The impact of Vogue germany’s fashion images on female reader’s well-being

Abstract

This internship report will discuss my experience as a trainee in the magazine Vogue Germany in Paris between September 2020 and May 2021. As an operational assistant in the fashion department, I was directly involved with the production of Vogue Germany’s fashion images, mostly picturing women. During the preparation for the shoots, the contact with multiple experts in the fashion industry made me aware of and impressed by the impact fashion paper magazines have on the configuration of women’s identity, and consequently, on their well-being. In this report I seek to understand how the processes underlying the production of fashion images representing women have psychological and behavioral implications for female readers. Drawing on neurological and sociological principles, I focus particularly on how images can reinforce society’s preconceived representations of and prejudices against women. Neurological principles have demonstrated the potential impact of images on well-being. Thus, through a selection of case studies found in the issues of Vogue Germany published during periods of confinement due to Covid-19, I examine how and to what extent the representation of women in the production of fashion images can lead to psychological changes in female readers, thereby impacting their well-being. To understand how women would like to be represented in fashion photography, I adopted the use of qualitative research through focus group interviews. Neuropsychological principles of mental imagery informed the causal link between the representation of women in fashion magazines and their impact on women’s identity.

Date of Award	10 Mar 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Adriana Martins (Supervisor)