Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
Sep 26, 2024
There’s something alluring about the fashion industry, the pursuit of beauty through infinite lenses, what goes on in the heads of tastemakers, reveling in runway shows of seasons past, and of course flipping through the pages of Vogue. ‘In Vogue: The 90s’ from Vogue Studios and Raw Entertainment covers the fashion magazine as Anna Wintour took the reins and the fashion industry went through a series of metamorphoses. Expertly shot and edited interview footage with Wintour, Vogue editors Hamish Bowles, Edward Enninful, and Tonne Goodman, as well as designers, supermodels, and the odd fashion-adjacent celebrity or influencer is intercut with Vogue spreads and high definition archival runway footage, something that is pretty difficult to find even with the internet at the world’s disposal. From era to era, controversy to controversy, runway to runway, look to look, join the people who were at the heart of it all as they bask in the light of what’s somehow already become a bygone era of fashion and culture.
Each episode of the series covers a specific aspect of how fashion changed during the 1990s and Vogue’s role in reflecting those changes. Anna Wintour’s new Vogue as Editor in Chief kicks off the series, ushering in a new vision with André Leon Talley as Creative Director and diverse perspectives across the magazine’s contributors. Simultaneously, the supermodel is born, unbridled fame for print and runway models. Grunge, subversion, and London designers like Alexander McQueen and John Galliano change everything in episode 2, before Hollywood and fashion rekindle their love affair for the first time in decades in episode 3. On the horizon, episodes 4-6 promise the inside scoop on the rise of the Met Gala as we know it under the direction of Anna Wintour, Black influences on fashion and street style, and the revitalized American dream with the new generation of designers that really came into their own in the late 90s.
This approach to each episode is extremely effective. It’s not strictly chronological, but it gives each featured designer, era, and editor the time to develop their unique story in the context of a chaotic decade for fashion and culture. Anyone that was anyone makes an appearance either in an interview of their own or in archival footage when an interview wasn’t possible (rest in peace Lee McQueen and André Leon Talley), and there is a LOT of ground to cover. When it comes to the darker moments of this window in history, ‘In Vogue’ finds a way to address the situation without demonizing the people being interviewed, while still allowing the audience to form their own opinion to some extent. The integration of music is phenomenal. Of course, Madonna’s ‘Vogue’ song and music video make an appearance in episode 1, but it’s more than a gimmick. Fashion and music have long been inextricably linked, plus Madonna’s Vogue cover represented a huge change for the publication. This and so many other details make this series a satisfying watch.
Context is extremely important when it comes to why a show like this gets made. Fashion is huge at the moment, as social media finally shakes off its obsession with “quiet luxury” but remains fascinated with how the other half lives, and more specifically, what they buy. The shake-up in creative direction at the luxury houses of the world continues as designers leave and new ones enter the fray (congratulations to Sarah Burton for her appointment at Givenchy, by the way), and there seems to be a desire to not quite control the narrative, but to ensure Vogue and Anna Wintour’s legacy as designs from the 90s are more and more often labeled “vintage”. Print media will never die, but it’s not a growing industry, either. Docuseries are a smart bet for Vogue as it expands its media offerings, and honestly a valuable one for viewers interested in fashion, culture, and what goes on behind Wintour’s signature sunglasses. Runways have long been private events meant for buyers and members of the press, not the public at large. That seems to be changing slowly, but that sense of scarcity just makes access to live shows as well as video footage more valuable. ‘In Vogue: The 90s’ isn’t kicking down any of these doors, but it opens them just enough for the fashion-curious of the world to get a glimpse inside.
Hulu is on a roll recently with unscripted series additions to its service. ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives’ premiered earlier this month to great social media fanfare, as the TikTokers featured on the show chimed in on social media about how they liked their edits and fanned the flames of fandom. Of course, Hulu is the place to watch ‘The Bachelor’ and ‘The Bachelorette’ if you don’t have access to linear television, and the long-running competition series ‘Dancing with the Stars’ will be available next day on Hulu after airing live on ABC. Of course, reality isn’t the only unscripted content hitting the platform. ‘In Vogue: The 90s’ is only the most recent in a collection of high quality docuseries, following shows like ‘The Contestant’, FX’s ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, and ‘Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge’, another show fashion lovers may enjoy. Hulu also has a decent slate of sports programming, and was the place to watch The Emmys live this year.
Even though there wasn’t as big a surge in unscripted series post-WGA and SAG strikes like there was in 2008, reality, nonfiction, and especially sports television remain huge draws for streaming service subscribers. Everyone wants to make the next ‘Squid Game’, but you need to produce quite a few shows in between scripted hits. Streamers need to put high quality content out in as many categories, at as many budget points, and as often as possible to make viewers feel that they are getting their money’s worth and to prevent subscriber churn. Lately, Hulu has been delivering consistent quality content, and even though they lost a bit of ground from June to July 2024 according Nielsen’s streaming ratings, they remained the #4 streaming service in terms of minutes watched nationwide, ahead of #5 Disney+ (even though Disney seems to want Hulu to serve as the ugly step-sibling to their eponymous service). The Streaming Wars will continue raging, but for now Hulu is quite the contender.
Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.
I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”
Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
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