Issue 2 is here, and like all things in the fashion and print worlds, this means the next issue is already coming. As the Pattern Magazine editorial team begins to hone in on the direction our next installment will take, we’ve decided that a more thematic approach will be embraced for the Spring 2013 Issue. And, fashion being an ever-evolving and stylistically-undulating enterprise, our tentative theme for number 3 is “Transit.” Be this mass transit, private transit, cycling, inefficient vehicles, or other areas of human movement – the idea of transit is our elemental foundation.
After the release of Issue 1 (in February of 2012), we were asked
countless questions regarding submissions, guidelines, and what exactly “makes the cut.” No, we don’t have those answers spelled out for you exactly… but we do have a better sense of what creating this magazine looks and feels like. [Here’s how to submit to our website]
Before we get into the loose details of how & when, let’s first take a step back and clear up the relationship between Pattern’s biannual print magazine and our monthly meetups. The meetups are the bedrock of our fashion industry community. The meetups are the movement, the core, and the reason for Pattern’s existence.
The relationships built and nurtured within (and beyond) our monthly gatherings are paramount to our (and “our” is not just the magazine editors – it’s OUR: you, y’all, your friends who aren’t here, your teachers at AI and Harrison and Herron, your mentors, your friends who put up with your wild-eyed “Hoosiers have style!” dreams)… our monthly gatherings are how this community’s success is measured. Not by setting attendance records, or selling more wine than any other group, or getting the most people to clap after your presentation. Our success is measured by the momentum that we simultaneously harness and release.
As cliche and overwrought as the term “catalyst” has become, it’s still a valuable descriptor. Pattern hopes to be a catalyst. Or, at the very least, a place where someone else’s ideas can become a catalyst for others. We want to (& work tirelessly to) help our city see the incredible asset that is our homegrown fashion community. And we’re not stopping there: we want the region, the Midwest, the country, the… well, let’s not get too carried away… We believe – and I think y’all agree – that when the creative class is able to band together, bonded to our more business-minded compatriots, intermingling with those rare few of us who have both skill sets in one human body… well, if that’s not a catalyst for progress, then I think we probably need to redefine the term “catalyst.”
The magazine is a supplement to these meetups, this community, to you, to me, to the city of Indianapolis, and to all of those who think that the ideas swirling in their skulls are just pipedreams. We’re here. We’re creating. We’re empowering, critiquing, and challenging one another. We’re growing. And this magazine is one tangible (and, can I say, “sexy”?) example of y’all’s resolve to quit merely daydreaming, and to move, shift, grit your teeth, be beautiful, create art… and by doing so, we’re helping give complacency a (stylish) nudge, jolting it with sartorial savvy, infusing our metropolis with new conversations and new avenues to express the outcomes of those conversations.
So, Issue 3 will be released in March of 2013. In March! That’s less than 6 months – 4 months til it goes to print, 3 months til the layout needs to be finalized, 2 months til shoots need to be vetted, 1month til… Well, you get the picture: Issue 3 starts now. Today, we celebrated the second Pattern Magazine, and immediately begin moving onward.
For all of you photographers, stylists, designers, makeup artists, hair magicians, and loyal assistants to the aforementioned folks – your question is how, when, and where do we send submissions, suggest ideas, and start working? For answers to all those questions, we will have an FAQ posted on our website by next weekend. Obviously, it will not answer all of your questions. But, we (the editorial team) are here, every month, available, looking for creative people who can put their thoughts into imagery or prose.
Now, there is one major-ish announcement: the past two issues have had the cover shot by our long-suffering editor-in-chief, Polina Osherov; for Issue 3, the cover shoot is open for submissions. To be clear (but, not too clear): this doesn’t mean that Polina is forbidden from shooting the cover image… it just means that she’s not automatically “the chosen one.” For more details about how to submit (for the cover shoot, the editorials, departments, and feature articles) I, once again, direct you to our website.
