While flipping through old issues of Metro to look for stories for our upcoming anniversary issue, I found myself suppressing a laugh on more than one occasion. It was so different from the magazine we currently turn out on a monthly basis, the staff and I marveled. Feature articles, fashion shoots—they were all so well, dated. A particular issue had me blinking in disbelief because it featured Erica, our former beauty editor, in a fashion editorial shot by her dad, Jim Paredes. “Ohmygod, where did you get that?” she squealed after I sent her an MMS with one of the photos. “I was like 20 years old at that time.”
Luckily, she was game and didn’t protest when I Tweeted the photos in succession:
Erica wearing some of 1999's trends: apron tops and shrugs
And check out the funny poses
I was a high school sophomore at the time the magazine came out in December 1999. Back then, I probably wouldn’t have seen anything wrong with it—my magazine of choice, Candy, featured similar clothes in similarly unsophisticated fashion editorials. Now, the editorials in Philippine magazines sometimes (not always) rival those that appear in their American and European counterparts. Creative directors and editors discuss upcoming looks with pages of Vogue (usually French or Italian) as their pegs. But that’s not because of a lack of sophistication of the editorial team back then: they were simply reporting the trends at that time, using whatever resources they had back then. Digital photography wasn’t readily available to magazines back then; publishing companies made the complete transition from film to digital as late as 2004-2005.
Change is an inevitable thing for a publication. Metro, which is about to celebrate its 22nd year, probably underwent through more changes than any other local magazine. It started out as a city lifestyle magazine (the current staff was surprised to discover that Fernando Zobel, and not some stylish model or celebrity, was on the first cover), and is slowly turning into a fashion-centric publication. Back when I joined the magazine in 2008, fashion wasn’t the magazine’s selling point; but three years is long enough for major changes to take place, so here we are. Check out the magazine’s more subtle changes throughout the years:
Metro December 1999: wedding gowns, twin sets, anti-cellulite pills, Aga Mulach on 'Mule' (don't know what that is unless it's the then-popular mixed drink), bedrooms on a budget, a keep-fit holiday diet
December 2010's party issue features celebrity style, the little black book of party secrets, cocktail dresses and shimmery makeup
Cover lines in December 2009's body issue focused on health and wellness, current events, and the holidays on a budget. Take note that there was only one line about fashion on the cover.
Our current issue (March 2011) features the best of Spring/Summer 2011's collections, a runway report, the Men of Summer special, and cover Maja Salvador in Louis Vuitton
I sound like a student doing a content analysis thesis, haha. But it’s always good to take a step back once in a while to review the changes in the things you do, read, and are involved in. Perspective always helps.
We’ve been doing this a lot in wedding essentials and I would have to agree with you “Change is an inevitable thing in publication.”
Otherwise, we’ll all look super dated
haha! How’s Marbee and the team?
Ms. Marbs is awesome, funny and gay as usual.
I actually grabbed the March issue of Metro before leaving the Philippines and I was so surprised to see that your summer edition goes out in March! Damn, I would love to have summer starting in March in this side of the world! By Western European weather standards, I guess you could have your summer edition in January!
Oh I wish I could’ve given you the April issue instead, I personally prefer it because it’s more packed with features
but that’s just me! Summer-related things come out in March because school ends mid-March 