 | |
| Editor-in-chief |
|
|---|---|
| Categories | Fashion magazine |
| Frequency | Bimonthly |
| Publisher |
|
| Founder | Sibylle Gerstner |
| Founded | 1956 |
| Final issue | 1995 |
| Country |
|
| Based in | |
| Language | German |
Sibylle was a bimonthly fashion magazine that was published in East Germany and then in Germany from 1956 to 1995. The magazine was subtitled Zeitschrift für Mode und Kultur (German: Magazine for fashion and culture). It is known as the most famous fashion magazine of East Germany[1][2] and was called Vogue of East Germany.[3]
Sibylle was launched by a photographer, Sibylle Gerstner, in 1956.[4][5] She was also the founding editor-in-chief of the magazine of which the goal was first to educate women on how to dress.[6] In 1961 she was replaced by Margot Pfannstiel in the post.[6] Following this change the goal of Sibylle became to encourage feminine elegance and fashion with no political concern.[1] The magazine was published on a bimonthly basis[1] first by the Modeinstitut Berlin and then, by the Verlag für die Frau.[7][8] Therefore, the headquarters of the magazine moved from Berlin to Leipzig.[9]
Sibylle covered brands from East German and other communist countries without featuring those reflecting the Western consumerism.[4] In other words, it never focused on stimulating consumption or creating incentives to buy.[10]
However, the magazine did not always represent the official approach of the state, particularly by the late 1960s and during the 1980s.[1] Each issue of the magazine was controlled by the women's commission of the party's central committee before the publication.[11] Ute Mahler, a photographer and curator who worked for Sibylle, argued that the East German authorities did not consider the magazine as a significant publication and therefore, censorship was not strict.[11] Nevertheless, some of the issues of Sibylle were not permitted by the East German authorities due to its coverage of women wearing blue jeans or mini skirts[9] and due to featuring smiling models.[5]
Although Sibylle was a fashion-oriented magazine, it also covered articles dealing with art, literature, travel, theater and included interviews.[7] The magazine allocated forty pages for fashion-related themes and the remaining forty pages for culture-related subjects.[11] The work by German photographers Roger Melis, Günter Rössler, Werner Mahler and Sibylle Bergmann was frequently featured in the magazine.[5][7] Arno Fischer was another photographer who worked for Sibylle.[9] His revolutionary fashion photographs showing the models in the middle of the street were first published in the magazine.[9] Dorothea Melis was one of the fashion editors of the magazine.[5] Following her assignment to the post by Margot Pfannstiel she redesigned and modernized the magazine.[6]
In addition to fashion photography, Sibylle included daily life photography which featured not only East Germany but also Eastern Europe countries and the Soviet Union.[1] Those taken in Moscow were very frequent.[1] The magazine became very popular among women due to its coverage of sophisticated self-sewing articles which was very popular in the country at that time.[5] It was also sold in Moscow introducing the fashion trends in East Germany to the Soviet women.[12]
For a long time the circulation of Sibylle was 200,000 copies.[9] Following the reunification of Germany the magazine continued to be published. However, due to financial reasons Sibylle folded in 1995.[4]
In 2001 a documentary film was made about Sibylle.[8] It has also been subject of several exhibitions in different cities of Germany, including Rostock, Rüsselsheim and Cottbus.[13] One of them was in Dresden which opened in April 2018.[13] In June 2019 another exhibition entitled Sibylle – Die Ausstellung was held in Berlin.[1][4]
In 2016 Ute Mahler published a book covering the photographs and other items published in Sibylle.[11]
