When preparing to start a new fashion magazine, vivid imagery is just as much a part of the equation as the well-written and revealing articles. Fashion is all about aesthetics, and magazines are just a further extension of that. Readers are going to want to stare at beautiful images as much as they want to read about newly emerging fashion houses. So, you have to be prepared to give them both. Striking that balance can be hard for new fashion publications. Developing and creating a great new fashion publication requires you to have an eye on all the details, all at the same time. Get ready to visit with fashion designers, attend fashion shows, take pictures of all the latest trends, and put it all together in a format that readers will be drawn to.
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Choose a Fashion-Related Niche, Theme or Category
Although fashion all falls under the same umbrella, not all fashion is the same. Younger people might want to read about streetwear and social media-based beauty influencers. Older, more seasoned readers generally want to hear all about the great luxury fashion houses and their upcoming fashion shows. Pretty much everyone wants to hear about what celebrities are wearing on the red carpet. Your fashion magazine might have a very narrow niche that it fits into, and that is completely okay. Knowing what kind of fashion themed developments that you want to cover can help you to carve out your space even easier. So, if it’s accessories and DIY beauty tips that you want to feature, define your niche well and stay within the confines.
Know Your Audience – In and Out
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The people who become interested in your magazine are all going to be part of the same target audience. No, they will not all be exactly the same and sometimes they won’t be all that similar. On the other hand, as the publisher of a new fashion magazine, you should know your audience exceedingly well. Learn your audience, listen to their gripes and concerns, pay attention to what they like, and do your best to make your magazine appeal to them. Also realize that your audience could change and evolve as your magazine grows. Your baseline readers could end up sharing your magazine with readers in different age groups or even locations. If you talk to your readers fairly regularly, you will always have a clear idea of who they are.
Select a Fashion Magazine Format
Fashion magazines typically come in printed form, in a glossy format. Flipping through the physical pages of a magazine is exciting and relaxing. Pulling up a fashion themed website and browsing the online format of a magazine also has benefits. Choose the primary format that your fashion magazine appears in wisely. Online formats might be easier to produce, thus enabling your company to push out more material every issue. A printed magazine can be a lot more expensive to have printed up, but it does come with a very definitive form of prestige. A lot of fashion magazines actually do both. Regardless of whether you print a full-sized fashion magazine or stick to a digital format, the images and layouts have to be on point. With services like Superprof, you can get lessons in fashion photography on your schedule. Superprof features instructors with a background in print magazines, high fashion, and more. Discover how you can make all of the images in your fashion magazine pop, online and in person.
Research Current Fashion Trends
Beyond featuring prominent figures in the fashion industry, readers want to know what is current. Trends can take mere weeks and even years to catch on, with only the most chic and savvy fashionistas knowing what the story is before everyone else. So, include fashion trends that are hot now versus the ones that are expected to catch on in future seasons. Give readers examples of how to pair these fashion trends with their existing wardrobes. Include pictures of everyday people embracing said trends right alongside celebrities. Fashion is imagery and creativity, and trends capture what is right on the cusp of cutting edge.
Find Interesting Subjects to Cover
Fashion might cover clothing and aesthetics, but it has a way of touching people from all over. A budding fashion designer living in Russia could easily go on to become a household name in the fashion industry, and there are only a select number of publications that are going to cover them at first. So, you have to be able to have an eye as well as an ability to uncover raw hidden talent. Dedicating an entire issue to international designers would appeal to readers looking to overcome adversity. Doing a feature on color or shape could be very helpful for readers still working to define their sense of style. Ask readers for their input and then actually take their suggestions to heart from time to time. What is interesting to you might not be interesting to your copy editor or your lead photographer, but doing things differently can have unexpected results.
Assemble the Team
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A fashion magazine has to highlight the viewpoints of a diverse staff in order to be widely appealing. Sure, fashion and beauty might be the kinds of topics that are thought of as being completely in the wheelhouse of women, but there are oodles of men photographers, models, and designers as well. Fashion can be marketed to younger women in their 20s and 30s, but the fact of the matter is that teens as well as older women are huge consumer groups in the fashion and beauty industries. You want your fashion magazine to be read by everyone who gets their hands on it. You want all readers to have stories resonate with them, for them to see themselves within the pages of your publication. Get a team together that will speak their voices.
Think Graphic Design
The name of a fashion magazine can intrigue you. The titles of articles and names of subjects being interviewed in an issue might pique your interest. But it is the design, layout and overall style of fashion magazines that gets readers to pick them up off the shelf. You will likely change the graphic design elements featured in your fashion magazine dozens of times before getting everything just right. And even then, many magazines periodically update their graphic design elements for special issues or just to make things new and fresh again. Spend as much time with the article writers as you do your graphic design team.
Read more fashion articles at Cliché Magazine
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