Colombia in Vogue México y Latinoamérica: Representation, stereotypes, and colombianidad on its twenty-fifth anniversary

Abstract

This article, product of the Master's Program in Editorial Studies at the Instituto Caro y Cuervo, examines the representation of Colombia in Vogue México y Latinoamérica throughout 2024, a year marked by the magazine’s twenty-fifth anniversary in the region. Drawing on a theoretical framework built around the concepts of representation, stereotype, and colombianidad, informed by the work of Stuart Hall, bell hooks, and Roland Barthes, the study reveals how the publication consistently constructs a stereotypical image of Colombia that gives rise to a particular notion of Colombian national identity. The analysis exposes a sharp contrast between the cursory coverage afforded to Colombia and the more nuanced treatment extended to countries such as Mexico and Argentina within the same editorial space, illustrating the publication’s tendency to reduce Colombian representation to a handful of recurring motifs: idyllic landscapes, internationally recognizable cities, and established designers, while leaving unaddressed the complexity of the country’s domestic fashion ecosystem and its diverse sociocultural contexts. This reductive portrayal, compounded in part by the insularity of the editorial team, squanders the potential of fashion magazines as vehicles for exploring cultural identity, and underscores the need for national publications, currently few and marginal, capable of producing more informed narratives around Colombian fashion and culture. The essay concludes by reflecting on developments in the two years since that anniversary and on the importance of cultivating independent editorial spaces that are nationally grounded  without being chauvinistic, spaces that might allow for a richer, more layered, representation of national identities through fashion, fashion photography, and modeling in print media.