Madonna, Kim Kardashian and More Take Selfies for Interview’s September Covers (Forum Buzz)

 

Interview is taking inspiration from the “selfie” and fashion’s obsession with social media for its September issue. The magazine, which was founded by Andy Warhol, has melded its heritage of the portrait with technology, to create an Instagram-themed issue featuring eight alternative covers that are essentially self portraits of some of today’s most popular social media celebs. The magazine asked Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Victoria Beckham, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, Selena Gomez, Zayn Malik and Mert Alas to take their own cover shots. In addition, Interview tapped 150 social media stars from fashion, entertainment and music to do the same thing for a portfolio inside the magazine. “We just asked people to imagine their ultimate self portraits — whether it was highly produced or a simple selfie,” explained Interview editor in chief Keith Pollock. “We wanted to see how they see themselves and how they want to be seen. We allowed each subject to imagine their own shoots.” The magazine will go on sale this week, and images from the portfolio — including covers — will be posted on Instagram starting today. Using the hashtag #InterviewGang, Interview will roll out images over the course of the month on its Instagram account. Meanwhile, the subjects involved in the portfolio will post their own photos on their personal Instagram accounts today using the same tag. The social media strategy around the issue is part of the overall project, which is both promotional and an exercise in showcasing the power of social media. “The intention of the portfolio was not to boost our Instagram followers or generate Web traffic — it will be a result of what we’ve done but it wasn’t the origin,” said Pollock, who explained that he and editorial director Fabien Baron derived inspiration from Warhol, himself. “We are conscious of our heritage. Andy did selfies 50 years ago. He’d be doing selfies if he were alive today.” The team tapped Instagram chief executive officer Kevin Systrom to write a piece that includes an interview with journalist Chris Wallace, as well as thoughts on social media and Warhol’s legacy. @madonna #Madonna @interviewmag #InterviewMagazine #InterviewGang

A photo posted by The Only One Queen Madonna (@_the_only_one_queen_madonna_) on Sep 1, 2015 at 5:06am PDT

Members of our forums were far from impressed with the outcome. “Really awful and I don’t care about other cover people either. I’m actually tired of selfies so I’m guessing this will be a lousy issue for me. Selfies for the September issue, really? This seems really lazy to me,” snapped KateTheGreatest right away.

[ September Issues: All the Covers We Loved and Hated ]

“I’m over Madonna. Been over her for years. I am only looking forward to seeing J.Lo and Zayn and Victoria. Everyone else is just dry. Strange they didn’t ask Rihanna to be part of this,” added a disapproving RanThe.

“I am sick to death of the recurring Instagram and #selfie themes. It’s so overdone, and not as creative and groundbreaking as these publications think they’re being. Why would I purchase a magazine with that cover?” asked an unforgiving SpeakThatJDunn.

Gossiping wasn’t buying the idea either, ranting, “Hate selfies, and this is stupid!”

Also questioning Interview‘s decision was kokobombon: “I think this might be just a preview? The layout doesn’t look very Interview!”

 

Our September issue is here! We have eight covers. First up: @kimkardashian by @mertalas Cc @fabienbaron #InterviewGang

A photo posted by @interviewmag on Sep 1, 2015 at 6:18am PDT

Check out some more covers, await the remaining ones and don’t forget to join the conversation here too.