The Business of Magazines

[Benn98]

Very telling when your best selling issue so far is a reprint......

Vanity Fair’s Radhika Jones on Fashion and the New Best-Dressed List
The editor-in-chief and chief business officer Chris Mitchell tell BoF about the magazine’s approach to fashion and style ahead of Jones’s first trip to the European shows.

BY CHANTAL FERNANDEZSEPTEMBER 5, 2018 05:25

NEW YORK, United States — This upcoming fashion month will be something of a coming out for Vanity Fair’s new editor-in-chief Radhika Jones, who is heading to Milan and Paris for the first time.

As the former books editor for the New York Times and deputy managing editor for Time magazine, Jones, who joined the magazine in January 2018, is an unknown to the fashion world. The industry is eager to understand her vision for the general interest magazine known for its glamorous, mischievous take on high and low culture, and the dramas of international power players. Her reserved demeanour stands in contrast to that of her predecessors Tina Brown and Graydon Carter, two of the most prominent “celebrity editors” of the magazine boom years.

It’s been a tough year for Vanity Fair's publisher Condé Nast, which lost $120 million last year and aims to reduce that figure by half in 2018 by selling three titles, reducing expenses and developing new streams of revenue beyond traditional print advertising. Vanity Fair is one of the publisher’s core brands, and Jones’s tenure has provided an opportunity to not only modernise the magazine’s coverage but also cut bloated paychecks and contributor contracts that weighed on its bottom line.

While Jones’s April cover for the magazine — featuring actress, writer and producer Lena Waithe, not a typical cover star, wearing a plain white t-shirt — spoke volumes about how the editor wants to use the media brand’s platform to shine a light on a new generation of tastemakers, her vision for how she wants to evolve Vanity Fair is still hard to pin down.

“I look at [Vanity Fair] as one of the great, truly general interest magazines,” Jones tells BoF. “And for me, it exists at the intersection of personality and power.” And she says the fashion world fits right into those core specialties.

Her approach hasn’t alienated readers — or brought in many new ones. While single-copy sales have decreased since Jones took over the magazine, averaging 101,834 a month in the first half of 2018 versus 128,140 a month in the second half of 2017, subscriptions have increased in the same time periods to 1.13 million from 1.12 million, according to the Alliance for Audited Media. Jones’s best selling cover was May 2018, featuring Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

In April, Vanity Fair also introduced a digital paywall that has exceeded expectations, says Chris Mitchell, the chief business officer of Condè Nast’s Culture Collection (which includes The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, W, Teen Vogue and Them). The magazine was unable to share metrics.

Fashion is Vanity Fair’s largest advertising category, and therefore a crucial community for Jones to meet. To mark Jones’s first season abroad, Condé Nast’s artistic director and American Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour will host a cocktail party for her in Paris on September 26.

The timing will be fortuitous. In the October issue out September 6, featuring actress Felicity Jones, Radhika Jones presents a new best-dressed list developed with executive fashion director Samira Nasr, who joined the magazine from Hearst’s Elle in June.

When Vanity Fair’s former editor-in-chief Graydon Carter left last December, followed out the door in the subsequent months by most of his top editors, the International Best Dressed List presented in the magazine’s pages each fall since 2004 went with him. The list that started in 1940 actually belongs to Carter and editors Aimee Bell, Amy Fine Collins and Reinaldo Herrera. Its originator, Eleanor Lambert (the founder of the CFDA and New York Fashion Week), bequeathed it to them in 2002, a year before she died.

So, Jones started her own best-dressed list, wrangling a panel of judges that features both newer names to the magazine’s orbit, such as model Farida Khelfa, and longstanding contributors, such as stylist Elizabeth Saltzman. Other judges include the Studio Museum in Harlem’s director and chief curator Thelma Golden, creative director Alexandre de Betak, runway music producer Michel Gaubert, YouTube’s Derek Blasberg and jewellery designer Lisa Eisner.

The result is a tight list of 43 honorees — the International list featured hundred of names each year — ranging from the Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle to Rihannaand Donald Glover, as well as fashion’s own Miuccia Prada, Ralph Lauren and Duro Olowu. Instead of New York and European high society fixtures, the new list favours stylish personalities from the art world who might be less known to Vanity Fair’s audience, such as writer Édouard Louis, art curator Louise Neri and French rapper Eddy de Pretto. The list is accompanied online by a video series featuring Tracee Ellis Ross, Jeff Goldblum, Lakeith Stanfield and Troye Sivan talking about their style evolutions.

“There’s a lot of fun being had in the world of fashion and celebrity right now, it seemed to me,” says Jones. “Who is really out there pushing the boundaries in fashion, what would that look like?”

The new best-dressed list follows a graphic redesign introduced in the September style issue, covered by Michelle Williams wearing Louis Vuitton shot by Collier Schorr. (Despite the fact that the actress and photographer worked on Louis Vuitton ads together this season, a representative for the magazine says the cover was not an ad, but a coincidence.) Jones enlisted creative director Chris Dixon to reimagine the visual vocabulary of the magazine with more energy and clarity — there is more white space, columns of text run longer, the typefaces are rounder and the masthead is slightly smaller. Jones says she was inspired by the issues from Tina Brown’s era and Carter’s early years, and says the reaction has been encouraging.

But the new Vanity Fair also has its critics, including Cable Neuhaus at Folio, who praised the mix of stories in its pages but described the magazine as “more modest at every level” and lacking “the kind of buzzy stories that helped propel the magazine to superstardom.”

An annual best-dressed list has become a key franchise for Vanity Fair — one that Mitchell identified as under-leveraged when he started working on Vanity Fair five years ago — which means that losing it when Carter left posed a problem. But Mitchell says there are advantages to working with a Vanity Fair-owned list because the magazine has “the freedom to really brand everything we do around it much more in the cloak of Vanity Fair, which it wasn't before."

Two years ago, Saks Fifth Avenue became a partner on the best-dressed list and has co-hosted an accompanying party each year in New York with the magazine. Mitchell says the retailer was “looking at the time for a real franchise that they could own.” The partnership continues: in the month leading up the reveal of the new list, Vanity Fair released portraits of the honorees online, photographed by Eleanor Lambert’s grandson Moses Berkson, wearing looks available at Saks Fifth Avenue. The next co-hosted party will be held this month.

Events are core to Vanity Fair’s business, especially as print advertising continues to decline. There are the conferences, including the New Establishment Summit, inspired by the magazine’s annual list of influencers in technology, media, entertainment, politics and the Founders Fair designed for female entrepreneurs. And then there are the parties, tied to the Cannes Film Festival and the Emmy’s (co-hosted this year with FX), as well as the famous annual Oscar party, which will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Vanity Fair’s Hollywood issue next year.

There's something interesting to me in the combination of fashion and personal expression that I think is very key to the way that celebrity works now.

“[The Oscar party] continues, despite all the changes in our media business, to be a hugely profitable driver of direct and indirect sponsorship and media dollars,” says Mitchell. He says the VF team is also working on an event that will fill the political void left after the magazine stopped hosting a party after the White House Correspondents Dinner with Bloomberg.

Mitchell says the challenges facing media are not so different from the challenges disrupting fashion and retail — both are competing with online businesses and seeking ways to engage audiences through content. Vanity Fair’s long-form journalism and high/low take on culture, as pioneered by Tina Brown, is a vehicle for that engagement. And the fact that the magazine isn’t focused on fashion helps it stand out from competitor s because advertisers aren’t only focused on credits and coverage, he says.

But now, brands want to see that Vanity Fair is attracting the next generation of fashion consumers too.

“That's what we're in the middle of showing them,” says Mitchell. “These are the ways that we take this iconic brand and we continue to evolve it… All of this is relevant to the evolution of not just the media landscape, but in our case the evolution of the editorship.”

Mitchell, who is also Condé Nast’s industry lead for fashion and retail, is looking forward to introducing Jones to clients in Milan and Paris. He says that the way Jones and Nasr are rethinking the way the magazine’s approach to covering fashion and style — more forward-looking, adventurous, younger, diverse — is reflective of changes within the industry, which is tapping into the current zeitgeist of inclusivity and diversity.

“There's something interesting to me in the combination of fashion and personal expression that I think is very key to the way that celebrity works now, where you have different perceptions of what glamour even is and different perceptions of what authenticity is,” says Jones. “The fashion world is such an interesting world of personality and power and creativity. Those are topics that we specialise in.”

Source: Businessoffashion.com

 

[GivenchyAddict]

Dazed Makes a Play for Beauty
The youth media brand is launching Dazed Beauty in a bid to tap a fast-growing beauty market powered by millennial consumers, selfie culture, YouTube influencers and new direct-to-consumer brands.

Dazed Beauty | Source: Courtesy
LONDON, United Kingdom — Dazed Media is betting big on beauty.

In a fast-growing beauty market powered by millennial consumers, selfie culture, YouTube influencers and a new generation of direct-to-consumer brands, the London-based youth media brand is launching a new platform: Dazed Beauty. The channel goes live in September with a print supplement, followed by Instagram on the 6th and the website on 26th.

“At Dazed, we’re really tapping into the mindset of a new generation and we saw how people were passionate about blurring the boundaries between beauty ideals. We felt that they were very under-represented in the media,” said Jefferson Hack, founder of Dazed Media, which operates Dazed, Dazed Digital, AnOther, Another Man and Nowness, and attracts 5 million monthly unique visitors. (Dazed Digital accounts for about half, with 2.65 million monthly unique visitors.)

“Dazed is inclusive, radical and exciting. We’re not a beauty blog saying this is the trend of the season. We want to be talking about what beauty means in all its dimensions and not simply via putting out images,” added Bunney Kinney, who has added editor-in-chief of Dazed Beauty to his existing responsibilities as editorial director at Dazed Media and is working on the new venture in partnership with makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench, who has joined Dazed Beauty as creative director.

For the last 50 years, brands have cultivated a kind-of homogenous style of what beauty is.

“Beauty is always something that moves me rather than talking about a person or an aesthetic. It’s trying to broaden people’s mind and awareness as to what is beautiful,” said Ffrench, who is also the international creative artist consultant for Tom Ford.

An editorial team of nine has been installed for the launch, including Amelia Abraham who joins as managing editor, Tish Weinstock as commissioning editor, Nellie Eden as associate editor, and Ben Freeman — who conceived the new Dazed Beauty logo — as creative consultant, among others. Several contributing editors have also been confirmed, including Lil Miquela, Theo Adams, Cyndia Harvey, Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff of Gal-Dem and Ione Gamble of Polyester Zine.

The move is also a play for the big budgets of major beauty advertisers, which are trying to modernise their marketing formulas in a bid to appeal to millennials. “A lot of brands are really hungry for finding new ways of expressing themselves. They don’t know how, because for the last 50 years, they have been doing the same thing, which is cultivating a kind-of homogenous style of what beauty is,” said Ffrench.

The new Dazed Beauty logo conceived by Ben Freeman | Source: Courtesy

Dazed Media currently generates 35 percent of its revenue through display advertising and 65 percent from branded content. The company was unable to confirm any commercial partners for Dazed Beauty, though the company said that talks were ongoing.

Rival youth-oriented publishers including Refinery29 and Vice Media-backed i-D are also targeting the opportunity at the intersection of youth and beauty. “90 percent of our audience say they visit Refinery29 for beauty content,” said Katie Ward, executive vice president of Refinery29 International, who added that beauty was a key revenue driver for the business. The company currently reaches 425 million users across all platforms and has global revenue in nine figures.

Meanwhile, i-D has appointed a new beauty editor — Shannon Peter, who joins in October from Byrdie — and is currently hiring for several beauty positions. "Social media has further opened up the conversation around beauty as a form of self-expression and given rise to exciting new voices, speaking out to challenge and ultimately change the status quo, which resonates with [our] DNA,” said i-D’s editor-in-chief Holly Shackleton.

But Hack isn’t overly concerned with the competition. “What I care about is that we make a genuine connection with our audience and build a real community around Dazed Beauty. If Bunny and Isamaya succeed in that, the advertisers and brands will want to participate.”

Business of fashion

 

[Benn98]

at the subtle jab at Vogue! But Nina should keep it real though - of course Emma would 'give her access', what with LV involved.

Media People: Nina Garcia of Elle Magazine

A year into leading Elle, Garcia spoke to WWD about print's place, celebrities interviewing themselves and the surprise hit "Project Runway."

By Kali Hays on September 6, 2018

It’s hot outside, too, being the end of August in New York, but for some reason the cool air pumping freely through the rest of Hearst Tower is not making its way into Garcia’s relatively new office on the 24th floor. A pair of large, ceramic, red lips sitting in one wall-length window look hot to the touch. She’s concerned her blown out and expertly highlighted hair is flat — it’s not — and there are photos to be taken, a video to shoot. But, she smooths her Prada dress and carries on — 30 years in magazine publishing and nearly 20 in television have probably prepared her for worse than hair that doesn’t meet her expectations.

But details do seem important to Garcia, who a year ago became editor in chief of Elle, where she spent a major part of her career before joining “Project Runway” and then becoming creative director of Marie Claire. A short unboxing video made to promote Elle’s September issue, Garcia’s first, on her Instagram isn’t exactly what she wanted. The box holding the magazine is “not an Elle box,” the pink ribbon is a little tacky, even if in the end, the video got close to 15,000 views.

Garcia also doesn’t seem one to dwell. The unboxing video seems pushed immediately out of her mind, and the state of her hair entirely forgotten, when she starts in on her childhood in Colombia, where fashion magazines, which she was drawn to as a girl, were scarce. Since her father was a wealthy importer she managed to get an international hotel to order some in — “I cherished them.” She used magazine pages to make covers for her schoolbooks. “Who knew,” Garcia said, shrugging at the idea of any kind of fate.

As she got older and after she moved to the U.S. to finish school, Garcia’s interest in fashion shifted and she got into the industry, first on the public relations side then quickly on the editorial publishing side, where she’s been ever since. Even having spent her whole career at magazines, maintaining editorial positions throughout the entirety of her TV career, Garcia says being editor in chief of a title wasn’t something she was actively working toward. With her high profile thanks to “Project Runway,” she probably could have gotten herself another television gig, but Hearst Magazines seems eager to have people like Garcia — popular, open to social media and its stars and demands, and eager to branch out — at the top of its brands. And at the top she sits.

WWD caught up with Garcia to discuss her first year leading Elle, the industry now and when she started out and the merits of having celebrities interview each other, among other things.

WWD: Did you ever think you would be an editor in chief of a magazine? Was that something you aspired to?

Nina Garcia: No, but I had it very clear that I wanted to be in fashion. I thought I’d be a designer and I very quickly found out that I am not a designer. But I did learn and I became passionate about the magazines and it was such a privilege to be able to appreciate all of the designers, their designs, to discover designers and to communicate to women what you find, what you’re seeing, what the trends are. That very quickly became my passion.

WWD: Was there a time when it dawned on you, “Oh, I have a knack for this,” or did somebody tell you?

N.G.: I don’t know. I started in the business as an intern, as everybody else does, and I thought, you know what, I really enjoy doing this and I’m really good at it and I very quickly moved through the ranks. So that kind of gave me the reinforcement that I was good at it and I never wavered. I was so focused and I loved it. Once I started working in magazines, I really, really loved it. I didn’t want to do anything else.

WWD: And what time was this, the late Eighties?

N.G.: Yeah, this was the late Eighties, early Nineties.

WWD: So the heyday…

N.G.: It was the heyday, it totally was. My first job was at Mirabella magazine under Grace Mirabella and that was great. Jade Hobson was the creative director and she was the one that hired me in my first position as an assistant. Everybody went through Mirabella at that time, it was really interesting.

WWD: Who else went through there then?

N.G.: Oh, I’m really dating myself. It was Paul Sinclaire, it was Heidi Baron, who was at the time married to Fabien [Baron], it was — and these are names that might not be very relevant because it’s a long time ago — Kathryn MacLeod, she was doing the booking. Tracee Ellis Ross was working as an intern; Samira Nasir was there. A lot of people touched there. Again, we were all assistants or interns.

WWD: Do you see big differences between how the industry operated then and how it operates now?

N.G.: Oh my god, the industry has changed so much. It really has been like a switch, right? It continues to change, but I think with change there is so much opportunity. Obviously, when we would go to the shows back then, we would bring slides, we would have to get the slides, you know those little Kodak slides, and choose the looks we liked and then they were transferred into photographs and that’s how we made look books and selected the looks [for the magazine]. I mean, crazy. And now everything is online, you can experience a fashion show in real time, the democratization of fashion, incredible. But with all this access it’s brought so many more voices to the forefront, which I think is fantastic.

WWD: And how do you think print magazines fit in that dynamic now? In the time you’re describing, they were very vital to the industry, people actually needed them to see what was going on. You couldn’t look anything up online, there was no online, but now there is, so what’s the service of a magazine now?

N.G.: Good content is always going to be good content. When you have good content, it’s always so meaningful. The amount of work that goes into writing a good feature, research, fact checking, editing, it’s so important. In the same way, so much energy goes into a beautiful photo. The location scouting, the creative process of coming up with the idea, it’s a very complex process that again, gives you good content. It has changed, undeniably so, but what I think is so fascinating and for me, what I love, is that I am able to communicate with readers. It’s not just information going one way but I get feedback. Now I have all of this information and can really cater that content to what they’re interested in. I think that is the future — to be able to kind of personalize content more to what’s happening. We have that information, we have access to it, so I think it makes our jobs, not easier, but I think more interesting, when we have that two-way conversation.

WWD: It sounds like there has been a shift from the time you started, when it was basically the magazines telling the consumer what they needed to know or what they should know or what they should want to the opposite.

N.G.: Yes and no. I also think there’s so much information that you need a curated point of view. You do need somebody that is an expert in whatever their field is — cooking, fashion styling, whatever it is — curators and experts in every category right now because there’s so much information. Yes, there is a back and forth with the reader, but there’s still a level of expertise and curation that can only come from people that are really steeped into whatever their field is. And with social media and technology, there’s so much opportunity to take print into places they’ve never been before. In April, we did the first personalized cover with Kim [Kardashian]. Then in July, we brought the reader the opportunity to not only shop the magazine but to try on the makeup through [the Samsung phone] camera.

WWD: And what’s the consumer reaction to that stuff — do you actually see an uptick in newsstand sales?

N.G.: Yes, [Kardashian] was a very successful cover for us and so was [July], we had 600 million media impressions with that one. I have been in print so much but…when I’m thinking about a cover I’m also thinking about how it will look online. Yes, we have the newsstand image, but we also need that Instagram image. How is it going to look on that little [phone] screen, because — like it or not — we are living our lives through that little screen. It’s always next to us. It’s not a bad thing for print, it’s an exciting time and it’s a time of opportunity. The first time around when I was at Elle, it was first to the market in so many ways.

WWD: It’s maybe the only straight fashion magazine that’s always been more culture and issues driven with the topics it covers. Is that something you want to push into?

N.G.: Absolutely. I think it’s very important for us to be a platform and voice for women’s issues. The first big event I had to do when I started was the Women in Hollywood event and it was such a, you know, right on the heels of the [Harvey] Weinstein scandal. What was incredibly impressive was to be in this room with all of these celebrities of all ages, and in the past I think it was about really celebrating celebrity, but that evening it was all these women sharing their experience with #MeToo or an abuse of power. That room was electrified and women were not only sharing their story by their concern for what it is that they could do for the next gen of women.

WWD: When you went into that event, right after Weinstein, did you feel any trepidation considering his involvement with “Project Runway?”

N.G.: You know, he really had such little contact with “Runway.” It was really a Lifetime project; Heidi [Klum] was executive producer. We really never had interaction with Harvey. Now that the show’s changed hands and the Weinsteins are no longer involved, it’s gone back to Bravo. Even what we’re experiencing today with our government, there has to be a silver lining, and it’s that we’re all going to come out better, we know we need to take a stance, we know we need to speak up, we know we need to have our voices heard, we know that we are the ones that have the power to make the change. We can’t ignore, it is a moment.

WWD: How do you think #MeToo is going to come to fashion? There have been some stops and starts with models talking about abuses in the industry, but I feel there’s more to come.

N.G.: Yes. At Hearst we’re hyper-aware of a code of ethics that we observe in all fashion shoots…but fashion has so many problems to tackle and we are tackling them the same way with conservation and sustainability and transparency in how we produce things, that’s also a topic that’s very hot. But big companies like Kering and Nike, they’re really looking into it and saying we need to be more transparent.

WWD: Do you think transparency is where a solution would come from? It seems that it’s maybe more of an overall cultural shift that needs to happen, like even fashion’s focus on the male gaze, which is very old and very ingrained and very powerful.

N.G.: Absolutely, but again, with technology and social media, these are all conversations that will help us. It’s brought about so many voices and can unite us.

WWD: So who do you think you’re talking to with Elle now?

N.G.: What’s interesting about Elle is that it has such a wide demographic and we have probably the youngest demographic in print. We have a young reader but we also have an older reader who can maybe afford [more]. So, it’s so important for us to be in that mix, high and low has always been so much a part of the conversation, part of the DNA of this brand, but we do have a very young reader and I think that’s what makes it so interesting and so different from the rest of the magazines out there.

WWD: How do you specifically appeal to a younger reader or what is it about Elle that appeals to them?

N.G.: It’s always been inclusive, it’s been democratic, it’s innovative, it’s bold, it’s provocative. That’s at the core forever and ever and that has never been so relevant as it is today. We are not reinventing the wheel at Elle. We do not need to change the messaging, because it has always been there, and I think it has been the reason of our success and our continued success.

WWD: Did you feel like coming from the fashion background that you did, working very close to the market, that that would impede you moving up to the editor in chief level?

N.G.: I don’t think I ever felt that. Somebody asked me recently did I always want to be an editor in chief and I thought, not really, I just enjoyed what I do in fashion and that I’m able to be part of it and I’ve been able to do so many other things in the fashion community. But this was a role that I didn’t think I could pass up, just because the brand is so important, the message is so important and the opportunity is so great.

WWD: Speaking of opportunity, at the time that you did it, joining “Project Runway” was a bit of a risk.

N.G.: It was an enormous risk. I thought it was going to be a real career killer. I’m like, “I will never get invited to another show in my entire life.”

WWD: Was it immediately positive and people accepted it?

N.G.: I think it was immediately positive. I would go to the shows and people would be like, “Tell us about this designer with the husks.” And at that time it was the perfect storm, H&M was happening, Zara was coming in, it was that time. And the industry had been so shrouded in secrecy that people were fascinated and I was fascinated that people were so curious.

WWD: Do you think anything has been lost by having some of that secrecy gone?

N.G.: No, I think it’s all been positive. When we talk about the abuse of power, #MeToo, it’s just like peeling an onion, it’s all about that transparency. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I know people might disagree with me, but it just makes us all better journalists, better editors, better people.

WWD: When the whole “Project Runway” thing first happened, did you doubt it at all?

N.G.: Oh, yes, completely. Completely doubted it. I was going through personal family issues, my mother was really ill in Colombia — so it was a combination of doubt and personal issues that I didn’t want to ignore or put aside, and it was very conflicting for me to be involved in the show but I took a chance and said, “If it fails, it fails.”

WWD: Did you think the show would last this long?

N.G.: No. But, it’s been a great show. I have 20-, 25-year-olds come up to me and say like, “Oh, I was a little kid watching you on TV” and I’m like, “Oh, that’s great, but please don’t tell me you were a kid watching me and now you’re a grown woman.…”

WWD: With Troy Young and Kate Lewis in place now [at Hearst], are you thinking of Elle’s business any differently?

N.G.: For now, it’s the same, but it will be evolving for sure.

WWD: And how is the mandate to work more with international going to shake out? Is it just more content sharing?

N.G.: We already do so much content sharing on both digital and print. It’s been so organic to this magazine for so long — we have 45 editions, we have constant meetings with international. One part of the job that I love is I get to work with all of those international brands and editors. And I like the content sharing. I think it’s an opportunity to really leverage the power that we have as a brand and that’s very attractive to advertisers, too. There have been covers that can go to 20, 30, 40 countries — that is huge leverage. Or there’s a story I might buy that I might not have thought of or I’m in a bind. It is a global market.

WWD: Do you think the individual editions lose any of their cultural oomph or resonance by sharing so much?

N.G.: No. I think we share enough, we don’t share everything. We still produce original content for all of the editions. Every country has their own sensibility so that needs to be observed but there are some cover girls and brands that really resonate across international boundaries, so it’s finding those stories in features and fashion and beauty.

WWD: With covers, have you been approaching them any differently?

N.G.: I think they’re bolder, they’re more colorful, they’re more positive. When I first came here, there were a lot of gray backgrounds. It was a little sullen and I wanted to bring that energy back. It’s what the brand stands for, so we’ve been working on that.

WWD: With the September cover with Emma Stone, you have Jennifer Lawrence interviewing her — is this the first time there’s been a celebrity best friend interview feature?

N.G.: Since I’ve been here we had Karl [Lagerfeld] interview Nicki [Minaj] and John Kerry interview Angelina Jolie — that was a real brokerage to do that — but I think it’s to offer the reader an unexpected approach for Elle. In terms of Emma and Jennifer, we had shot Nicki and then we shot Ariana Grande and it so happened during that shoot that Nicki was next door shooting for another magazine and after we wrapped, we all went to say hello to Nicki. I noticed there was such a phenomenal rapport between them and to be a fly on the wall listening to a conversation about boyfriends, careers and social media — it was so wonderful to see two women supporting each other and have a real friendship. When we had the opportunity to have [Stone and Lawrence] having a fly-on-the-wall conversation, I was like “Yes!,” because I wished I’d done it with Nicki and Ariana. [Critics] can write whatever they write but I’m telling you the reality.

WWD: From an outside perspective it almost seems like celebrities are getting an unprecedented level of control over their covers.

N.G.: I think that is a problem that a magazine that will go unmentioned here has and, sadly, it’s getting reflected onto us. [The Stone cover] didn’t come from, “Oh, she won’t give us access.” She would give us access. It was something that was offered and I was like, yes, because I had already thought of it for Ariana and it didn’t happen. Karl and Nicki was great, but Nicki interviewing Ariana, I think our readers would have been like, “Wow.” It’s also about the access that print has that digital does not — it’s not there yet.

WWD: Do you think it ever will be?

N.G.: I don’t know. Again it goes back to the quality of the content. I think that in some cases, celebrities still feel very safe with [print].

WWD: Do you think that the average reader can actually recognize good content?

N.G.: I think they can recognize good content. You know when you’re reading an amazing feature or you’re seeing a beautiful editorial. I think that’s what’s going to separate the girls from the women.

Source: WWD.com

 

[Melancholybaby]

Only English language article I could find about the topic. Condé Nast has announced the launch of Greek Vogue in Spring 2019. The editor-in-chief is 29 years old, the youngest in Vogue’s history. Condé Nast International to launch Vogue Greece

 

[MissMagAddict]

Glamour Said Next to Go All-Digital
The 80-year-old magazine could cease its print format come next year.

by Kali Hays Sept. 8, 2018

ANOTHER ONE TO SWITCH? It sounds like Glamour could be the next Condé Nast title set to say goodbye to print.

As part of the publisher’s ongoing restructuring, which was supposed to be wrapped up this year but instead has entered a new phase of sales and cuts under the advisory of Boston Consulting Group, the nearly 80-year-old, beauty-centric glossy looks slated to go all digital as soon as early next year, sources tell WWD.

The move to digital may have been the plan for a while, as the sources noted editor in chief Samantha Barry was in January brought in to helm Glamour for the specific purpose of molding the title into an online-only brand. When Condé revealed Barry as its choice to succeed Cindi Leive, who led Glamour for 16 years, it touted her as the publisher’s first “digital native editor.” Before Glamour, Barry was executive producer for social and emerging media at CNN Worldwide, and had never worked for a magazine or in women-focused media.

Barry also spoke of her digital savvy in taking the role, telling The New York Times she was bringing to Glamour “the ability to pivot.” Although she said at the time the print magazine was “a huge part” of Glamour, she pushed that “Glamour is a brand — it’s not just a magazine.”

A Condé spokesman declined to comment on “rumors.”

It is possible that there are multiple scenarios being considered for the future of Glamour, however, as Condé has shown business changes can sometimes happen quickly and lack precision. Before deciding to try and sell W, along with Brides and Golf Digest, a shutdown of W, already down to eight issues a year, was on the table. Then there is the combination of the American and British editions of Condé Nast Traveller, which seems overly complicated with headquarters to move to London, a Web site to be based in the U.S., a lot of shared content, fewer staffers and, for now, eight U.S. print issues and 10 U.K. print issues.

There is a British version of Glamour, which was downsized significantly last year and shifted to an almost entirely online outlet with a biannual print issue, so an attempt to go biannual in the U.S. and possibly stitch the two regions together, like Traveller, could be under consideration. In a humorously micromanaging memo to Condé business leads on talking points about the Traveller consolidation, Pamela Drucker Mann, Condé’s chief revenue and marketing officer, said “several new initiatives” between Condé and Condé Nast International could be expected.

Unlike with Traveller, sources said Glamour would be consolidated in the U.S., most likely under Barry’s stewardship.

Over the last decade or so, Condé has turned Self and Teen Vogue into online-only brands, folded the Web site of Epicurious into Bon Appétit, and closed a slew of magazines, including Lucky, Men’s Vogue, Vogue Living, Vitals, Details, Jane, House & Garden and Mademoiselle, among many others.

Simply looking at the latest print issue of Glamour gives some clues as to why online may be the best place for the title. The issue for September — historically one of the magazine world’s heftiest months — features an on-the-street cover shoot with the actor and comedian Tiffany Haddish and is only 148 pages, 55 of which are ads, essentially unchanged from the combined June/July issue with 134 pages, 56 of which were ads. For comparison’s sake, September’s Vanity Fair comes in at 220 pages, with 132 pages of ads, and issue number five of W (which comes in September) counts 188 pages, with 86 pages of ads.

Readership at Glamour also looks to be shrinking. Readers of print and digital subscriptions fell in July by 15 percent year over year to 8.6 million, according to the most recent data from the MPA-Association of Magazine Media, while Web readers fell by about 17 percent to 993,000. Year-to-date, subscription readers are down 10 percent, Web readers are down 19 percent and mobile readers are down 21 percent. There is at least one bright spot: Video, an online-only medium and a big investment area for Condé, is up by a significant 45 percent year-to-date.

Elsewhere at Condé, its prospective sales are said to be going rather slowly. The publisher still has not brought in bankers to prepare formal presentations for the magazines up for sale, although, as WWD has reported, Meredith is said to be eyeing Brides and Stefano Tonchi is meeting with investors in an effort to finance a deal for W, which he’s edited since 2010. As for Golf Digest, a clear suitor has yet to emerge. A source noted that should the title fail to sell, a backup plan could involve some combination of it with GQ. Currently, production schedules for the three titles on the block are business as usual, but planning only goes as far as February, which is the end of Condé’s fiscal year.
source l wwd

 

[Bertrando3]

WOW soooooooooo many magazines closed over the years + sooooo many of them now go digital. I wonder how L´Uomo Vogue will do in its Renaissance in this day and age. It also seems to me though that the only titles remaining so far are the big ones: Vogue, GQ, ELLE (although the Brazilian edition just closed), Harper´s Bazaar and Marie Claire. It will be interesting to see how the new Greek Vogue will do too in what I would call the WORST time for print magazines ever in history.

Truth be told I stopped myself buying magazines 4 years ago and went to only suscribe to digital editions of very few magazines. Many people don´t want to believe it but in a few years, at this current pace, very very very few magazines will survive in print.

 

[axiomatic]

Ex-Vogue staffer accused of stealing $50K turns down plea deal
By Rebecca Rosenberg


An Ex-Vogue staffer, accused of stealing more than $50,000 from the fashion magazine’s former creative director, rejected an offer Wednesday of five years’ probation.

Yvonne Bannigan, 24, would have to pay full restitution and cop to a felony to get the deal.

The Dublin-born fashionista pleaded not guilty to five counts of grand larceny Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court for allegedly racking up $53,564 in unauthorized purchases on Grace Coddington’s credit card.

She is also accused of failing to turn over $9,000 in proceeds from the online sale of Coddington’s goods, court records allege.

Bannigan, who briefly worked for Vogue, became Coddington’s personal assistant in 2016.

The flame-haired editor and former model had just stepped down as the magazine’s creative director.

Defense lawyer Michael Cornacchia said his client wouldn’t take the deal because she hasn’t done anything wrong.

“This case is being driven by Grace Coddington and as such her credibility, recollection and motives will be subject to scrutiny and challenge in the courtroom,” he said.

https://nypost.com/2018/09/05/ex-vogue-staffer-accused-of-stealing-50k-turns-down-plea-deal/

 

[axiomatic]

From the Glamour article MMA posted:

As for Golf Digest, a clear suitor has yet to emerge. A source noted that should the title fail to sell, a backup plan could involve some combination of it with GQ. Currently, production schedules for the three titles on the block are business as usual, but planning only goes as far as February, which is the end of Condé’s fiscal year.

I wonder what this means..will Golf Digest fold into GQ or is the reporter suggesting that GQ would be sold as a pair with Golf Digest? There's so much hedging in that article. Count the variations on "would be" "could" "should"

 

[ellastica]

Judging by the Cover: How the Magazine Industry’s Identity Crisis Is Playing Out on Its Front Page

Print may be dying, but the magazine cover still plays an essential role in defining—and sustaining—a media brand. Can the cover outlive the magazine?

By Alyssa Bereznak Sep 4, 2018, 9:17am EDT



It's a lengthy article so here's some accompanying cover images plus a link to the piece from The Ringer

 

[MissMagAddict]

Truth be told I stopped myself buying magazines 4 years ago.

Same.
Digital only.

 

[caioherrero]

Readership at Glamour also looks to be shrinking. Readers of print and digital subscriptions fell in July by 15 percent year over year to 8.6 million, according to the most recent data from the MPA-Association of Magazine Media, while Web readers fell by about 17 percent to 993,000. Year-to-date, subscription readers are down 10 percent, Web readers are down 19 percent and mobile readers are down 21 percent. There is at least one bright spot: Video, an online-only medium and a big investment area for Condé, is up by a significant 45 percent year-to-date.


The problem is with the leardship, change and you’ll see the numbers going up

 

[Benn98]

Love how VF's Jennifer Lawrence cover got conveniently left out of the conversation, essentially Radhika's first cover, whereas the Lena one is being used as her debut because it just sounds nicer and looks more contrasting. What I don't understand is if the cover is such a hyped draw, and the Lena one was all over Twitter and Instagram filled with praise and whatnot, why didn't all those people buy the magazine? Surely buying into it would mean the magazine would continue to produce more of the same? This ploy to use the cover as a bait to get more followers isn't sustainable. All it does is amp up social media stats and traffic to the website, which btw charge a minimal fee which in the greater scheme wouldn't begin to cover operating costs and at the end of the day people either get sacked or are forced to take a knock on remuneration. It's just so sort-sighted.

The problem as I see it is that, in the case of VF & Glamour, the people running the magazine isn't image makers. They're full of grand feature ideas and social commentary, but they seem to forget that imagery play such a big part in the print industry. And I mean beyond the cover.

 

[russianelf]

Unexpected news about Vogue Greece! Seems like Europe is getting flooded with Vogues this year.

 

[Benn98]

Couldn't understand what spurred the recent surge of fan-made Greek Vogue covers on Instagram until the recent announcement in this thread. Anyway, article below may have answered the first question which popped in my mind, but I still have my reservations. And I'm guessing 'collectible' nowadays means a Vogue Ukraine type approach with minimal coverlines etc.

Condé Nast to Re-Launch Vogue in Greece
As the Greek edition prepares for a spring 2019 launch, editor-in-chief Thaleia Karafyllidou speaks to BoF exclusively about her vision and surprising developments in the Greek luxury market.

BY VICTORIA BEREZHNASEPTEMBER 11, 2018 05:28

ATHENS, Greece — Condé Nast International is re-launching Vogue in Greece. Published under a license agreement with Kathimerines Ekdoseis, the print and digital edition will debut in Spring 2019 under the leadership of Thaleia Karafyllidou, the youngest-ever editor-in-chief of a Vogue magazine, at 29.

It will mark the second entry of the magazine into Greece; Vogue Hellas launched in March 2000 under Liberis Publications, but ceased operations in 2012 after the publisher went bankrupt.

“We don’t call it a relaunch because we don’t consider it as a continuation [from that],” said Karina Dobrotvorskaya, executive director of editorial development at Condé Nast International. “It’s a different team and different era. The previous Vogue was very print-focused, but they now need to speak to a different generation.”

Vogue Hellas’ 12-year presence in Greece was marked by blockbuster covers with models that included Naomi Campbell, Natasha Poly and Daria Werbowy. However following the Greek financial crisis the magazine depended on covers shot for other editions including Vogue France when budgets didn’t stretch far enough for original content.

Market sources cited industry rumours that the earlier version of Vogue Hellas was somehow not officially connected to Condé Nast. “There is no possibility to launch Vogue without our typical license agreement, which is very strict,” said Dobrotvorskaya. “[But] the publisher Antonios Liberis was a colourful person surrounded by rumours, so his personality affected perception.”

The print edition of the new Vogue Greece will be published in Greek, but digital, social media and events will hold an equally strong focus. “We want to create a multimedia brand – not just a magazine, but a social force with a lot of conferences and events,” said editor-in-chief Thaleia Karafyllidou.

The announcement closely follows the launch of Vogue Poland and Vogue Czechoslovakia, which debuted in August with a September issue. Vogue Greece will be Condé Nast’s 25th edition of Vogue.

“There is a very interesting fashion landscape and audience [in Greece] who are eager to embrace newer international and local brands,” said Dobrotvorskaya. “Recovery is still slow, but it’s happening and the trend is positive.”

There is a very interesting fashion landscape and audience who are eager to embrace newer international and local brands.

The Greek economy has come a long way since 2008, when the country entered a sovereign debt crisis that sent a chill throughout Europe and sent global markets into a panic. After a long-awaited debt relief deal in July 2018, in August the country made its official exit from the bailouts that had imposed unprecedented austerity measures.


While it is not necessarily an end to the country’s woes, it is a very important moment. Greece’s government has said the country is now finally “turning a page.”

Re-launching a high-end magazine like Vogue in a market still in recovery can pose a risk to Condé Nast, which is busy consolidating its US and UK titles, but Greece has a small but solid industry ecosystem of local designers, photographers, stylists and journalists. “[Besides], the moment you open a Vogue, clients are more interested in the market — it’s a great message to send,” said Dobrotvorskaya.

One surprising outcome of the economic crisis was that — despite some high-profile defections abroad — many Greek artists and creatives doubled down with their work. Some believe the crisis actually helped parts of the creative scene to flourish during the darkest days of austerity.

“This is the main reason why I think launching Vogue is perfect for right now — the boom of new design and talent is brilliant [here in Athens],” said Mariaflora P. Lehec, creative director of Greece-based Somf Clothing. “It reminds me of early millennium in London in terms of creativity.”

And despite the very real and negative headlines about growing poverty in Greece, the country remains a very significant luxury market. In fact, when capital controls were announced a few years ago, they triggered a huge boost for sales of jewellery and luxury cars.

“From an international perspective, the crisis overshadowed everything else but there were parts of Greek society who were super insulated,” explains Adonis Kentros, a Greek-born, London-based stylist whose work has been published in Dazed Digital and Garage.

Some wealthy Greeks tightened their belts but most just turned down the volume a bit and learned to spend more discreetly.

There are some 16,500 millionaires in Athens alone, according to the Frank Knight 2017 World Wealth Report. While this pales in comparison to other European capitals, it is still an attractive prospect for luxury brands when put into the global context. Even after years of crisis, Athens can boast more US dollar millionaires than in much-hyped-about emerging markets like Bogota, Colombia or Bangkok, Thailand.

“What you have to remember is that there’s a lot of very old money in Greece with very deep roots who never stopped consuming. Don’t get me wrong, the country really did go through pain, but that doesn’t mean that the rich suddenly vanished. Sure, some wealthy Greeks tightened their belts — especially new money people who were more vulnerable — but most just turned down the volume a bit and learned to spend more discreetly,” Kentros adds.

Frank Knight estimates that by the end of 2015 around 3,000 Greek millionaires fled to their second or third homes abroad “but most of them didn’t stop spending. All that changed was where and how they shopped.” Country-wide, the millionaire population is now hovering at around 40,000 and is forecast to remain stable over the coming decade.

Taking the helm of Greek Vogue, Thaleia Karafyllidou will be the youngest-ever editor-in-chief of a Vogue magazine, and the team she selected is equally as dynamic. Nicolas Georgiou joins as creative and fashion director, while Giorgos Tsiros has been appointed managing editor, Elis Kiss as fashion features editor and Dionisis Andrianopoulos as art director.

“Nicolas, the fashion director, is arguably the best stylist in Greece,” said Kentros. “Thaleia will make the magazine more cultural, and Nicolas is knowledgeable in fashion so he’ll take care of that side. They’ll make a good team.”

The magazine joins a string of well-established fashion publications in Greece. Elle was launched in 1988 under a license agreement with Alpha Editions; Harper’s Bazaar began operations in 1999 with Attica Media Group, counting a readership of just under 500,000; and Marie Claire has been in circulation since 1987 under MC Hallas.

“Magazines in Greece are quite commercial and middle market,” said Dobrotvorskaya. “[Vogue Greece] will be collectible and different, in terms of quality, paper and covers.” Moreover, the magazine’s publisher Kathimerines Ekdoseis is also responsible for the country’s oldest newspaper Kathimerini, and entered a partnership with The New York Times to publish an English-language daily edition of the newspaper.

“The readership [of Kathimerini] is very upmarket and intellectual,” said Karafyllidou. “We’re trying to aim at the people who want to have a 360-vision of everything going on not only in Greece, but globally.”

Source: Businessoffashion.com

 

[Miss Dalloway]

So why not bring back Vogue Singapore then?!! That would make far more sense to me, look at how many luxury brands are opening stores there, and it has a real market for High Fashion.

 

[axiomatic]

https://nypost.com/2018/09/11/playboy-stripping-down-to-4-issues-per-year-in-2019/

Playboy will become a quarterly magazine in 2019
By Keith J. Kelly

September 11, 2018 | 2:41pm | Updated September 11, 2018 | 4:51pm

Playboy will become a quarterly magazine in 2019 — cutting back from its current six-issues-a-year format, the company announced.

The adult entertainment company has also unwrapped plans to open a new Playboy Club in New York.

The re-entry into the brick-and-mortar club business is the brainchild of chief executive Ben Kohn, who is trying to rebrand the empire founded by Hugh Hefner for the 21st century.

Toward that end, Kohn has hired Julie Uhrman as Playboy’s president of media, a newly created position. Uhrman joins Playboy from Lions Gate Entertainment, where she was executive vice president and general manager of over-the-top ventures.

“Julie brings with her a wealth of experience in media and digital focused business that will be integral to our efforts to meet the demands of our current subscriber base and expand the brand’s presence on new platforms,” Kohn said in a statement.

The new 14,000-square foot Playboy Club officially opens on 512 W. 42nd St. on Sept. 12, although it already hosted a Fashion Week party pre-opening last week.

The club is located on the same block as a building housing an NYPD emergency response group.

Kohn has been pushing the company more aggressively into licensing in recent years — with some success. Playboy’s distinctive bunny ears are now licensed on a wide array of consumer products from coffee mugs to wallets and apparel, generating roughly $1.5 billion in retail sales in 180 countries.

Playboy Enterprises receives only a sliver of those sales as a licensing fee. The Wall Street Journal pegs the company’s annual revenues at $90 million, with media still generating about half that amount.

In July, following the death of Hefner, Kohn’s Rizvi Traverse firm bought out the remaining one-third of the company that he did not already own from the Hefner family.

Rizvi Traverse had bought about two-thirds of the company in 2011, when it helped Hefner take the company private.

“We are just returning to our roots of what Hef stood for and just contemporizing it for today,” Kohn told the WSJ of the rebranding efforts.

Kohn was never a fan of the magazine that was once the cornerstone of the empire and cut its frequency in 2018 from 10 times a year to six. Despite trimming the magazine’s frequency to four times a year in 2019, Kohn has no plans to eliminate the print edition.

Hefner’s son, Cooper Hefner, is now chief creative officer of the company. When Cooper was out of the company, he had been an outspoken critic of the late 2015 plan to banish nude photos from the magazine.

However, when then-CEO Scott Flanders exited and Cooper Hefner was brought back, he quickly reversed the “no nudes” ban.

Actress Elizabeth Elam was on the cover of the March/April 2016 issue that heralded the return to nude photography.

Before the rise of the internet and 1970s-era newsstand restrictions, Playboy was selling 5 million a copies a month. It currently sells only several hundred thousand copies per issue — and is no longer tracked by the Alliance for Audited Media.

Kohn hopes the switch to a quarterly production schedule will allow Playboy to double the amount of total pages — to 220 per issue.

 

[axiomatic]

https://pagesix.com/2018/09/11/graydon-carter-article-to-appear-in-esquires-october-issue/

Graydon Carter article to appear in Esquire's October issue
By Oli Coleman

September 11, 2018 | 8:36pm

Graydon Carter is making his return to journalism — and it’s something of a defection.

Page Six has exclusively learned that the former Vanity Fair editor’s latest piece, his first since leaving Condé Nast, will be published by rival house Hearst.

We’re told that Carter — who edited Condé’s Vanity Fair from 1992 until early 2018 — has filed a six-page article for Esquire’s 85th anniversary October issue, due on stands Sept. 18.

Insiders tell us that Carter was recruited for the gig by his son Ash, a senior associate editor at the storied Hearst men’s title.

Meanwhile, Carter and Esquire’s editor-in-chief, Jay Fielden, go way back. Fielden told us of the project, “Somehow, some way, we were determined to bring Graydon in from the cold — and I’m thankful we did.”

Carter’s exit from Condé was uncomfortable, to say the least. After management told him he would have to cut costs, Carter told the New York Times of his plans to resign. Then, just hours before the Times piece was published, Carter told Condé that he was leaving.

His followers will not be astonished to hear that the Esquire piece is a satirical drubbing of his own personal arch rival — Donald Trump.

We’re told the piece — “The Hidden Members of the Trump Inner Circle” — is “a cartoon-illustrated and captioned dossier of (imagined?) personnel, including Trump’s hair team (“Hair Force One”), the medical team, under-the-radar family members and other trusted employees.”

Trump and Carter have been in a voluble war since the ’80s, when Carter’s Spy magazine dubbed Trump the “short-fingered vulgarian.” The battle blew up again in 2016, when Carter published a story called “Trump Grill Could Be the Worst Restaurant in America,” and the then-president-elect tweeted, “Has anyone looked at the really poor numbers of @VanityFair Magazine. Way down, big trouble, dead! Graydon Carter, no talent, will be out!”

 

[Benn98]

Lmao! Mr Trump probably heaved a sigh of relief when he found out Graydon left VF, only to find that the'll now have an equally polarising platform to shout and scream from. The pairing of Carter and Esquire is actually very fitting, always thought of the magazine as the masculine counterpart of VF. This will sound crude of me, but Trump reporting can be highly profitable to magazines if done right. VF reaped generous results from their Trump tirade, both online and in the print magazine. Because Carter approached political reporting with the sensibility of a magazine editor as opposed to news editor - he mixed the trivial with the significant. Dietary and sartorial drags next to opinion on policy.

The question is really whether the gentlemanly Esquire reader will appreciate Carter's relentless candour, because in many ways they've been accustomed to a lot of mollycoddling. Case in point - the magazine's delayed response to #MeToo. The very first article about the movement only made it's way into the magazine 3 months after it started.

So why not bring back Vogue Singapore then?!! That would make far more sense to me, look at how many luxury brands are opening stores there, and it has a real market for High Fashion.

Exactly! Singapore is culturally different from the rest of Asia in more ways than one. I mean, if there's a Vogue Taiwan, why not Singapore?

I find the relaunch of Vogue Greece odd because I thought the reason Vogue Hellas shut down was due to the country's economic instability? Now it's being readied again to cater to a small demographic of super rich people. I'm sorry, but it sounds to me like a little neighbourhood in Athens decided they needed their own Vogue, and because they have the means and influence to lobby for it, they got it. Doesn't reflect very well on CN, if you ask me. Maybe it's time to assess what exactly the criteria are for launching a Vogue? But then again it's a sinking ship of a brand anyway, so it doesn't matter.

 

[Srdjan]

Maybe it's time to assess what exactly the criteria are for launching a Vogue?

With CN making such losses lately, I think every dollar from selling the licence counts. They used to be picky where and by who Vogue could be launched, but nowadays I believe it's possible to do it wherever a local publisher goes for it.

 

[axiomatic]

Not fashion related, but obviously a bad sign for the magazine industry in general

Meredith axes 200 employees, combines Cooking Light and Eating Well magazines
By Keith J. Kelly
3-4 minutes
September 12, 2018 | 6:11pm | Updated September 13, 2018 | 10:07am

Cooking Light is getting slimmed down.

Magazine giant Meredith swung the ax again on Wednesday, lopping about 200 jobs and merging its Cooking Light title into EatingWell and chopping the frequency of Coastal Living to a newsstand-only quarterly.

Cooking Light will live on as a website and will publish six newsstand-only print editions a year.

Sid Evans, who was editing both Coastal Living and Southern Living out of Birmingham, Ala., will now concentrate solely on Southern Living.

“Combining the powerful EatingWell and Cooking Light magazines will strengthen our editorial product while providing advertisers with access to this passionate group of consumers seeking a healthier lifestyle,”said Carey Witmer, EVP and Group Publisher of the Meredith Food Group.

With existing titles such as Allrecipes, Food & Wine and Everyday with Rachael Ray, Meredith is still deep in the food category. Hunter Lewis, who had been doing double duty at Cooking Light and Food & Wine will now concentrate only on F&W.

But shrinking the scope of 31-year-old Cooking Light is sure to disappoint some food aficionados. The magazine had made regular appearances on the Adweek Hot List and the AdAge A-List over the years.

Coastal Living will also live on as a newsstand-only title, but will no longer offer subscriptions. Unless a consumer requests a refund, most of the subscribers will start receiving Southern Living, regardless of where they live.

The Time Inc. book division, which produced the books that were spun out of the magazines, will now be outsourced to a yet-to-be-determined publisher.

And finally, the Time Inc. Retail operation, which kept tabs on the magzines sold through various retail and newsstand channels, will be outsourced. It was considered a key resource for weekly magazines. But two once-dominant weeklies, Time and Sports Illustrated, are among the magazines that Meredith inherited from Time Inc. in its $2.8 billion acquisition, but which are now in the process of being sold along with Fortune and Money.

About 25 of the editors being laid off operated out of Birmingham, Ala., which will still have about 200 employees working there. It was once the proud home of Southern Progress Corp., which Time Inc. had bought in 1985 for $485 million. At one point, it employed more than 800 people and was housed in several buildings on its own campuslike headquarters. It had been faced with repeated rounds of downsizings over the years as Time Inc. did away with the Southern Progress name.

The combination of Cooking Light with EatingWell means the latter will have a circulation of 1,775,000. EatingWell had previously had a circulation of 1 million.

The cutbacks also hit production, information technology, finance, consumer revenue, digital, editorial and advertising operations.

“The cost savings associated with these opportunities will help fund growth-focused investments within or brand, digital, data and consumer revenue businesses,” the company said.

https://nypost.com/2018/09/12/meredith-axes-200-employees-combines-food-magazines/