Alexander Liberman He was, surely, one of the most sophisticated men who ever lived, an accomplished painter, sculptor, writer and the guiding genius behind some of the toniest magazines in the world. Yet when an editor once met him in his studio, she found him listening to Milli Vanilli, a pop group so lightweight they lip-synced their own songs. “Listen to this music!” he cried in his magnificently cultured accent, which layered Russian, British and French influences. “It makes me feel so good!”
Let it be said of Alexander Liberman, who died last week at 87 after more than three decades as editorial director of Conde Nast Publications, that he was never as much as a minute behind the times. Celebrated for his charm and his exquisite taste, he also had a sure instinct for what would sell. Under his direction, Vogue invented the modern fashion magazine, whose subject is not clothes or makeup but “style” –a formula that, of course, proved irresistible to clothing and makeup advertisers. Vanity Fair, which he revived in 1983, captured its era precisely–flashy, knowing and besotted with celebrity. Liberman himself, of course, knew everyone from Salvador Dali to Marlene Dietrich.
Until his semiretirement in 1994 not a cover or a major layout appeared in Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamour or a dozen other Conde Nast titles without his scrutiny. He worked with the greatest photographers of the day, including Horst, Avedon and Penn, but he wouldn’t shy from running type across their pictures for effect, and the almost universal look of glossy magazines today, with contrasting typefaces, dramatically borderless photos and splashy headlines, is among his legacies. J.A.
