It is those who aspire to be more and are unsatisfied with what they've got. And there's nothing wrong with that. Still, the only way Men's Vogue can succeed, is if it draws as many women readers as men.
So, in other words, Men's Vogue isn't going to last and isn't going to satisfy anyone.
The men's magazine market is already fractured and split apart by sports, car, tech, politics, hunting, and hot rod car and truck magazines. Not too mention Auto Trader, Wired and Cigar Aficionado and hundreds of other titles. There's a crossover of women readers in all that. Women have those interests and men find that shared interest sexy in a "That means I can do more of what I like" way.
Right now, as with most all fashion mags, it is not the reader that is uppermost in mind but the advertisers. Since they sell slick many can get away with it. Men's Vogue won't. It will stay around longer than it should because it's a quarterly, but it will be gone by the equivalent of a year - the 12th issue.
Either that or I'm wrong. Which, you know, I'm not.
SEE ALSO :::
Men's Vogue: Guys and Dollars This guy at the Washington Post had some good lines that I had to jump away from using.
'Men's Vogue' goes for the sophisticated guy (Which I swear I first read as sophisticated "gay")
Article comments
1 - Temple STark
See. No audience ;-)
2 - Mark Sahm
I'd take a guess and say the metrosexual level in BC is probably close to nil.
3 - Bob A. Booey
I think I'm the only one and I'm becoming more and more slobby these days, but I'm not interested.
They already tried this: it's called GQ and Details, neither of which enjoy the popularity they once did.
The Vogue brand name is too heavily identified with female fashion and no heterosexual man will ever read it unless he's really, really deluded.
Another dirty secret of the publishing world: Men's Fitness and all such magazines with beefcakes on the covers have a primarily gay male readership. Maybe that's not such a secret, though.
That is all.
4 - Mark Sahm
Do you read any magazines, Booey?
5 - Bob A. Booey
Counting or not counting porn?
Guess what I read, Mark or anyone else.
I don't read very many magazines anymore, but I know what I've read regularly or (wait for it) periodically in the past.
That is all.
6 - Mark Sahm
I had read Men's Health when it first came out, but grew bored with it after 2 issues, because it was all the same bullshit advice. I don't even bother with most men's mags, because the price is nowhere near worth the 20 seconds of eye-candy for a B-List celebrity pictorial they include.
Booey, I'd say you could count porn only if you have a subscription to it. I bet you used to be into Sports Illustrated.
7 - Temple Stark
THe only magazine I currently suvbscribe to is Esquire. That's because it came with a free deck of playing cards and I collect playing cards and I couldn't turn it down.
And it's a monthly, so I can handle that.
Sports Illustrated - for what it is - is one kick-ass magazine. It serves its readers well.
8 - Mark Saleski
i like the new yorker, though when things get busy it's tough to keep up (which is why i stopped attempting the atlanic monthly several years ago...too many 35 page articles)
9 - Mark Sahm
Temple, I have a decommissioned battleship for sale. It comes with a totally unique deck of cards. Interested in buying? :)
My only current subscription is Rolling Stone, because I started collecting the covers during college. They sent me an offer for a lifetime subscription the other month, which I found quite amusing.
10 - Jonathan McKeever
Men's Vogue USA may be a new concept in the American market, but it's nothing new for Condé Nast. Uomo Vogue and Vogue Homme have happily existed in France and Italy respectively for a number of years now. In fact, Uomo Vogue is now monthly and has spawned a new men's magazine in Italy, namely Vogue Sport.
It does of course remain to be seen whether the American male will take to the idea of Men's Vogue as readily as his European counterparts, but I would wager that Condé Nast have done their homework on this one. I'm sure a P Diddy cover will follow sooner or later!