A TIME OF ELEGANCE
In 1992, the British journalist Liz Tilberis took over as Bazaar’s editor-in-chief, with the aim of making it the ‘most beautiful magazine in the world’. Her first cover was her mission statement. It featured Linda Evangelista in a black bodysuit, one hand upraised to lift the third ‘A’ of Bazaar into place, and just a single coverline: Enter the Era of Elegance. ‘The idea of modern elegance has been our central inspiration,’ wrote Tilberis in the same issue. ‘Elegance – of mind as much as of appearance – implies intelligence, certainty of taste, a balanced and centered identity.’ This was a golden period for the magazine: Tilberis’ partnership with Fabien Baron, the art director, was to prove as visually inspiring as Carmel Snow’s had been with Alexey Brodovich during the 1940s and 1950s. While Baron’s use of daring graphics, full-bleed images and white space revolutionised Bazaar’s design, Tilberis introduced a raft of new talent, recruiting new photographers including Patrick Demarchelier and Peter Lindbergh, giving Kate Moss her first American magazine cover in December 1992, and three years later, running an iconic cover of Diana, Princess of Wales. This Demarchelier image of Christy Turlington that appeared on the cover of the September 1993 issue has all the hallmarks of Tilberis’ refined aesthetic, which recalled Coco Chanel’s famous dictum: elegance is refusal.