When Stephen Gan bestows a cover of V or VMAN upon an emerging talent, superstardom is almost a given. No wonder every aspiring actor, musician, and personality covets his attention. As for Gan’s mission? The FLA Visionary Award winner weighs in…
“One of the greatest pleasures about this job is giving a platform to new talent, whether that’s the next big model or a new artist on the rise. I love being able to give someone a stage on which they can express themselves creatively, while also linking them up with some of the world greatest image-makers. For me, V is really about giving these people a creative platform, and it’s been a huge pleasure to be able to offer that stage to people like Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Sam Smith, Gigi Hadid, and Miley Cyrus. For many of them, V was their first fashion cover. To me, that’s what it’s all about.
Everyone in this business is so obsessed with shining a light upon themselves. I just feel like everyone in the fashion industry should collectively take a moment and think about shining a light on someone else. To be able to give someone else a platform—where you’re not necessarily center stage, but you’re presenting people—is the greatest reward of this job. They express their creativity through their usual mediums, but what I think V and VMAN have done is give a visual to their self-expression. As Tim Blanks once described it, I’m just the ringmaster.” -Stephen Gan
