Harper's Bazaar
Harper's Bazaar is an American monthly fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled Harper's Bazar. Originally published by Harper & Brothers, the magazine has been owned and published by Hearst since 1913.
The magazine is the world's oldest operating women's fashion magazine, and one of the first fashion magazines to be published in the United States. Its name change to Harper's Bazaar was filed on December 30, 1930. However, the first magazine under the name was November 1929.
Harper's Bazaars corporate offices are located in the Hearst Tower, 300 West 57th Street or 959 Eighth Avenue, near Columbus Circle in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.
Background
Harper's Bazaar is an American fashion magazine. The magazine was founded in 1867 by Harper & Brothers as Harper's Bazar ; it is the oldest fashion magazine still in operation and was based off and originally the American version of the German publication Der Bazar.The magazine is a monthly publication, published ten times per year with merged June/July and December/January issues.
According to the publications current editor-in-chief, Samira Nasr, "Harper's BAZAAR uses fashion as a way to explore the forces shaping culture today and to tell the most urgent stories of the moment." Whilst the publisher and owner, Hearst, describes it as "the style resource for women at every age, showcasing visionary stylists, photographers and designers with authority and insider insight."
The magazine has achieved notability for its innovative art direction under art director Alexey Brodovitch. Norman Norell called it "a photographer's magazine" in reference to its innovative photography. Along with this the reinvention of the magazine under editor-in-chief Liz Tilberis, and art director Fabien Baron who wanted to make it into
Circulation
Editors
Sustainability
In December 2025, Harper's Bazaar's parent company, Hearst Magazines, announced a company-wide ban on the promotion of fur in all its editorial content and advertising. This policy applies to Harper's Bazaar and its international editions, aligning with a growing industry shift toward sustainability and animal welfare.History
The beginnings of ''Bazar'' (1867–1913)
The journal had been inspired by the German Der Bazar, which was a weekly fashion journal published from Berlin, Germany. Fletcher Harper suggested the idea of an American edition of the publication, in partnership with the German original. However, his brothers believed that they were already too busy with their other publications and that they would not be able to launch a new publication. Fletcher then decided to publish the magazine himself however upon hearing this the brothers changed their minds and decided to publish it together.The publication debuted on November 2, 1867, and was published by Harper & Brothers, based in New York City and edited by Mary Louise Booth. The magazine was published in a folio tabloid-size format and published weekly, with the subtitle of "A Repository of Fashion, Pleasure, and Instruction." During this time Harper's Bazar was able to stay ahead of other American publications like Godey's Lady's Book and Peterson's, which had to copy their illustrations from French magazines and re-engrave the printing plates of the latest fashions; however, due to the partnership with Der Bazar, the magazine would be sent the electrotypes of the original printing plates which lead to Harper's Bazar publishing the latest illustrations at the same time as the European journals which was months ahead of the other American publications. This gave Harper's Bazar an edge above the other American publications for many years.Bazars circulation was estimated at reaching between 70,000 and 100,000 within the first six weeks of circulation.
Bazar under Mary L. Booth has been described as a "covert" voice for women's rights, with articles about women's suffrage and equal rights. However, Booth herself denied that the magazine had any political agenda or attempted influence. Booth was succeeded by Margaret Elizabeth Sangster who stayed as editor-in-chief until 1899; she left and was replaced by Elizabeth Jordan when the publication was reorganised.
Early contributors include George William Curtis, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, James Payn, Wilkie Collins, F. W. Robinson, Virginia Woolf, George Eliot, and Emmeline Raymond.
In 1901 the magazine's format made the transition from a weekly to a monthly magazine, and changed its format/size, partly because of the publisher's financial struggles.
Sale to Hearst, and rebranding to ''Harper's Bazaar'' (1913–1934)
purchased the magazine for Harper & Brothers in 1913; before Hearst's purchase the magazine had steadily been losing money for many years. Under Hearst ownership the magazine was turned into a thick glossy magazine, and had a distinct editorial change from a Harper's publication to a Hearst publication.Sell left the magazine in 1926 and Charles Hanson Towne became editor-in-chief; under his tenure a second "a" was added to "Bazar" and the publication was renamed to Harper's Bazaar from November 1929. Arthur Samuels then replaced Towne in 1929.
Under Snow, White, and Brady (1934–1972)
became fashion editor in 1932, joining Harper's Bazaar from its rival Vogue which caused a stir in the fashion industry. Snow felt like she was constrained at Vogue, with Edna Woolman Chase having no intentions to leave her position. Edna Woolman Chase and Condé Nast believed her exit as "the ultimate betrayal" and Nast never spoke to Snow again.One of Snow's first influential editorials was created in 1933. Snow and the Hungarian photojournalist Martin Munkácsi went to a windswept and cold Long Island beach for a swimwear fashion shoot which was Munkácsi's first fashion story. A photo was taken featuring model Lucile Brokaw who ran towards the camera which became part of fashion-magazine history, with most fashion photoshoots previously featuring still mannequin-like models shot in a studio; the photo became a turning point for fashion photography.
Snow became the magazine's editor-in-chief in 1934 and Samuels joined House Beautiful. Snow's approach was more hands on than Samuels who was more distant to his employees, preferring a "closed-door" approach. Following a design exhibition at the Art Directors Club, Snow was introduced to the work of Russian artist Alexey Brodovitch who she offered the art director role that evening. Brodovitch revolutionized magazine design and became "virtually the model for the modern magazine art director". He also introduced the Didot typeface to the magazine, which then became the logo font and would be copied with notable publications including Vogue, L'Officiel, and Elle using Didot as their logo typeface. Brodovitch is also remembered for his use of white space and cropped layouts. Truman Capote said about Brodovitch, "What Dom Pérignon was to champagne... so has been to... photographic design and editorial layout."
One of his assistants at Bazaar was Tony Lane, who later became the art director of Rolling Stone.
Brodovitch also introduced photographers Richard Avedon, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Irving Penn, and more to the magazine along with the artists Man Ray, Jean Cocteau, and Andy Warhol. Avedon had fourteen interviews with the magazine before being hired.In late 1935, Snow saw a young Diana Vreeland dancing at the St. Regis Hotel bar in a lace dress by Chanel and the day after commissioned her to write a column called "Why Don't You... ?" for the magazine. A typical suggestion: "Why don't you... wear, like the Duchess of Kent, three enormous diamond stars arranged in your hair in front?." She was immortalized in Funny Face where she inspired the character Maggie Prescott. Richard Avedon was also immortalized in the film, inspiring the character Dick Avery. Avedon shot many iconic photographs for the magazine including models roller skating in the Place de la Concorde, Dovima with circus elephants, and more glamourous editorials with large sets.
Guadeloupean model and dancer Ady Fidelin became the first black model to be featured in a major American fashion magazine when she featured in Harper's Bazaar in September 1937.
Following the Second World War Junior Bazaar was launched, aiming to be a competitor to Mademoiselle and Seventeen. However, in 1948 it was merged into Harper's Bazaar with Snow believing that she was diverting too much of her energy to the publication.
Gleb Derujinsky joined the magazine in 1950 and produced some of the magazine's most iconic images. Derujinsky was a pioneer juxtaposing haute couture dresses with deserts, junkyards, fairgrounds and airports, with the comparison between Avedon and Derujinsky being "Avedon shot dresses and clothes, Gleb shot women living in them".
In 1957 Derujinsky traveled across the world with Nena von Schlebrügge, and Ruth Neumann in co-operation with Pan Am for the inauguration of the Boeing 707. They shot in eleven countries in 28 days.
Brodovitch was fired in 1958 and his wife died the following year, all of which lead to a severe depression and following a 1967 hip injury he moved to the south of France where he died in 1971.
The February 1959 issue featured an editorial with Chinese-American model China Machado ; she was one of the first people of colour to be featured in a major American fashion magazine. The publisher was against the inclusion of Machado believing that Southern subscribers would quit their subscriptions. She later became the magazine's senior fashion editor and then fashion director.
The Nancy White era circulation peaked in 1969 with 442,220 copies circulated.