NEW INTERVIEW ON THEMOSTCAKE.CO.UK
THANK YOUR BLACK FOREST FOR POSTING.
By Black Forest
‘WOMEN ARE BEAUTIFUL’, ‘WOMEN ARE SEXY’, ‘WOMEN ARE CLEVER AND INTELLIGENT’… These are some of the mantras which mark the birth of the very new, female only, creative fashion magazine. For women, written by women, this is ‘I Love You’ magazine. Like no other. Read the inspiring interview with editor in chief Christiane Bördner, and her views on female creativity in a male dominated magazine world.
TMC: What is ‘I Love You’ magazine?
CB: ‘I Love You’ is a fashion magazine for women, about everything I think women would love to see. There are not a lot of creative women’s magazines from a woman’s point of view. It is a printed blog and therefore it has a very personal point of view – my point of view.
TMC: What inspiration gave birth to ‘I Love You’?
CB: I like the idea that private blogs are more and more taking over. The idea that labels will start to send young 17 year old girls in Texas shoes and bags, hoping they would post it, which means that those young women have the power to raise sales. Magazines will change a lot in the future, the younger generations don’t trust advertising anymore, and the internet will push the publication industry in another direction.
Magazines will remain as something special and luxurious. It will no longer be important to print news on paper; things worth printing might have to be long lasting. I love to see fashion and great photography printed on paper this is my passion. Magazines have always been my inspiration and I always wanted to come up with my own magazine. I don’t have any reputation in the magazine business; my reputation comes from art direction and styling but with my naive way of doing it, it might take it to a new dimension.
TMC: You mention that there are not a lot of creative women’s magazines from a woman’s point of view. Do you feel the creative magazine world is dominated by men right now?
CB: There are no important women’s art directors out there, how come? Are we too shy? Do we lack something? I told a friend once that I would like to take that challenge and also mentioned that I then would have to deal with some habits I am not used to etc. She mentioned: “Christiane this sounds like you’re suffering from vitamin deficiency or like you’re afflicted with a disease; you’re a woman, you’re great!” Our conversation brought me to the realisation that I have to deal with being a woman and play the women’s card; to use my ability to know what women want and what we are best in. For sure there are a lot of big women’s names in the magazine industry, like Anna Wintour, Carin Roitfeld and Franka Sozzani, but I am not speaking about the big magazines run by a big publication house - I am speaking about all those little independent ones.
TMC: Does ‘I Love You’ fill the female gap? What makes ‘I Love You’ different?
CB: I don’t know if we are filling a gap and this is not the concept behind it. We are no big publishing house with a business plan looking for a gap to fill. We are doing what we love. I want to do a great women’s magazine with great photography and a self confident attitude. ‘I love you’ is sexy, it is about women for women but we don’t want to stylize them as simple sex objects, we want to show self confident women with attitude and to reassure women of being women.
The first time I saw Mad Men the TV Show I was so inspired by Joan as a woman; she is so much woman. I love her character, her body, the way she is dressed… we will do a whole issue about her as homage, coming out in November. She once said to her colleague Peggy: “If you want to be taken seriously, stop dressing like a little girl” – this could be a subtitle of the magazine.
Deep in my heart I am a feminist but I don’t see a reason why I need to express this in flat shoes and compete with men, when there are the greatest highest heels out there and we all look so hot in them.
TMC: Your first issue covers themes such as ‘Money can’t buy me love, in my sex fantasy nobody ever loves me for my mind’, – Who is the ‘I Love You’ girl?
CB: The first issue was all about sex; it was our strategy, sex sells! Just kidding, as mentioned I want to play with attitude and the self concept of a woman. Our reader is intelligent and independent, not a dump girl only looking for the latest fashion tips; although I am planning to have more great beauty tips in the coming issues. It is more about philosophy and spirituality, to encourage the reader that she is great and to love herself with a needed irony.
TMC: If she was a cake what would she be?
CB: She would of course be a Sahnetorte (German for a creamy gateau) with a cherry on top: she would look beautiful, she would be a sin, too many calories… but once you see her you wouldn’t care about calories anymore, you would enjoy it.
CB: Where can we get hold of this Goddess?
TMC: Check on iloveyou-magazine.com. We are available in Germany mostly in Berlin for sure, and in Paris at Colette, New York and L.A. at Opening Ceremony. You can also purchase it on our website now. It will come out every two months; next issue will be launched in September.
TMC: Finally what tips would you give to women trying to enter the creative magazine world, from your experience?
CB: It is for sure not easy to get it all done with no big budget backing you, but “where there is a will there is a way” and until now this has been the best lesson learned. So many great and magical things have happened to me since I started this project; it seems like if you start doing something, the universe will be arranging a way to make it happen. Never give up and never ever compromise! (This is actually a piece of advice I got from my mentor Heiko).
Get your copy online now, and support female creativity – definitely a coffee table must have.
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