How marvellous that the team at high-end etailer Net-a-Porter has made a very public pronouncement about something we in the industry all know – that being the power and value of print.
The launch of Porter mag is enough to turn me into someone spouting the lingo of the fashion business.
Fashionistas may be ‘obsessed’ by the latest shoe or frock shape, I’m finding myself obsessed with the size, shape and trajectory of this new magazine. Mwah, mwah how simply fab-u-lous darlings.
Also loving the comments from founder Natalie Massenet about how she loves print, specifically praising its longevity, and this from editor-in-chief Lucy Yeomans, who said “there’s something intimate and beautiful about that print experience.”
Isn’t there just?
Aspects of interest include this leap onto the newsstand by a brand that might have been expected to produce a customer magazine.
With Porter the firm could initiate a whole new publishing model, and it's one they expect to make money from. They've certainly assembled an expert team to get the project off to a flying start, including former NatMags man Andy Parslow on the production side.
Net-a-Porter's high-roller VIP customers will get their copy as a matter of course. Regular customers can subscribe with a single copy or annual sub.
And those who aspire to the sort of net worth that results in a typical Net-a-Porter customer spend of £13,000 on fashion a year can simply pick up a copy in Smiths, and live the dream through its pages.
Meanwhile, the value of that print proposition is writ large in Porter’s ratecard – an inside front cover gatefold ad is £189,000 with standard display pages a snip at £38,000.
Net-a-Porter’s move has shone a rather more glamorous light on print than we’ve been used to of late. Let’s jump on this glossy bandwagon in any way we can.
