Fashion magazines are a dime a dozen! But just a few elite ones with best content are most sought after, worldwide. The latest to join this league is Porter. Touted to be the fashion magazine for the stylish, intelligent woman of now, Porter has been globally launched by online fashion retailer Net-A-Porter.
The official description about this glossy reads this – ‘Combining the intimacy of the printed page with the instant gratification technology allows, PORTER delivers an authoritative global point of view and a bespoke curation of fashion, beauty, travel and culture in one luxurious glossy package, brought to life by an innovative digital edition.’ Fans and readers of the Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and the likes will have to subscribe to one more high-profile fashion magazine in paper. Already launched at other top cities of the world, the American launch was planned to coincide with the New York Fashion Week.
Net-A-Porter founder Natalie Massenet claims, “The founding idea for this business was about launching a shoppable magazine online, inspired by the incredible glossy magazines we have grown up with. With the launch of Porter, I feel like we have come full circle.” She also seconded that with this move Net-a-porter will be able to build and strengthen relationships with brands like Chanel and Dior who till date do not sell their products on luxury retailer’s site. She asserted, “We are partnering with many brands that we don’t carry currently, and they now have access to our consumers via this and the Net-a-Porter brand, and it is inevitable that this will lead, one way or another, to us playing with them.”
This magazine has seized more attention and raised many eyebrows as its one of the first to be launched by an e-commerce retailer and not a publisher. Though it is reported that an estimated 400,000 copies of the mag will be distributed worldwide six times a year, over 350,000 copies of the 284-page debut issue will take over the print fashion media industry this month. And honoring their dedicated clients with high-spending power, Net-a-Porter will be giving a free copy of their first magazine to their EIPs (read Extremely Important People).
As supermodel Gisele Bündchen sizzles on the cover page of Porter’s first issue, leading the celebration of incredible women, she also quotes, “I wish for all women to realize how special and unique they are. That’s what I want for my daughter… That’s what I want for myself.” Flip the pages to find her once more on page 124, shot by Inez & Vinoodh and styled by Alex White. Also watch out for Eva Herzigova dressed in a tux on page 81 of debut issue.
Published in American English, Porter will be distributed in 60 countries and 220 cities. New Yorkers can pick it from Hudson News stand at Grand Central Station and Londoners from Victoria Station.
An annual subscription to Porter includes six issues of the print edition, exclusive, limited-edition cover and also complimentary access to the digital edition. The women mag’s game-changing, fully shoppable digital edition will be available on iPad and Android from February 14. Raising its standard to be revered as big-ticket, Porter is more expensive than Vogue. It is available on the newsstand for almost $10, ($9.99) for a copy and will cost about $48 for an annual subscription of six issues, published every two months.
