I blame The September Issue – the documentary by RJ Cutler released last year about the making of the September American Vogue, aka the fattest, most door-stopping magazine of the year. After all, although September issues of glossy magazines have long had importance inside the fashion industry (thanks to the revenue they generate via their advertising pages), outside the industry, it hasn’t been an event. Not something that merited a trumpeting press release. But that was then.

Now, September issues seem to have transmogrified from the traditional back-to-work seasonal primers of pre-recession years into attention-getting opportunities. What else, really, explains the decision by new W editor Stefano Tonchi to conduct “show-and-tell” meetings about his redesigned September issue, including the decision to put eight relatively unknown actresses on his gatefold cover as opposed to, for example, the relatively well-known Julia Roberts, who graces US Elle’s cover?

And what else explains so many of the glossies that have recently landed on my desk with a thud, this being mid-August and fashion being obsessed with the need to be first – even when it comes to the calendar? They may not merit their own movie, but their contents seem designed to provoke, although what, exactly, is the point of the provocation is not clear.