From Material Girl to Vogue Cover Girl

An iconic musician creating iconic covers......

Madonna photographed by Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia, February 1991

Love her or hate her, Madonna is undeniably the most influential female artist of all time (Busari 2008) and a cultural icon (O'Malley Greenburg 2013). Without Madonna, pop music and its relationship with image and, fashion would be completely different. Madonna was one of the first artists to understand how important image could be for self-promotion (Church Gibson 2012). A large part of Madonna's success, over the last 30 years, is due to her remarkable ability to reinvent her image therefore keeping herself continuously relevant and justifying her status as a fashion icon (Church Gibson 2012). Since the early days of her career, Madonna's image has inspired street style and fast fashion reproductions, reinforcing Guilbert's 2002 statement that Madonna is fashion just as much as she is the creator (Church Gibson 2012).

Madonna's first feature in Vogue USA, March 1985
(source: On the Cover of a Magazine)

Madonna and Vogue

Due to her iconic status, Madonna has appeared on the cover of magazines more than any other artist (Madonna Tribe 2008). Madonna was the first artist to appear on the cover of US Vogue which was, at the time, a controversial decision by editor Anna Wintour; Wintour had only been at the helm of Vogue for a year when she chose to feature Madonna as the cover girl in May 1989 (Brathwaite 2011). Other than actresses, such as Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren, Vogue has a long tradition of only using models as cover girls (Vogue 2014). Wintour's decision to feature Madonna on the cover was incredibly risky and she was told it would never sell. However, it paid off as sales increased by 40% (Brathwaite 2011). However, Wintour was not the first worldwide Vogue editor to feature Madonna on the cover; Liz Tilberis, editor at British Vogue had beaten her to it only two months previously (Magforum 2012).

Madonna's first British Vogue cover, February 1989

First US Vogue cover, May 1989

The Changing Status of Fashion Magazine Covers

Wintour's decision to have Madonna as a Vogue cover girl is credited with changing the future of fashion magazine covers. However, the format of women's fashion magazines had been evolving since the introduction of a new wave of women's magazines in the 1920s and 30s. The new magazines to a change in direction, away from their stiffer predecessors aimed at the elite socialites and upper classes; they were catering to a new middle to working class readership (Church Gibson 2012).

The advent of cinema and its subsequent popularity led to the rise of the Hollywood star heralding a new age of the 'celebrity'. The new women's magazines looked towards these Hollywood stars for inspiration and still continue to use the celebrities to sell issues (Church Gibson 2012). However, in terms of choosing a celebrity as the cover girl instead of a fashion model, Vogue has lead the way since placing Madonna on the cover 25 years ago. Now, it is commonplace to see musicians, such as Gwen Stefani, Adele, Florence Welch and Lana del Rey, on the front of Vogue.

Gwen Stefani, US Vogue, January 2013

The change in cover model choices by influential fashion magazines, like Vogue, is reflected in luxury fashion brand advertising campaigns which are more frequently featuring musicians as their protagonists (Church Gibson 2012). It can be no surprise that Madonna has led the way again having worked since the mid-90s on campaigns with luxury brands like Versace, Louis Vuitton and Dolce & Gabbana. As Wintour states, Madonna makes fashion happen and is "the perfect example of how popular culture and street style now influence the world of fashion" (Church Gibson 2012).

A selection of Madonna's covers from worldwide editions of Vogue which document her frequent image reinventions can be seen below. Further reading on Madonna's magazine cover legacy can be found at Madonna Covers, On the Cover of Magazine and Madonna Tribe.