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It may be the dog days of summer, but fashion magazine publishers this week wrapped up the crucially important September issues that showcase fall fashion — and the positive returns have the group looking to a bright finish to the year.
“If you can post a good September, it’s a good barometer of where you are heading in the fourth quarter,” said Elle Publisher Kevin O’Malley.
Elle, which only landed at Hearst two years ago with the Hachette Filipacchi Media acquisition, just posted the biggest issue in the history of Hearst — with 442 ad pages, a 47.5 page, or 12 percent, increase over last year.
O’Malley credits Elle Editor Robbie Myers, the second-longest tenured editor on the fashion scene, with most of Elle’s success.
“She’s been the consistent voice for 13 years — that is what is fueling a lot of it for us,” said O’Malley.
As expected, Condé Nast flagship Vogue, which has been helmed by Anna Wintour for 25 years, is the dominant title, with 655 ad pages — even though publisher Susan Plagemann managed only a 1 percent increase from September a year ago.
Last year, the company got a big lift from promotions tied to its 120th anniversary issue.
“It’s good when the whole category is up,” said Plagemann. “I think it’s a good indicator for the overall economy.”
InStyle, the Time Inc. fashion entry, said the ad-page total for September makes it the largest issue in its 19-year history: 455 ad pages, up 13 pages, or 3 percent, from a year earlier.
That comes despite the loss of InStyle Publisher Connie Anne Phillips, who quit in May and resurfaced inside Condé Nast as publisher of Glamour.
Glamour, not necessarily a pure fashion play, had 224 ad pages, an 18 percent gain put together largely by her predecessor Bill Wackermann.
Industry observers are still wondering how Phillips slipped away without a non-compete agreement being enforced.
The baton at InStyle, meanwhile, was picked up mid-stream by Karin Tracy, a one-time associate publisher of InStyle who most recently was publisher of Entertainment Weekly when she was tapped to move back to InStyle as publisher.
Tracy points to the editorial as the key to the magazine’s 20 consecutive months of ad-page growth.
“Ariel Foxman’s editorial is as beautiful as it is actionable,” said Tracy of the magazine’s editor.
Harper’s Bazaar, edited by Glenda Bailey, was once Hearst’s main fashion title but now is seen as the little sister of Elle and has cut back to only 10 issues a year. But it still had a nice September, with 397 ad pages, up 10 percent from last year.
And W, edited in its oversized glory by Stefano Tonchi, also had a nice finish to September, with 288 ad pages, up 17 percent from a year ago.
While it has the smallest ad page total of the fashion books, it gets some credit for the biggest percentage increase.
Time for a snag
No CEO over troubled waters?
Talks with Michael Klingensmith to replace lame duck Laura Lang as new CEO of Time Inc. appear to have hit a snag, sources said this week.
It is not clear if it is a deal breaker or a small bump in the road.
Nonetheless, the snag is forcing Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes to keep close to another of the four candidates on the short list — described by one insider as “two external candidates and two internal candidates.”
Klingensmith, a former executive vice president and CFO at Time Inc. and currently the publisher of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, obviously is one of the externals.
Howard Averill, the CFO of Time Inc., is widely seen as the top internal candidate — and most say he gets the job if an agreement can’t be reached with Klingensmith.
Time Warner still wants to spin off its publishing assets by year end.
If Klingensmith signs on the dotted line to run the publishing group of Time, People, Sports Illustrated, InStyle, et al., the betting is that Averill moves to Time Warner as CFO.
That job opened up this week when incumbent John Martin was named CEO of the Turner Broadcasting division — with no successor being announced.
Either way, sources say that Bewkes still is hopeful he can wrap up the talks with someone by next week.
Super Model due
Former Trump magazine publisher Michael Jacobson is retuning to publishing with the launch of a new independent luxury magazine, Super Model.
The magazine plans to debut Aug. 7 with a controlled and paid circulation of 40,000, primarily in the New York City metropolitan area.
“I think men will look on it as the new Maxim or a sexy Robb Report,” he said. “It will be travel, dining, real estate — the whole lifestyle surrounding supermodels,” he said.
He said he is also offering a concierge service where, for a fee, readers will get access at a steep discount to a host of upscale venues and travel opportunities.
In a sense, his pursuit of the upscale male luxury market is an attempt to replicate what he tried to accomplish when he hatched a licensing deal with Donald Trump to start Trump magazine at Lockwood Publications in 2003. He and co-founder Aaron Sigmond took it over on their own in 2004 before selling it for a song to Niche Media in 2007.
It was closed down in 2009 by the new owners.
At Super Model, he will be the editor-in-chief and president and he said he has raised about $1 million from a number of undisclosed backers — with the largest single donor chipping in $125,000.
“We made a little money the first issue,” he said, by selling 26 ad pages. The plan is to start as a quarterly and then move to six times a year in year two.