“There is a frustration in what we do…In a sense, there is not a road, not a path, that we go down… We can’t just sell the magazine. We have to sell the audience. We have to explain that our audience buys things, that they are valuable. It’s just plain dollars and sense.”– Michelle Ebanks, group publisher at Essence Communications Group, in a New York Times article dated December 7th, 2004.

Hi ladies,
Today The Fashion Bomb presents a tribute to Suede Magazine.

To be honest, I didn’t really pay attention to Suede when it popped in on newsstands with its colorful covers and brown hued beauties. I believe I flipped through the premiere issue with Alicia Keys on the cover…

…remarked at how a few spreads gave me a mild headache…

…then sort of forgot about it.

I’m kicking myself for being so apathetic about it…One of my homies over at Essence recently showed me a few issues and I instantly fell in love with the eye catching beauty spreads…

Innovative fashion shoots…

And engaging art, historical, and political features…

Yes, that’s an article about Barack Obama before his presidential bid!

Suede displayed everything from sunglasses…

to contributors…

to letters to the editor…

…in eye catching and inventive ways.

Plus, it seems Suede was the place to go for style addicts like myself…

I mean, we’re talking about ankle boots now, but Suede featured booties back in 2005!

I love me some Essence, and the young Vibe Vixen is certainly growing on me. But, for us brown skinned ladies who moonlight as fashionistas, I loved Suede’s multiple fashion spreads featuring women who look like me….one issue of Suede had about 5 spreads! Vogue only has 2, maybe 3. (Perhaps it was those expensive shoots, though, that drained Suede’s bank account.)

Regardless of the reasons it closed its doors, I believe I speak for many women when I ask ‘Where for art thou, Suede?’
What do y’all think?
Smootches!

PS A Women’s Wear Daily article by Marc Karimzadeh reports today that designer Stephen Burrows, who I wrote about here, will premiere a new daytime line at a lower price. The article says, “he new dresses [will] wholesale from $125 to $195, compared with $225 to $880 for the evening line. At the lower price points, the new pieces are likely to sit with Nanette Lepore, Tracy Reese, and Diane Von Furstenberg at specialty stores.” The piece goes on to say that the line, “Will open to the market on Feb. 7th for fall distribution.” Unfortunately what the piece DOESN’T SAY is WHERE WE CAN BUY this new line. What good is a lower price point if noone can find it??? Updates to come!