Originally posted by FWD@ September 25, 2003 - NY and Paris
Between Lowbrow and Highbrow: Behold V's Little Brother
By Chris Bletzer and Karl Treacy
VMan, the biannual baby brother of V, could be just the jolt America's men's magazine market needs.
Sure, there are fashion mags for boys, but none caters to its readers like such titles as Arena Homme Plus or Vogue Hommes International do in European markets. GQ or Details, for example, try to teach men exactly what to wear, rather than suggest a certain aesthetic in the way that Vogue or W do for women.
"American menswear is stuck in a time warp -- at least in how it's reflected in American magazines," Stephen Gan, VMan's editor-in-chief and creative director, said in a phone interview in New York this week. "VMan has a positive energy. It celebrates men's fashion." And it’s celebrating in a much more heady, sophisticated way than any other American men's magazine has done before.
That's not to say VMan goes over the conceptual deep end though. "Visionaire and V have artistic license to go as wild and edgy as possible," Gan says of the other two titles he co-founded. "But when it comes to VMan, we'd like to take it in a direction where it starts to penetrate the mainstream ... we want to disseminate men's cool throughout America."
The 212-page launch issue, due to hit U.S. newsstands Monday, majors in bite-size chunks of information and a slick writing style peppered with wry commentary and intelligent punch-lines.
"It's sort of like a lowbrow take on the highbrow," VMan's Paris-based editor Philip Utz, once Talk magazine's European fashion correspondent, explained in the French capital this week. He was talking about an article on art for the uninitiated, one of the magazine's many features that gently leads men bereft of encyclopedic knowledge through the worlds of fashion and popular culture. There is, however, little lowbrow in the delivery.
To wit, a spread called "Monogramy" features the VMan logo emblazoned on a Goyard briefcase, Christian Louboutin slippers, Stern writing paper, and a Charvet shirt. "The average guy's never heard of Charvet," Utz admits, hence the easy-to-absorb mini bio on each brand.
VMan is a magazine of ordinary dimensions, as opposed to its big sister's elephantine proportions, which Utz says makes it more credible for the ordinary man on the street to be able to stash under his arm. After all, tapping Joe Schmoe is the point here. The target audience –- 18 to 35-year-olds -- is predominantly and unashamedly heterosexual.
"Fashion isn't just for the limp-wristed, the nancy pants," insists Gan. "An interest in style can go along with masculinity -- even studliness."
But don't say the m-word. "I tend to cringe when I hear the word 'metrosexual,'" says Gan. "When they're using the term on daytime TV, you have to worry."
He admits, however, that he had David Beckham-types in mind as readers -- "guys who love fashion and looking good and aren't afraid to show it ... a certain open-minded guy out there with taste."
Though a sexy inside spread titled V-va-va-voom (quirky V-themed headings adorn most text pages) is to be a consistent feature -- this time it features an interview and nude shoot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin of model Carmen Kass -- Utz says the magazine's cover will always feature a male mug shot. For the launch issue, Mario Testino shot young actor Elias McConnell, star of Gus Van Sant's film "Elephant."
With the wider male populace growing more gay-friendly -- a phenomenon in the U.S. that Utz credits partly to the success of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" -- the magazine has also added voices with camp appeal. Barneys creative director Simon Doonan, for example, provides a step-by-step guide to crafting the perfect Hermes tie knot, with the pictorial assistance of a topless Crazy Horse Saloon dancer, though -- "Straight men like t*ts, right?" Utz asks mockingly.
Upping the homoerotic ante somewhat comes Dior Homme designer Hedi Slimane's first fashion shoot, of guys in underwear, and a two-page fur story that pictures naked men reclining among luxurious pelts. And in the ABC vein of stories like three different ways to wear the same jacket and how to dress for a date with Chelsea Clinton or Beyonce, is a 26-page fashion shoot disguised as a photographic alphabet (with lettering designed by M/M) of the current top male models.
The back section of the magazine, read from the reverse side, is devoted to health and beauty, with a separate cover by Van Lamsweerde and Matadin of a bearded male model who Utz concedes has something of a "Jesus Christ, Superstar" look. This section features a spread on gyms, giving plus points and, most importantly, prices. Designer Rick Owens also plays personal trainer with at-home exercises.
"It's very good for a launch issue," Utz notes of the 50 ad pages from names like Louis Vuitton, Guess, Dior Homme, YSL, Hermes, and David Yurman. Dolce & Gabbana and D&G have double pages inside the front and back covers, respectively.
In the current advertising climate, Utz and Gan are adopting a wait-and-see approach as to when the magazine might increase its circulation (the initial print run is 25,000) or make the jump from biannual to more frequent publication. Their hopes are high though. "It's like we've opened a Pandora's box," says Gan. "It's just such relatively uncharted territory -- at least in the U.S. -- there are so many places to go with it."
He's not quitting his day job though, as creative director of Harper's Bazaar, and dismisses the rumors of tension between himself and the title's editor-in-chief Glenda Bailey. "I'm working very hard for Harper's and believe strongly in it -- why else would I be here [on a Harper's Bazaar shoot] right now?" he asked in Wednesday's phone conversation. "Let that be a sign to people who say otherwise."
i cant wait to bring that 1st cover boy home......
hope not
