Sarah Jessica Parker on the cover of S Moda

There are a lot of interesting aspects to the cover of S Moda. It's a magazine I've never heard of before, but I assumed that it was a magazine that was native to Spain and was something they were used to seeing. Before I started to analyze the magazine I wanted to do a little bit of research about it and as I'm not a Graphics or a Magazine major, I wanted to look at it from a slightly different angle then comment on its design.

First off, I was very surprised to find out that this was the very first issue of S Moda. I found it curious that on the first issue of a Spanish fashion magazine, the editors would find it appealing to put an American actress on the cover. I know Spain has its own celebrity bubble, separate from the celebrities in the U.S. that have worldwide fame, so why couldn't they find one to grace the cover of this magazine? It's a local magazine from El Pais, one of the biggest newspapers in Spain, so I'm sure it could have enough influence to convince a Spanish celebrity to get on the cover. But then I went to the official webpage of S Moda and noticed most of the articles focused on U.S. celebrities and fashion, so that brings a lot of rationale as to why they would bring on Sarah Jessica Parker as she is known for being very fashion forward.

But then this brings the question as to what she's wearing on the cover and the most noticeable text on the cover which says "Ole!" It seems as though the cover feeds on the bullfighting stereotype in Spain, dressing Parker in a matador outfight and using the phrase that matadors are known to use. I also researched the rest of the photo shoot and found that she was dressed in other "traditional" Spanish attire such as Flamenco outfits. Now if the magazine is centered on American celebrities and world fashion, why use an American actress and dress them in a matador outfit? Not to mention that currently in Spain there is a big debate about whether Bullfighting is ethical or not. I'm not aware of what El Pais' linea editorial is and how they feel towards bullfighting, but I can't help but think that Parker wearing a matador's outfit didn't have something to do with the debate. I honestly feel that the cover should have had Parker in the same type of fashion that the other celebrities covered in the magazine wear.

In terms of the design, I do see a striking difference in how the cover has been laid out. Many American magazine will have different stories and article posted around the cover while the celebrity is usually in the center. The celebrity might overlap the magazine title, and the text might hover over the celebrity. However here, the magazine name is switched to the side, which makes sense given that its the first cover so S Moda would definitely want their name to be highlighted. Also, all of the stories in the magazine are focused on the bottom right corner. Now I don't know if this is the magazine's "layout style" since it is the first cover, but its definitely different from what American magazines like Elle & Vogue use. In relation to the text, I find it funny that there is no story that seems to be covering Sarah Jessica Parker; all the stories highlighted are about style or Spanish celebrities. I would love to know if Parker even has an interview or story in the magazine or if she was just used to gather attention.


I'm not exactly sure what S Moda is about, but I think that its first cover is rich with questions and speaks a lot about what the magazine is attempting to do. However, since this is only the first cover, I would like to sit back and see how the following covers will look in order to see if S Moda will set a pattern in how the covers are structured.