exhibition featuring the scent of books…). 

Has Instagram limited your ability to engage an audience in any way? 

Quite the opposite. Instagram has opened up an audience for me. I didn’t set out to achieve anything particular at the beginning, but over time, it has been really interesting to discuss things with people, especially those that were involved in the actual shoots—that gives me a real boost. It is almost like the pages of the magazines are coming alive after all these years when photographers, models, stylists, hairdressers, and makeup artists fill in with background stories. It is lovely when people say that they haven’t seen a particular image for decades. I have met a few people in real life too, through Magazine Fan. I am not sure where it will take me next; I have a few ideas, but nothing concrete as yet.

Is there a decade where magazine publishing was at its “best”?

I am sure every generation thinks that their decade is the best for everything! What I like about the seventies and eighties was the mix of fashion and current affairs—issues of the day alongside great fashion editorials; features not just about an actor or fashion designer, but all sorts of people—and imperfections were allowed, in terms of photography and content. Advertising, of course, plays an increasingly huge part in dictating the content of a fashion magazine. The end of the nineties and early noughties was interesting too, as there was the revival of Nova in the UK and the Frank magazine—both short-lived, but some great shoots and features in both. I have quite a few issues of short-lived publications such as Tina Brown’s Talk and Anna Piaggi’s Vanity. 

We see a lot of industry people engaging with your content. What is your relationship to the publishing or fashion industries at large? How do you feel about becoming a de facto fount of knowledge, or an encyclopedia for creators’ inspiration?

I deliberately kept my Instagram bio about the project and not about me, and I only revealed my name to people who contacted me by DM. So no one knew my background. As time has progressed, I have been a bit more open about it in comments and in interviews—that I went to St. Martin’s School of Art (as it was then) and worked in PR, with fashion and design clients. I have been asked by brands a couple of times to do a post, which I did in the early days, but this was not paid. Interestingly, I have had people who have bought heritage brands contact me, and this is something that I now need to work on.