As a studio arts, fibres and material practices student at Montreal’s Concordia University and having worked in the fashion industry, Serah-Marie McMahon wasn’t able to find the insightful fashion writing she craved as a reader. While skimming through newsstands, she found nothing she could relate to in traditional fashion magazines. So she created Worn Fashion Journal. “I was experimenting with what I liked,” says McMahon. “I said to myself, ‘I can make it and don’t have to wait for someone else to create it.’” For 10 years, as editor-in-chief, McMahon documented what fashion could be—focusing on reporting, not just trends.

But last November, Worn ceased publication after 20 issues. McMahon says it was her choice to shut the doors. The magazine’s longevity depended on factors such as time, funding and resources. But while its print run of 5,000 was small, the dedication of its readers proved that some people want an alternative to mainstream fashion publications.

Fashion journalism covers clothes, style and trends in both service pieces and analytical features, but Canadian magazines have relied heavily on how-to lists and glossy centrefolds. This means readers get little analysis—adding fuel to the classic debate about whether fashion journalism is real journalism. But today, despite the closing of Worn, tried-and-tested formats are being challenged. Some determined fashion writers are trying their hand at heavily-reported cultural trend pieces that blend fashion and current events. VICE, for instance, reported on what it’s like for minorities to work in the industry. And in November 2014, Flare Magazine ran a controversial online piece about how appearance affects impression in Jian Ghomeshi sexual assault case. These publications are trying to lead with balanced service journalism and solid, well-written articles, but the formula hits a roadblock when magazines still feel the pressure to appeal to consumers.

Creating an in-depth fashion magazine isn’t easy because editors and writers still have to cater to advertisers. A concern for what sells can overwhelm a publication. “There needs to be more of a separation between advertisements and editorials because of how melded they are together,” says Sabrina Maddeaux, fashion and design editor at Now Magazine. “It all comes down to how independent the publication is.”

Editorial content can seem like promotions in disguise. Even a series of photographs with a narrative and a theme can reinforce the stereotype that the genre relies on sell-heavy visuals. “Editorials are not taken seriously, it’s no surprise,” says Nathalie Atkinson, culture critic and columnist for The Globe and Mail. The images are a huge part of the problem, but the visual content gets the most recognition. At the National Magazine Awards in 2013, Flare won gold for fashion and silver for best art direction for its November 2013 issue. ELLE Canada won gold for best beauty shoot, and Fashion Magazine won silver for still photography. The majority of the awards these magazines won went to the visual content rather than the writing.

But according to ELLE Canada features director Kathryn Hudson, fashion journalism is undergoing a shift. Photography will still have a place in fashion magazines, but it will have to share space with stories that deserve equal attention.

Meanwhile, there is a “serious or not” debate between bloggers and journalists. Bloggers are a vital part of fashion coverage, but readers see them less as journalists and more like social media gurus. As fashion magazines try to adopt a more serious tone, though, bloggers have been left a platform to establish their voice and keep fashionistas informed, blurring the ethical lines by producing both good pieces and PR-related content. Both serve different purposes and borrow from each other, although it can be hard to tell them apart. “It’s become a question of, are you a fashion journalist or not?” says Atkinson. “Bloggers want to call themselves journalists and have to behave with journalists’ standards. They’re not less than fashion journalists—they’re just different.”

Elio Iannacci, features editor for Fashion Magazine, says the industry is too exclusive. “We have fashion television shows, good and bad, discussing fashion and great magazines and blogs,” he says. “That whole old world thinking is outdated and unfashionable, it doesn’t make any sense to think that way.”

Fashion publishing has been depicted as a harsh industry in popular movies such as The Devil Wears Prada. This world is full of well-dressed people who will do whatever it takes to get to those higher places. “The fashion industry is portrayed as cruel, cold and soul-crushing, and something our heroine has to overcome,” says Haley Mlotek, a former Worn publisher. “That idea has seeped into our real-life interpretation of what fashion journalism is.”

But today’s journalists are trying to push past these stereotypes and return to the standard investigative style that Worn started. Its last issue hit stands in November but it remains an example of how fashion magazines can be a hybrid of both beautiful visuals and quality storytelling.

Illustration by Harrisson Joseph

Julie Montpetit is preparing for her close-up. The camera pans from her black platform pumps to the nut-coloured leather belt cinched high on her waist. She’s perfectly composed until you meet her eyes, which are tearing up with fright, pink and wet under the spotlights.

It’s a Friday morning in downtown Montreal, and any other day of the week this low-ceilinged room in the basement of the city’s CBC building on René-Lévesque Boulevard East would be an unassuming rehearsal space. Today, contestants pace in front of mirrors memorizing lines while a local evening news crew lurks in the hallway preparing to report on the scene. As for Montpetit, she’s standing in front of a backdrop with theFashion File logo splashed over it, staring at the camera, getting ready to introduce herself. She’s a Montreal school teacher and loves fashion. Like so many people from Vancouver to Halifax, she wants to be the next host of CBC Newsworld’s Fashion File.

Fashion File has been on Newsworld for 17 years. In that time, the program has become an international export, airing in more than 75 countries. For every one of those years, Tim Blanks delivered weekly fashion news from the world’s runways. But the well-known host resigned earlier this year to take a position at Condé Nast’s Style.com. “TV is a lot different now than when Tim started,” says producer Chris Chilco. “We’ve been on the air with the same host for 17 years. That doesn’t happen anymore.” Banks’s departure necessitated a revamp, but Chilco thinks it was probably about time anyway. The first step is recruiting a new host, and Fashion File‘s methods certainly show just how different TV has become.

On September 27, countrywide auditions began for a reality series called Fashion File Host Hunt. The prize will have more real-world cache than any other reality game show. The winner of the 10-episode series becomes Fashion File‘s new host and a monthly columnist for Fashion magazine (St. Joseph Media, which publishes Fashion, is the show’s production partner).

The Host Hunt website suggests star-struck mall-shoppers need not apply. Among other qualities, candidates must have strong reporting skills for both TV and print, good interviewing skills and a solid knowledge of the fashion industry. These resume items may give Host Hunt an aura of seriousness atypical of reality fare, but the question remains why CBC decided to indulge in the genre just one year after publicly balking at the thought. And the country’s top fashion editors complain that introducing the values of reality TV to fashion journalism diminishes the quality of their work.

• • •

In the Montreal studio, each candidate receives the same drill. There is a question about why they should be the new host, and a question about their personal style. There’s a stand-up, and a chance to record some farewell niceties for Tim Blanks. There’s plenty of enthusiasm and enough designer style to fill 50 Holt’s bags, but it’s difficult to tell whether anyone has any skill outside of the dressing room. For on-site producer Corinna Lehr, the real test comes later. “This is just an audition, absolutely,” she says. “The show will be the more legitimate job interview.”

In the Host Hunt waiting room, in the basement of the Montreal CBC building, there are plenty of journalists – from those who’ve covered the Middle East to the latest season of Project Runway – and there are also publicists, designers, lawyers, ex-models, actors and a tour guide.

Whatever the motivation, glamour is a long way off, even by reality-audition standards. By the 9 a.m. sign-in time, only nine hopefuls are in line. By the end of the sign-in period (which, for stragglers, is extended past its noon deadline) not quite 30 have passed through. Lehr says they had approximately 40 in Halifax two days prior.

Hopefuls are led downstairs to a low-ceilinged rehearsal space that could pass for an old church basement. Not much can be heard above the buzz of fluorescent bulbs but nervous whispers and small talk. Two would-be fashionistas at the casting director’s desk ham it up for the behind-the-scenes camera by staging a faux interview.

The pace is slow, much to the relief of those waiting. Michael Sinnott and Brent Madigan are next up. “I thought I saw a lot of heads outside and was like ?Oh no!'” says Sinnott. “But when I got here at eight there weren’t that many people.” Madigan adds, “I thought it would be more Canadian Idol style, but no. It’s got me more excited.”

• • •

Last October, CBC president Robert Rabinovitch was quoted at a meeting of Parliament’s Heritage Committee saying, “?We do not do reality programming. If we just were chasing audiences, or just were chasing rating points, we could do reality programming.” Since then, CBC has not only developed reality shows like the upcoming Host Hunt, it has also launched a new corporate department – dubbed the Factual Entertainment Division – dedicated to the cultivation of similar programming. “Another way to say reality,” says Chilco.

Rabinovitch was grilled at a meeting of the Heritage Committee, held on September 27, 2005. New Democratic Party heritage critic Charlie Angus asked him: “I’m wondering, did something change dramatically in the six or seven months between deciding on that show and when we were told that we would not have reality TV?” Rabinovitch told Angus his remarks from 2005 were ambiguous, that the CBC would broadcast a different style of reality TV and that the Factual Entertainment Division would avoid “shows that stress plastic surgery, sex and humiliation [and the] eating of insects.”

Chilco echoes Rabinovitch, saying Host Hunt aims to be more sophisticated than typical reality TV fare. “The genre isn’t going anywhere but there’s plenty of room to make it smarter.” But reality TV, especially of the reality search variety, can also be nothing more than a sophisticated marketing exercise. Chilco doesn’t denyHost Hunt is an ideal promo for the launch of a rebranded Fashion File. “It works nicely with promotion,” says Chilco, “but I don’t think it was thought up as a promotion.”

With the departure of a high-profile host like Blanks, there might also be the suspicion that Host Hunt was dreamt up out of desperation. Not so, says Cathie James, the Factual Entertainment Division executive in charge of the program. James says the program’s development has nothing to do with failing numbers. “It’s not a matter of ?Ohmigod, the numbers are going down! We’ve got to fix it!’ says James. “It’s more the CBC really needs to grow and improve something.” Although Newsworld does not make audience figures public, James says, “Fashion File is one of the most successful CBC television shows of the last 20 years.”

• • •

It’s Saturday morning, the second day of auditions in Montreal, and the energy in the waiting room is high. Field director Richard Yearwood has just chased the first group of 10 from the lobby to the waiting room. He’s laughing and jumping from interview to interview. His bobbing camera gets a chuckle from a woman in Jackie O glasses and stilettos who’s been avoiding his probing lens. An hour and a half later, he’s revving up group cheer sessions for the camera.

Clusters of hopefuls file into the basement 10 by 10, teetering on this season’s must-have high-heeled boots and pulling demo reels from oversized purses. Some have been waiting upstairs since 8 a.m. Others, like one former fashion model, are casual visitors lured in by today’s CBC building open house who’ve been culled by casting volunteers. This suddenly quickened pace is definitely truer to the genre’s form.

Whether or not CBC will succeed with Host Hunt won’t be known until the series airs in February. While we await the verdict – flop or hit – reality TV’s tacky reputation makes industry professionals such as Flare editor-in-chief Lisa Tant nervous. “I work my ass off,” she says, and the same goes, she says, of colleagues such as Blanks, whom she regularly sees when covering catwalks. “If you go in there and you’ve got what it takes and they’re putting you next to somebody who just has a perky attitude and just looks good on TV, frankly, I think it’s insulting.”

Jeanne Beker, host of Fashion Television – Fashion File‘s flashier competition – has a similarly critical view. “Can’t imagine that a bonafide, experienced, credible journalist would want to subject him/herself to a reality show competition of this nature,” she writes from her BlackBerry. “But then again, maybe they’re not looking for a bonafide, credible, experienced type.”

• • •

Back on Friday, the first day of try-outs, Paris Mansouri is beaming as she leaves the audition room. Petite, with sleek black hair and wide, excited dark eyes, she has a tendency to burst into quick repartee. “I went to J-school for Jeanne Beker,” Mansouri says, and indeed, she bears more than a little resemblance to the fashion journalism icon. Mansouri does casual work for CBC Montreal’s radio news. She has reported from the Middle East and was a senior editor for the Egyptian fashion magazine, Enigma. Fashion File, however, is her dream gig, as it has been since she was a kid tuning into Fashion File and Fashion Television every week. “That’s what I knew of journalism,? she says. Mansouri found out about Host Hunt through her work at CBC and doesn’t have any qualms about doing a reality show for the spot instead of a simple, internal job interview. “It’s TV 101 to attract viewership,” she says. “Maybe people would feel that a show to get the new Peter Mansbridge would be wrong, but it doesn’t discredit this program.”

The Host Hunt team says the show is conceived as a contest, but that only the most serious, qualified person stands a chance of winning. Fashion editor-in-chief Ceri Marsh, who will play a yet-to-be-defined role in the show, says, “Anyone has a shot, but they’re not the one who wins – obviously the most skilled person will succeed.”

Another contestant, Guy Gerbal, knows this. Covering fashion, like covering the news, takes dedicated reporting. Today he’s just one applicant in a room, but from 2000 to 2004 he was a member of the Fashion File team, assembling reports for its French-language counterpart, Griffe. Gerbal left Griffe when the show stopped, but now he’s jumping at the chance to rejoin the team again – this time as host.

With his arms crossed tightly across his chest, Gerbal appears nervous. His eyes dart around the room as he sizes up the competition. He points out a couple of local fashion insiders kiss-kissing across the room. “It’s difficult,? he says. “I don’t know, maybe some people are just coming for fun, dreaming of being on TV.”

Gerbal’s gaze continues to flit back and forth until casting director Larissa Mair catches his attention. “You’re up,” she says. Gerbal exhales loudly. He brushes off his slacks, takes a script from Mair and prepares to audition. It’s time to face reality.