08/18/2005
Men's Vogue: A Rag for Middle aged Metrosexuals
How to launch a men's fashion magazine spun off of the leading women's fashion magazine and not have men see it as, well, just a bit too nelly?
As Gawker and Fishbowl point out, sprinkle it with ambiguously sexualized content like fashion spreads on hunting that will make the good ole boys feel like the hunters and gatherers they are while at the same time allowing the gay men to fantasize that they've just landed at Madonna's Ashcombe country estate.
Says Editor Jay Fielden to the gray lady: "I think this magazine is open to all readers, and that it doesn't try to stereotype or imagine what it is a person does in his private life."
Here's what they're aiming for according to the NYT: "The target reader is a man over 35 who earns more than $100,000 a year, is already living the life he wants rather than merely chasing it, and presumably isn't too embarrassed to be seen reading a magazine that for more than a century has been associated with women."
Or, as Details might put it, the aging metrosexual, those "slightly more stylish, defensive straight guys acting more macho than ever."
Vogue Answers: What Do Men Want? [nyt]
Posted 1:53 PM EST by Andy Towle in Print Media | Permalink
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George Clooney, I love you!
Posted by: Michael | Aug 18, 2005 2:27:14 PM
Reminds me, sorta, of how "Cargo" started as simply a man's guide to buying crap. You know, why kind of cell phone or laptop you should look into.
Now, the cover usually has a half naked woman on it, draped over a guy, with copy reading: "The Cocktails That'll Get Her Into Bed," "10 Best Bars ... For Hooking Up," "What Women Want ... In Haircuts." You get the idea. It's like they are trying too hard to be like, "No, no, we aren't gay, really!"
Posted by: Keith | Aug 19, 2005 2:16:49 PM
Exactly Keith!!! THANK YOU
Posted by: Kermit | Aug 20, 2005 2:35:45 PM
Yeah, but Cargo has hottie Andy Roddick on the new issue. Things are looking up.
Posted by: Ross | Aug 21, 2005 9:54:16 PM
I like Andy Roddick.
Posted by: JOHN | Sep 18, 2005 12:39:50 AM