Warning: British Vogue's YouTube channel is addictive

Naomi Campbell interviewing fashion giants is the latest winning web series from the fashion bible

15 July 2018 - 00:00 By pearl boshomane tsotetsi
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Naomi Campbell interviewing Louis Vuitton menswear head Virgil Abloh for her British Vogue YouTube show 'Naomi Campbell Meets ...'.
Naomi Campbell interviewing Louis Vuitton menswear head Virgil Abloh for her British Vogue YouTube show 'Naomi Campbell Meets ...'.
Image: Supplied

Very few print media brands have managed to translate their hard-copy presence into online success. But in the case of Vogue, the magazine is not only riding the online wave, it is doing so better than most.

British Vogue, in particular, has a fantastic YouTube channel. One of the things worth a watch is its new series Naomi Campbell Meets ..., in which the supermodel and British Vogue contributing editor sits down with some of the biggest names in fashion (though Campbell did also interview the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, in December).

In one episode, Campbell sits down with Virgil Abloh, the man in charge of menswear at Louis Vuitton, one of the world's most valuable fashion brands.

Campbell, wearing sneakers (very unusual for this lover of vertiginous high heels), sits on a couch with Abloh, talking about his inspiration, how the job came about, the influence of Kanye West and how streetwear has found its way into high fashion.

WATCH | Naomi Campbell's interview with Louis Vuitton's Virgil Abloh

Campbell's interview with Dior's Kim Jones is also fascinating, and it features one of the most beautiful sets I've seen.

Campbell is a surprisingly good interviewer: she's relaxed, she's interested, she's curious, she knows her stuff and, most importantly, she doesn't make the interview about her. She knows her fashion history, but she's also not afraid to ask questions about things she's not sure of.

If you enjoy fashion documentaries about how the industry works (such as The September Issue, In Vogue: The Editor's Eye and Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel), you will find these interviews delightful.

With Oprah Winfrey on the cover of the current issue of British Vogue, it's only natural that there would be an interview with her, too.

In the video she opens up to the magazine's editor-in-chief, Edward Enninful, because, as she tells him, she knows what it's like to be the interviewer rather than the interviewee, and she wants to make things easier for him.

Enninful, on the other hand, is completely in awe and visibly anxious - clearly swept off his feet by the force that is Oprah freakin' Winfrey.

As well as interviews, British Vogue's YouTube channel has a series titled Five Favourite Objects, in which a variety of personalities, from artists and designers to dancers, are asked to share exactly that.

The older videos, from the pre-Enninful days (back when Alexandra Shulman was at the helm), are also worth a look, including the super fun and sometimes silly In the Bag series, which features women sharing what's in their handbag.

Victoria Beckham, for instance. always carries a crystal in her bag, for good energy and all that.

The episode with actress Zoë Kravitz is particularly delightful: it becomes increasingly absurd as Kravitz digs into her bag and takes out things including but not limited to: a bow and arrow, snorkelling gear ("Just 'cause we're in London and it rains a lot," she says casually), a flute, a bouquet of flowers and a monkey. She ends the video by saying, "F**k Trump".

WATCH | British Vogue's In the Bag with Zoë Kravitz 

For other interesting Vogue content, check out American Vogue's 73 Questions series where they (usually) go to celebrities' homes and ask them 73 random but interesting questions. It's one of the best things on YouTube, I promise.

Fashion isn't just a billion-dollar industry built on mindless vanity, you know.

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