Lee MG Tisci
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Most new magazines wear their mastheads like a badge of honor, so we were certainly intrigued when the team behind this new very limited edition print title presented us their blacked out masthead. The brand new title shrouds itself in mystery right from the onset, but even without knowing the team behind this magazine the visual power is evident. With evocative shots of Catherine McNeil, Suvi Kopponen, Frida Gustavsson, Kirsten Owen and Guinevere van Seenus to draw readers in, and contributions from Cindy Sherman this is one title that seems destined to impress the fashion obsessed – if they can get their hands on it – as only one thousand copies will be distributed. With a one-time print run available (for free) only at tastemaking venues like Dashwood books and MOMA’s PS1, No Name manages that rarest of fashionable qualities – exclusivity.
A one-time only limited edition of 1,000 with 5 different covers will be distributed at the following locations in the coming week:
DOVER STREET MARKET NEW YORK
160 Lexington Avenue
New York, NY 10016
DOVER STREET MARKET LONDON
17 – 18 Dover Street
London W1S 4LT, UK
DASHWOOD BOOKS
33 Bond Street
New York, NY 10012
GAGOSIAN
976 Madison Avenue,
New York, NY 10075
MoMA PS1
22 – 25 Jackson Avenue
Long Island City, NY 1101
THE MOCA STORE
250 S Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
E-BAY
1. Why no name?
We had no intention naming the magazine. I’m tired of new magazines with new names and each of them trying to be “cooler” then the other. What’s the point? We have no interest in being cool or hype. Actually we have no interest in publishing at all. This project doesn’t belong to us. It belongs to girls we like and to photographers we believe in.
2. Given that almost everyone in fashion has become a personality at this point, do you feel that anonymity is something the fashion industry needs at the moment?
Everyone is someone and everyone is important. More important than photography or the girls. It’s a play of vanity, ego and front row. Do you see mastheads today? They’re kinda funny. Going to extremes with titles that no one actually understands. Anonymity is luxury. The industry became self destructive with global digital exposure. No one cares about new photographers for instance. Establishment says it cares but that’s not true. Every 10 years you will see a “new photographer” in top magazines. It’s ridiculous. On one side you have the industry that’s becoming irrelevant because of its insane speed and on the other side this circle of elitism that you are not able to break if you are not a household name, or a young heir, or a girl with three last names or a beautiful boy with money. This magazine is not about me. It’s about connecting young photographers with girls that are usually booked only by the big guns. So our masthead is on the cover of each magazine. Simple as that.
3. Without naming names… can you tell us a bit about the background / goals of the team going into the project?
At the end of the game it’s only two of us. Finishing the magazine from my apartment and borrowing money to print it. We are young and foolish I guess. But we did manage to convince many agents to help us. And I’m extremely grateful to all of them. As I say to my interns: everything is possible if you act strongly and with a pure idea. Imagine how easier this industry would be if everything would be direct and honest. I have headaches from fashion “politics”. I’m fighting to create an image. Not a pyramid of power or reserved front row seat.
4. What exemplifies the No Name aesthetic?
We started with one idea and presented it to the girls. Each girl personally participated. Suvi knew everything about “Virgin Suicides” and she flew in to NYC just for 24 hours, Guinevere got so deep into her character that she exactly knew what she would wear. Many of them participated in styling, researching. It became a process for us, them and the young photographers. This is not magazine about trends and even though it’s fashion it’s actually anti fashion. We are using clothes simply as a tool. We are not “dying” over a coat or pair of shoes. But we are dreaming of capturing that moment, that little moment that will maybe one day inspire someone. I hate concept for sake of the concept. I don’t get it. Everyone has to understand it and feel it. Truly feel it. Like it’s alive.
5. What can readers expect from the editorial content?
I think they will feel that this is not a magazine. It’s more of scrap book of all of us. Every page is personal. Cindy Sherman participated personally, literally writing quotes with her handwriting. Kirsten Owen chose her favorite shoes for her story and she only wore those. Logan White did the nudes she wanted to do. I think they will find small group of people who speak the same language. Household names such as Stella and Cindy with completely new artists and names. Every page is a story. I think they won’t notice the fashion. That would be success for all of us.
6. Who do you feel is the audience for No Name?
We don’t have an audience profile. When I think about it this is quite a selfish project coming from all of us. You know, I love women. And they can feel intimidated by fashion magazines. They can feel disconnected. Not understanding what the point of a certain story is. I want them to feel safe thinking “oh, I know about this movie or this book”. I don’t think young fashion hipsters will understand it. They will think it’s outdated because if it’s not a conceptual minimalistic story in studio – then it’s not modern. I don’t care what’s modern or outdated.
7. How did you go about choosing the locations where the magazine would be available?
When I enter certain magazine shops I get anxious. I feel attacked by almost hundreds of fashion magazines. It’s like QVC. I contacted gallery stores I love and told them about the project and the fact that I don’t have any money for distribution. I went to meet them personally and we talked sometimes for hours. It’s a dream come true for me to have this magazine in places such as Dashwood Books or MoMA PS 1. These stores sell amazing art books and my goal is to make everyone who wants to get the magazine to go there and discover those vintage books that are more relevant than the next edition of some mainstream magazine. There is no fashion without photography. Problem is that there is so much bad photography in fashion. Everyone is a photographer, everyone is a stylist. I’m not interested in everyone. I’m interested in that girl who will go to Gagosian on Madison Avenue or to PS1. The essential problem of the new generation is that they are feeding on the Internet and not on books, research, movies, documentaries and art.
8. Are there plans for a second issue?
I have no idea. If there is a second issue it won’t have anything to do with this one. I hate repetition. So it would have to be a different format, different distribution, different feeling, different atmosphere and new photographers.
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... at this point even American Marie Claire is able to convey more thoughtfulness than the people sitting for years in some kind of trance trying to come up with a single thought worth hearing and worth publishing in the form of shapes and colors, and damn it still doesn't work, wonder why...
