SWAG

In the first season of Ugly Betty, one episode is entitled "SWAG." For those of you not familiar with the acronym, it means 'Stuff We All Get,' a.k.a. free stuff! In this episode we see a mad herd of beautiful people crashing through the hall to get to a sign up sheet in which they select the best possible time to go and raid the magazine's "closet." Here they may choose whatever designer clothes, shoes, handbags, etc. their hearts desire. Madness ensues.


A clip from ABC's Ugly Betty. This is from the 11th episode of the first season. For relevant clip, skip to 3:40 through 4:38.

This illustrates what I think is one of the most common misperceptions of fashion magazines. You've probably already guessed by my previous statement, that "SWAG" is unfortunately not one of the perks of working at a fashion magazine.

"Working as a peon at a fashion magazine and getting an entire couture wardrobe totally free." - Glamour magazine's: 10 Things That Only Happen in the Movies, as shared by Glossed Over.

Before you begin wondering why we cannot keep the many beautiful things that are photographed in our magazine, let me step through this chronologically.

First, designers debut their new collections. Then, they loan these collections to magazines. Often, the pieces loaned to high fashion magazines are never meant for mass production. They are the more unwearable pieces many people think of when they think of fashion. These pieces are often called 'editorial fashion.' However, even if the pieces were to be mass marketed, the magazine gets them before they go on sale to the actual public. These are considered samples. Once magazines get them, they must check them in, send them to their applicable photoshoots and then return them so another magazine may use them. The concept is similar to that of a library. By the time the pieces are mass produced, they have already photographed for a magazine and sent to print. These items are usually sold at sample sales (hence the name).

Ania Marchenko walks down the
runway at Maison Martin Margiela's
Spring/Summer 2009 fashion show.
(Photographed by: Marcio Madeira
for Style.com)

If you take time to think about it though, it really is kind of a ridiculous assumption that magazines get to keep all of the pieces. There are tons and tons of women's fashion magazines. Can you imagine if every large women's fashion magazine got to keep every single piece of clothing or accessories a designer sent them? The designers would probably spend almost their entire net sales giving away samples to magazines.

This is not to say that nothing like this ever happens at a magazine though. I can think of two similar, albeit, not as grandiose, examples.

1. The Beauty Sale. A couple weeks ago we had the opportunity to walk casually and sporadically (without trampling anyone) to sign up for the beauty sale. The beauty sale is an annual event where all the magazines in the building sell their partially used beauty products that have been tested out for stories. They typically allow people to come look around and then buy the products for $1 each. Afterward, they donate the proceeds to charity.
Shoes and bags set up in the W accessories closet.
(Photographed by: Me on Nov. 25, 2008)

2. The Abyss. Sometimes, there are pieces that never get returned for whatever reason. After a certain period of time, they have outlived their fashionable lifespan and are no longer worth what they used to be. If you can slyly bring up your desire for one of these items and the market editor who is over that particular product is having a really good day, you may, just may, get a 2-year old Gucci belt.

"Ask any old fashion assistant, those lowly magazine trolls who work 12-hour days for twenty-something thousand dollars a year, about the ethics associated with accidentally forgetting to return a sample and accidentally taking it home with them, and most will tell you it’s mere income augmentation." -Derek Blasberg