The details of your incompetence do not interest me...

Watching movies like "The Devil Wears Prada“ and being curious about the start of „The September Issue“ (we all don’t know how long that will take) I was more than excited as Lorenz and I entered the rooms of Madonna - Austrian fashion and lifestyle magazine. Of course you cannot compare this magazine to Vogue or any other international magazine but even feeling a bit of editorial office air and seeing how a magazine is run was more than amazing.

Jasmin Schakfeh. Editor in the fashion department explained to us how a fashion magazine works and we just sat there eager to absorb every information we could get. Jasmin told us that Madonna is a customer orientated magazine and women often call and claim that they couldn’t find an item in the shop they just saw in the mag. Therefore having items that are both available and stylish, no matter if you enter your favourite high street branch in Vienna or Bludenz is the priority for a magazine like this. As a fashion editor you also have to be very flexible: working hours are very variable, last minute decisions have to be made and being on track - knowing what is in - is a key thing.

It was also very interesting to hear Jasmin's opinion about fashion in Austria. All the designers said that the Austrians are too shy and not outgoing enough, but Jasmin put it this way: ”I think that the Austrians are really classy. They know how to wear a suit or costume and add their own personality to it in small details, but are too afraid to show more individualism. Vienna is special. People are rather reserved and don't just blindly chase after every new trend. People love to see freaky fashion people maybe in a magazine like Vogue but do not want to buy clothes that are too different from what they are used to. That’s an important factor to consider while editing a magazine like Madonna.”

So what did we learn today at Madonna? Working at a fashion magazine is a 24/7 job that involves a lot of diversity, like going to parties, meeting interesting people or jetting around the world on the lookout for the newest trends. However, you also have to consider the long working hours, stress before the final editing and dealing with a lot of unfriendly people.

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