Good Read: Interview with Franca Sozzani

WWD: Who is the reader of vogue.it? And is it the same as the magazine’s?
Franca Sozzani: What still makes Vogue Italia different is that it tells its own stories, it does it in a way that is sometimes stronger than other magazines. I would say the strength of Vogue Italia is its creativity and image. To move all this onto the site was not really easy, because when the image is so creative and exclusive, it can be misunderstood by a larger public. The challenge was to bring this image and this quality to the site, but we succeeded. Not only did we bring our readers to the site, but we also added new ones, who weren’t regular Vogue readers. As a consequence, in some months, sales of the magazine grew 27 percent, and 2010 saw a 20 percent gain at newsstands.
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WWD: I read that you find runway shows somewhat boring?
F.S.: I do get really bored at shows. Shows must be creative, without becoming ridiculous, otherwise a showroom presentation is best. And also I’m bored with what has emerged around the shows.

WWD: Celebrities?
F.S.: Not even that. It’s all these photographers, all these blogs, these magazines, you don’t even know who they all are. You get stopped and if you don’t stop you are rude, they must photograph you to end up who knows where. I don’t know — I feel it’s a pointless distraction. But as with magazines, there will eventually be a selection.

WWD: Your blog about bloggers didn’t go down well with some.
F.S: Yes, because I said enough with all these blogs, because it’s the quantity, anyone can take a photo, put it on a blog, say I like it, I don’t like it. Anyone can do a blog. I would rather people found their own style. I find Scott Schuman is a genius, because he created The Sartorialist, and he created a concept. After him, how many were born? Millions, but he remains. My blog about that really got lots of negative reviews.


read whole interview: WWD