The thickness of the September fashion magazines has been determined and while things are looking excellent for a number of publications (Elle, Vogue, Harper's Baazar, InStyle), they're looking bleak for a couple others (Lucky, Teen Vogue).
Over at Hearst, Fashionista and Women's Wear Daily report that things were good all-around in terms of ad pages:
- Elle - 465 pages, up five percent in ad pages. The largest magazine Hearst has ever published
- Harper's Bazaar - 444 pages, up 12 percent. The largest issues Harper's has ever put out
- Marie Claire - 261 pages, up 6 percent. The largest issue Marie Claire has ever put out
- Cosmopolitan - 185 pages, up 8 percent
- Town & Country - 137 pages, up 20 percent
But at Condé Nast, there were winners and then there were big losers:
- Vogue - 631 pages, actually down 4.5 percent
- W - 303 pages, up 5.2 percent
- Glamour - 215 pages, actually down 4 percent.
- Vanity Fair - 232 pages, down 1.9 percent
- Lucky - 90 pages, down 34.3 percent
Competitor Time Inc.'s InStyle did very well: it boasted a whopping 485 ad pages and was up 6 percent. WSJ and The New York Times' T were also strong, both putting out their largest issues ever.
In the teen mag world, Hearst's Seventeen was down 6.2 percent with 106 pages and Condé Nast's Teen Vogue dropped a whole 33.9 percent to 112 pages.
These numbers don't bode well for Lucky; in April, editor Eva Chen had to slap down rumors that the magazine would be closing. But volatility is (for better or worse) what this industry is about. In the non-fashion women's magazine realm, after spending the last several months doling out numerous firings, Self magazine ordered a whole round of new layoffs Thursday. And up in the higher ranks at Condé Nast, three executives were fired/left the company this week, a move AdAge noted leaves Vogue editor Anna Wintour "as the unchallenged top editorial voice at the company" and preps the company to appoint a new CEO in the coming years.
But in the immediate future, Condé Nast has bigger issues to worry about, like their move to (to quote the New York Times) the "the dreary wilderness that is the Financial District", which has forced employees to figure out where on earth they're going to get their nails done and have long, important business lunches.
Images via Vogue and Lucky