The past few years have been hard on everyone – but few industries have taken as hard a hit as the magazine business. Once storied publishing institutions have gone the way of the do-do bird as advertisers have become scarce and the Internet has become the primary news source for a growing number of people around the world.
Recently, a number of magazines have become much smaller in size, have cut staff and found a permanent home on the chopping block of publications that may see their days coming to an end.
The reasons for these issues are straightforward. Without advertisers to pay the bills, there is simply no way to pay a fashion-forward staff that requires a tremendous amount of care and feeding (not to mention Per Diems).
Also, we have begun to look online for the latest news and photos about new fashion trends. The kind of instant gratification offered by the online medium is simply too much for traditional print medium to compete with.
The good news is that there will always be a place for Vogue, Elle, W and other giants of the fashion media world. However, these businesses should not rest on the laurels of the their brand names. It will become essential that these fashion magazines find a way to reinvent themselves before the bell tolls from them as well.
Currently, magazine publishing houses that once met the Internet with indifference (if not outright contempt) are seeing the value of an online component. And it makes sense too. Why should individuals have to wait a month or more to see the latest runway designs from New York fashion week when they can simply hop on to Elle’s website and see them the day after. Why shouldn’t they be able to give feedback on the latest styles without having to write a letter to the editor that may or may not be published?
It is those fashion magazines that understand how you can (and must) have both an online and a print component who will succeed in the 21st century.
