All these indies are now as commercial as the Vogues. There’s already no visual difference between Dazed and a Vogue in some odd-mark country. Being owned by the Kushners only sort of completes the circle doesn’t it?
It was a thing for a while. Both i-D or Dazed pretty much still can't admit they aren't the way as they used to be - these independent, subversive magazines which brought freshness and new ideas, creativity to market dominated by high-end publications aren't what they used to be.Their golden era passed years ago.
Though they did introduce so many new concepts and brought in many talented people. I think about this genre of story-telling realism back in the 90s that was something fresh in editorials, pretty much alternative circuit magazines like i-D pioneered it before it spread in entire industry to a point that lines between Vogue and anything "independent" are non-existent nowadays. But now i-D exists solely because of it's cult status, Dazed less and their attempts to stay revelant are pathetic.
This announcement is kinda surprising for me, though i-D pretty much feels different since Vice bought them out and I feel it was the start of their horrible direction that doesn't really care about preserving their legacy outside of... boasting how they celebrated subcultures, diversity (which wasn't always like they claim, they did good job epecially in early 90s though) and general nostalgia cash-cow and using how established their are. A publication that went more mainstream over 20 years ago, when Edward literally made it into full blown fashion magazine, difference between earlier issues which were packed with articles and features had way less fashion than i-D had by late 90s, can't claim to be subversive anymore.
I suppose this acquisition won't make i-D any better at all, it will stay as boring it was and literally embarassing. It's kinda trying to save a sinking ship, from which all people which made the magazine great are gone and it's greatness vanished with them leaving. Both Dazed and i-D survived late 90s/early 00s UK publication apocalypse but I wish they didn't and their legacies, like ones of The Face (I pretend re-launch never happened) or Sleazenation, weren't tarnished.