The Business of Magazines

[mepps]

Great to see Madonna's issue sold so well. I expected nothing less from the Queen.

 

[MissMagAddict]

Did Les Moonves Want to Buy W Magazine?
The legal fight between Stefano Tonchi and Condé Nast takes another surprising turn.

By Kali Hays on September 3, 2019

There were various entities interested in acquiring W magazine from Condé Nast, one of which was allegedly Les Moonves.

Former longtime editor in chief of W, Stefano Tonchi, whose $1 million lawsuit over his claimed wrongful termination has drawn Condé’s own lawsuit in response, wrote in a Friday answer to Condé’s suit that he was told of another interested buyer late in the sale process who was apparently Moonves. His name purportedly came up because Tonchi had been unwilling to finalize his employment agreement with Surface Media and reports on that company’s history had caused friction among the larger staff, leaving the success of the Surface deal in doubt.

In comes the other alleged interested buyer, described in a May 27 e-mail from Brad Stoutenburgh, head of investments at Condé’s parent company Advance Publications, to Tonchi as “a prominent former CBS executive, who has come forth recently and expressed a desire to acquire W.” Sources have noted that while the full e-mail, reviewed by WWD, does not mention Moonves by name, he is in fact the person being described.

A spokesman for Moonves emphatically denied that he was ever looking at the title. “Mr. Moonves did not at any time make an offer to buy or invest in W. Rumors or claims to the contrary are utterly false,” the spokesman said.

In his e-mail, Stoutenburgh adds that the interested buyer has “extensive experience in video (one of your identified strategic priorities)” and identifies him as a man who has a “family connection to the staff.” Moonves’ daughter, Sara Moonves, is a stylist, who in 2017 became style director of W. She subsequently took over the role of editor in chief when Surface bought the magazine, a final deal in which Les Moonves is said to have absolutely no involvement.

A spokesman for Condé declined to comment.

Nevertheless, Moonves — who, despite denials, left as the head of CBS late last year after multiple allegations of sexual harassment and abuse in professional settings going back many years — has started his own company. Filings in Los Angeles show the former executive registered the names Moon Rise Productions and Moon Rise Technologies in October 2018. According to reports from Variety and The New York Times, Moonves took office space in Los Angeles around the same time, and his company is looking at content production, distribution and streaming.

It is entirely possible that Stoutenburgh was merely posturing in an effort to ensure Tonchi remained in his position through W’s sale to Surface, be he did write in the e-mail that the new interested buyer, presumed to be Moonves, “could be a viable and actionable alternative option for W.”

“We believe this interested party has both the financial means and the ability to complete a transaction very quickly,” Stoutenburgh claimed. Moonves also has other connections to Condé, making his purported interest not something totally out of the blue, like his longstanding friendship with Condé artistic director Anna Wintour. Lynn Hirschberg, W’s editor at large, is said to be another friend, who has written a couple of pieces on Moonves in the past, one particularly glowing profile in 2005 and a sit-down in 2002, both for the New York Times.

Should Condé come back and argue that this was in fact nothing more than a carrot stick to get Tonchi to stay on through the sale to Surface so the price would not be affected, it could hamper its strenuous argument that Tonchi was terminated with “cause,” and so denied severance, for his being a “disloyal” and “faithless servant” during the sale process. Tonchi basically argues that if he was such a bad employee, he shouldn’t have been kept on at all.

As for those claims and others from Condé, such as Tonchi speaking to interested buyers without the knowledge of Greenhill, the bank overseeing the process, or that he improperly disclosed any confidential information, he denied them.

Tonchi claimed he was asked to meet with everyone and specifically tasked with soliciting interested buyers early on in the process, which began in summer 2018 with an initial asking price of $10 million. The ultimate sale price to Surface is thought to be somewhere around $6 million.

He also denied having any involvement in decisions by some senior W staffers to refuse to meet with Surface chief executive officer Marc Lotenberg. Tonchi said Hirschberg initially declined to meet with Lotenberg because “among other things, his business history with respect to laying off magazine staff.” She eventually met with Lotenberg and was required to sign a non-disclosure agreement to do so, according to the response, but remains W’s editor at large.

As for Condé’s suggestion that Tonchi’s alleged actions had something to do with a prospective deal with C Ventures falling apart, he said that simply came down to C Ventures’ own business judgment. “Plaintiff’s understanding is that C Ventures determined not to proceed with the sale process because it decided that W’s financial situation was not acceptable,” he wrote.

source | wwd

 

[MON]

In today's episode of "Men who can't deal with the achievement of a woman, so they insinuate potential nepotism."

Tl;dr sara moonves is editor because her father allegedly bought W

 

[Benn98]

'Tonchi basically argues that if he was such a bad employee, he shouldn’t have been kept on at all.'

Nonsense reasoning. Without tangible proof it's impossible to sack him. They couldn't even sack him because of dropped circulation, that's how iron-clad his contract was.
And why would CN, of all companies, enlist an editor to seek out prospective buyers? I believe he did it on his own, and obviously with his own ambitions in mind.

 

[TZ001]

R.I.P. Peter Lindbergh

 

[dodencebt]

R.I.P. Peter Lindbergh

Just read about it, devastating for his family, friends and fans. I think I understand why Edward got him to shoot the September issue of Vogue UK now.

 

[Miss Dalloway]

^ It's an instant collectors item now, his last UK Vogue cover, sigh.

 

[Phuel]

'Tonchi basically argues that if he was such a bad employee, he shouldn’t have been kept on at all.'

Nonsense reasoning. Without tangible proof it's impossible to sack him. They couldn't even sack him because of dropped circulation, that's how iron-clad his contract was.
And why would CN, of all companies, enlist an editor to seek out prospective buyers? I believe he did it on his own, and obviously with his own ambitions in mind.

Absolutely.

If this were the 2000s— where optimum and professional creative effort was still held in high standard in the fashion publication industry (and fashion industry in general), Tonchi would never work again as an editor.

But in these less than favourable times, overrun with basic charlatans with only SM-creds, he could very well end up as editor of Italian Vogue, due to some compensation and as settlement in his contract. And maybe even that’s not so bad— given how Emanuele’s run the most fabled, revered of all Vogues to the ground in just one year’s time.

 

[Bertrando3]

OMG Anna Wintour is doing her MasterClass !!!



ANNA WINTOUR IS TEACHING HER FIRST-EVER ONLINE CLASS
Launching through the MasterClass platform, the course covers "creativity and leadership."
WHITNEY BAUCK UPDATED:SEP 5, 2019ORIGINAL:SEP 5, 2019

Ever wanted to learn directly from living fashion legend Anna Wintour? You wouldn't be the only one, and that's just what the iconic editrix is counting on as she announces the launch of her first-ever online class.

On Thursday, education resource MasterClass unveiled Wintour as the latest subject to be featured on its platform, adding her to a list that already includes photography great Annie Leibovitz, designer Diane von Furstenberg and many more.

"This is a class for those who want to understand my leadership style, and then understand the experiences that have helped me become an effective leader," Wintour explains in the trailer for the course. "I have never had the opportunity to share the many lessons I have learned as an editor and a creative leader in one place before."

Over the course of the 12 lessons that make up the class, Wintour offers tips for emerging designers, business owners and "people who want to become effective and inspiring leaders and mentors," according to a release from MasterClass.

Since the class is essentially a series of videos of Wintour talking and "exclusive learning materials" that doesn't include interaction with or feedback from Wintour herself, MasterClass's $180 one-year all-access pass fee might feel steep. But considering that she doesn't have personal social media accounts on which she's constantly sharing her thoughts — and that the $180 fee includes access to all of MasterClass's other courses — the class is likely to find an audience among her admirers.

Take a look at an exclusive clip of Wintour discussing how "leading from the heart" prompted her to ignore the pushback she received for placing Naomi Campbell on the cover of her first September issue in 1989, then check out the full class if you're so inclined at masterclass.com.

Source: https://fashionista.com

---

There´s also a trailer and a GMA interview ! I´m soooo paying for this course

 

[axiomatic]

The Face Isn’t Coming Back for Nostalgia’s Sake

Kali Hays
6-8 minutes

The Face is back in print, but the British magazine is not trying to go back to its heyday.

The covers for its first print issue in 15 years — 100,000 of which are being printed and will be sold on newsstands and online through The Face web site — are the first clue that the magazine is uninterested in capitalizing on the fond memories many in fashion have of its initial iteration. For its first new quarterly issue, the very 2019 pop stars Harry Styles, Dua Lipa, Tyler the Creator and Rosalia are each getting their own cover.

There were a lot of names tossed around for the relaunch, according to editor Stuart Brumfitt, who is fully aware of the magazine’s place in the pantheon of Eighties and Nineties fashion and culture. This is the magazine where male androgyny was embraced early on; where a young Sade appeared on one of her few covers; where a 16-year-old Kate Moss broke out as a hippie beach child. But triggering sentimentality is not the goal of the new The Face.

“We didn’t want it to be a nostalgia trip,” Brumfitt said simply. “We wanted it to be very now.”

As for why the magazine should go back into print at all after a relaunch of the web site in April, managing director Dan Flower took a line he said he heard first from an unnamed competitor, comparing different platforms for content to air travel: “The web and social is economy, the magazine is first-class.” Another reason is that the team is simply fans of magazines. “We hate this whole print is dead vibe, because it’s not.”

Of the magazine’s target audience of culturally savvy and creative twentysomethings, brand director Jason Gonsalves admitted that they all get their information online and on mobile but that they, too, “really love magazines.” In doing some research, he found out that The Face is the most requested magazine from the archive at FIT in New York.

“There’s a whole generation of kids with a real passion for magazines,” Gonsalves said. “And unlike a lot of other stuff out there, which is basically a big Instagram, Stuart has put together a magazine that you want to read.”

Although much associated with fashion, Brumfitt explained that going for music cover stars first honors the magazine’s big place in that culture, too. And its leadership is adamant that The Face is “not a fashion magazine,” rather a general interest title covering everything from sports to tech.

“When we showed up in Milan and Paris at the end of last year, the first thing we said in every meeting was ‘We’re not a fashion magazine,’” Flower said. “Everyone was like, ‘Thank God.’ Because there are a lot of fashion magazines.”

But the magazine and its related business ventures have gotten a lot of support from fashion brands. Some are to be expected, like Gucci and Celine and Saint Laurent, but The Face also will be showing ads from much less frequent advertisers like Supreme, Palace and Stone Island, alongside big consumer brands like BMW and Sonos. It was still a sell to get everyone involved — “It’s a game of poker, this business,” Flower said — but they all ended up responding, in one way or another.

The Face of 2019 is not aiming to be dependent on just selling pages in a magazine, which was the case when it closed print in May 2004, the advent of the modern Internet but with none of today’s constant accessibility. There’s now a studio/brand consultant element which has already worked with Adidas, The North Face and Gucci on campaigns. There are current discussions of how to branch out into TV production with a slate of ideas developed. There’s e-commerce, with a handful of brand products in an online store. And on the content front there’s push into video and also audio, offering even more opportunities for ads and branded work.

“From a content perspective, diversity is very important, but it’s just as true of our business model,” Gonsalves said.

With that, the magazine is also experimenting with a pop-up of sorts this week in New York for the launch of the magazine. Called The Apartment, The Face is hosting three weeks of events this month, from fashion presentations to tie-dye class to dinners to performance art pieces, at a space on Bleecker Street. Curated by influencer/photographer/consultant Margaret Zhang, also The Face’s Asia editor at large, she said the space is meant to “embody the persona” of the magazine.

“We wanted to give people a chance to interact with something that isn’t just a party or a logo or a magazine,” Zhang said. “Let’s take a second to come in and go through the record collection, have a coffee.”

But everything in the space, down to the prints on the wall and the linens on furniture, is for sale. While it’s still an experiment, the goal is to take a version of The Apartment to different locations, although Zhang said, “There’s no rush.”

All of this build-up, including the relaunch of the web site in April, took new investment. While the company didn’t disclose how much money was raised, Flower said that owner of The Face Jerry Perkins “put together a very tight syndicate of investors,” people who were fans of the magazine and who are involved in the larger media industry, no venture capital or private equity allowed. One investor is Emma Banks, co-head of CAA talent agency in London. Another is Ian Flooks, former manager of bands like The Clash, The Talking Heads, The Police and U2. The Face in 2017 was brought under the newly formed publisher Wasted Talent, owned by Perkins.

With so much action and work over the last six months, the team is now simply looking forward to the magazine being out in the world. But they all know times have changed and with the Internet turned permanent peanut gallery, there’s some level of preparedness for dissatisfaction.

“I wish I could say we’re not expecting anything, that I’m walking down the streets of East London clicking my heels,” Flower said. “But no, I’m expecting people to say what we should have done.”

So the "brand director" says that in their research prior to launch, the Face was the most requested mag in FIT's archive. But the editor says he doesn't want the new version to be a "nostalgia trip." And then this sentence : "Of the magazine’s target audience of culturally savvy and creative twentysomethings, brand director Jason Gonsalves admitted that they all get their information online and on mobile..."

 

[dodencebt]

So the "brand director" says that in their research prior to launch, the Face was the most requested mag in FIT's archive. But the editor says he doesn't want the new version to be a "nostalgia trip." And then this sentence : "Of the magazine’s target audience of culturally savvy and creative twentysomethings, brand director Jason Gonsalves admitted that they all get their information online and on mobile..."

Hilarious. The Face being the most requested magazine in FIT's archive is clearly because my generation cannot find that sort of content online, but once you feature the Dua Lipas of this world why would I need The Face? Everything about her is all over the Internet, I wouldn't buy a magazine to read about her life even if it interested me.

 

[Benn98]

Hilarious. The Face being the most requested magazine in FIT's archive is clearly because my generation cannot find that sort of content online, but once you feature the Dua Lipas of this world why would I need The Face? Everything about her is all over the Internet, I wouldn't buy a magazine to read about her life even if it interested me.

And Dua Lipa, of all the pop stars? Let them bask in the glory. Winter is coming, and Adele takes no prisoners. Just ask Rihanna.

 

[Benn98]

OMG Anna Wintour is doing her MasterClass !!!


ANNA WINTOUR IS TEACHING HER FIRST-EVER ONLINE CLASS
Launching through the MasterClass platform, the course covers "creativity and leadership."
WHITNEY BAUCK UPDATED:SEP 5, 2019ORIGINAL:SEP 5, 2019

Ever wanted to learn directly from living fashion legend Anna Wintour? You wouldn't be the only one, and that's just what the iconic editrix is counting on as she announces the launch of her first-ever online class.

On Thursday, education resource MasterClass unveiled Wintour as the latest subject to be featured on its platform, adding her to a list that already includes photography great Annie Leibovitz, designer Diane von Furstenberg and many more.

"This is a class for those who want to understand my leadership style, and then understand the experiences that have helped me become an effective leader," Wintour explains in the trailer for the course. "I have never had the opportunity to share the many lessons I have learned as an editor and a creative leader in one place before."

Over the course of the 12 lessons that make up the class, Wintour offers tips for emerging designers, business owners and "people who want to become effective and inspiring leaders and mentors," according to a release from MasterClass.

Since the class is essentially a series of videos of Wintour talking and "exclusive learning materials" that doesn't include interaction with or feedback from Wintour herself, MasterClass's $180 one-year all-access pass fee might feel steep. But considering that she doesn't have personal social media accounts on which she's constantly sharing her thoughts — and that the $180 fee includes access to all of MasterClass's other courses — the class is likely to find an audience among her admirers.

Take a look at an exclusive clip of Wintour discussing how "leading from the heart" prompted her to ignore the pushback she received for placing Naomi Campbell on the cover of her first September issue in 1989, then check out the full class if you're so inclined at masterclass.com.

Source: https://fashionista.com

---

There´s also a trailer and a GMA interview ! I´m soooo paying for this course

Uhm, not sure where I stand on this. It's clearly done just to further her already vast reach, but a Masterclass? Does it mean I will now be bombarded by 10second ads of Anna shilling business tips every time I want to watch a video on YouTube? Ugh.

Then on the other hand, she's really the only one in publishing who can do this. What with all her accomplishments and ruthless ascend to the top (don't say it's sexism, Tigerrouge, I'd say the same about Dylan Jones if it were him doing this. )

 

[dodencebt]

Does it mean I will now be bombarded by 10second ads of Anna shilling business tips every time I want to watch a video on YouTube? Ugh.

YES. I already got sponsored posts by Vogue, New York Mag and God damn Bon Appetit on Instagram and one more on Youtube, it’s already insufferable!

 

[MissMagAddict]

Is the Celebrity Editor Becoming Extinct?

By Ruth La Ferla
Sept. 7, 2019

Did you know that a woman can stroll topless in Manhattan without breaking the law? Carine Roitfeld has made it her business to know.

A maverick editor, an arbiter of Gallic chic and, most recently, a brand, Ms. Roitfeld has made the most of that city ruling. For the cover story of CR Fashion Book, her twice-a-year glossy magazine, which arrived on newsstands on Sept. 5, she had models parade along upper Fifth Avenue, prim from the waist down in box-pleat skirts and rigid boots, louche from the waist up, breasts on display.

The photographs by Steven Klein were a calculated affront to bourgeois sensibilities. And that’s the way she likes it.

A natural-born provocateur, Ms. Roitfeld, 64, is perfectly happy to take a swipe at the kind of crusty patrician style resurrected for fall by Hedi Slimane at Celine, and reinterpreted with deadening literalism in the September pages of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, where models are garbed in a profusion of so-called heritage looks: polo coats, glen plaids and pearls.

To Ms. Roitfeld, those models stand in for a type. “I know this woman very well — I grew up around her,” said Ms. Roitfeld, who was reared in an affluent suburb of Paris. Wryly, she added: “This woman doesn’t have enough money to shop at Hermès, so she goes to Celine. She is not very nice to her maid.”

Sending her up is the kind of brash move that once sealed Ms. Roitfeld’s reputation. But as superstar editors go, she is one of the last in a vanishing breed. The 1980s and early ’90s witnessed the advent of the celebrity editor, Anna Wintour of Vogue and Franca Sozzani of Italian Vogue among them. Today they are all but extinct, much of their authority ceded to cadres of chattering influencers.

“On Instagram, these people say what they want, show what they want, without any culture or judgment,” Ms. Roitfeld said. They are far too busy airing platitudes that, she said, “travel like fire on the web.”

“There will be no more Francas, no more Annas,” she said with stony finality. “Fashion has finished that chapter.”

Ms. Roitfeld is not looking back. “I try to be like Karl,” she said, referring to Karl Lagerfeld, with whom she often collaborated. The designer, who died in February, “was a bit like my dad,” she said. “They came from a generation that never complains. I respect that. I think it is chic.”

In the latest CR Fashion Book, Ms. Roitfeld celebrates her warm but somewhat formal working relationship with Mr. Lagerfeld — he addressed her unfailingly as Madame Roitfeld — in a lavish portfolio showcasing some 20 ensembles from the ’90s, pulled from the Chanel archives: abbreviated jackets worn with thigh-high skirts, bras with men’s briefs, and layer upon layer of black mousseline.

That those looks seem of the moment does not surprise her. “Karl was never nostalgic,” she said. “He always looked forward. I’m not nostalgic. One has to change.”

What has changed very little over the years is Ms. Roitfeld’s lightly mannered insouciance. In town for New York Fashion Week, she rambled through the cavernous art-filled uptown apartment that belongs to her son. She wore slouchy fatigues, a black V-neck T-shirt and gold sandals. Slung like an afterthought over a leather club chair was the crowning element in her uniform, an Azzedine Alaïa denim biker jacket.

Ms. Roitfeld leans in as she speaks, laughs out loud more often than you might expect, her warmth improbably mixed with a stubborn audacity. During her decade-long tenure as the editor of French Vogue — she left in 2011 — she upended convention with a string of firsts: She was the first mainstream fashion editor to dedicate an entire issue to a black model, in 2002, and first to put a black transgender model on the cover, in 2007, over the fretful objections of her publishers.

“How do you put it?” she asked. “I had balls.”

Mostly unchastened, she is still lobbing spitballs in the face of convention. The current CR Fashion Book is filled with images of dead-pale models locking lips or sprawling, legs splayed, on a Central Park lawn. Another feature explores the otherworldly universe of the designer Rick Owens, highlighting models with alien-tall foreheads, prosthetics for cheekbones, faces bleached like chalky masks.

Fashion needs to push boundaries, Ms. Roitfeld said, but that has become problematic. “It’s a very delicate moment,” she said, “People accept some things — you can change your body, you can change your sex, you can even show breasts on the cover of a magazine. But they don’t accept others. You never know when you’re making an error.”

It was her son, Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld, who encouraged her to reimagine herself as a brand. Together they have developed a fragrance line. In the future they plan to introduce cosmetics, accessories and ready-to-wear.

The notion of branding is still foreign to her. She has spent a fair part of her career interpreting the visions of others, she said, a reference to her varied contributions as a stylist. (She is credited, most famously, with injecting some steam into Tom Ford’s early collections for Gucci.)

“I’ve always helped people tell their stories,” she said. “Now I would like to tell my own.”

source | nytimes

 

[Benn98]

Oh the irony.....

'Ms. Roitfeld, 64, is perfectly happy to take a swipe at the kind of crusty patrician style resurrected for fall by Hedi Slimane at Celine, and reinterpreted with deadening literalism in the September pages of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.....'

And being the true arbiters of just reporting, NY Times of course conveniently failed to mention that it is the very Bazaar who Carine finds herself in bed with. Better yet, HER edit appears as the main content in the magazine's September issue. It was also Carine who styled Alicia Keys in a nondescript black dress on the cover. How's that for blasphemy, or shall I say hypocrisy?

Maybe the celebrity editor is dying because Edward is really the only one injecting him in everything and in front of everyone for personal gain. And maybe to a lesser extent, Faneti? The rest all seem to go about their business, even AdR is keeping a low profile.

 

[caioherrero]

Dena Giannini Is now Style Director at British Vogue. We will see more mediocrity

 

[Blayne266]

Dena Giannini Is now Style Director at British Vogue. We will see more mediocrity

I can honestly say I don’t remember any work she’s ever done

 

[Melancholybaby]

And being the true arbiters of just reporting, NY Times of course conveniently failed to mention that it is the very Bazaar who Carine finds herself in bed with. Better yet, HER edit appears as the main content in the magazine's September issue. It was also Carine who styled Alicia Keys in a nondescript black dress on the cover. How's that for blasphemy, or shall I say hypocrisy?

Forget the Ferragamo dress on Alicia, she put Christy in a Celine dress from that "crusty patrician" collection.

Although it's not entirely up to her, Bazaar provides a list of featured brands to every stylist, even if they're as big as Carine.

 

[caioherrero]

I can honestly say I don’t remember any work she’s ever done

Only the Joan and Hailey in the last issues of British Vogue. She was Edward assistant...