Even though many fashion zines were started by amateurs some of them were also
set off by established fashion personalities, like former Vogue art director Terry
Jones who started i-D. Today we can see the same pattern with blogs, run by both
amateurs and fashion editors. We also see some contemporary zines, like UK based
Cheap Date, launched in 1997, which to a certain extent helped relaunch the popu-
larity of “thrifting” and charity shopping. Now the editors , Kira Jolliffe and Bay
Garnett, have released both compilations of the zine and style guides (Jolliffe 1999,
Jolliffe & Garnett 2007). On the other hand, one can also see new fashion maga-
zines started over the last years to add credibility to advertising agencies and to
show that they do more than surface – they do the whole lifestyle package.
With the rise of the Internet the question of the zine scene’s survival has arisen. The
question is will the e-zines, community sites, and especially blogs replace the tradi-
tional zine culture. The two means of creation and distribution, physical and vir-
tual, offer various forms of advantages and drawbacks. Zines require photocopying
and a lot of hands-on work, which for many has its charm; a slow, reflective work.
The creator is in full control of the process, although it might be quite expensive
for a bigger print run. Zines also offer the possibility of adding non-paper and
other materials to the pages. The zines often become something in between maga-
zines, self-published books, and multisensory adventures in small editions, rather
than the real-time discussions of the blogs. Chris Dodge, Utne librarian and alter-
native publications collector says,I think the key distinction is that a blog posting tends to be written and published on
the spur of the moment, as opposed to a zine’s creation over time. Most zines tend to
be compiled, with material gathered, written, or drawn over weeks, months or years,
and actually edited, if only by the zine publisher herself. Thus they are more like little
self-published books than blogs. (Freedman 2005)The Syntax/144 design process from the
Istanbul issue. First meeting of all contributors
(left), and one week later come together at the copy
shop to photocopy and assemble the zines (middle).
Then divide the 144 finished issues and get off to
distribute the zine on town (right).