Earlier this month, the fashion industry experienced a major shock as NYLON announced it will be discontinuing its print publication, making the October issue the last physical copy of NYLON ever.
Seeing this nearly 20-year-old media platform take a step toward a more millennial future leaves writers questioning what the future of print media will look like.
On Sept. 7, NYLON Executive Chairman Marc Luzzatto made a statement to Women’s Wear Daily acknowledging the effects following this decision.
“As a result of the restructure, there will be about one dozen layoffs effective immediately,” Luzzatto says. “We would like to thank those employees for their dedication in keeping NYLON continuously ahead of the curve. As platforms emerge and change, our voice, content and brand keep getting stronger, as do our array of marketing solutions.”
Of those 12 employees, Senior Beauty Editor Jade Taylor was less than pleased with how the shutdown was handled. Wanting to express her frustration to the public, she posted a summary of her past six years as a NYLON employee to Instagram.
“Our beloved magazine folded, and the entire print team was thrown away with it,” Taylor says. “It was cold and abrupt, like a slap in the face.”
However, it seems this change wasn’t that big of surprise after all. Back in 2015, NYLON Guys made the transition to all-digital, which set rumors flying of NYLON going entirely digital itself. Just this month, NYLON Guys returned in print once more before the entire publication made the switch.
As expected with NYLON itself, NYLON Guys has since continued to create new and relevant content available at the touch of a button. NYLON Media President Jamie Elden explained how NYLON’s content will further appeal to its audience from now on in his announcement.
All staff involved with the multi-media platform remain intensely focused on all things fashion, pop-culture and technology to get a grip on what readers want to experience when visiting NYLON’s website.
“NYLON Studios and its hyper-creative team have a deep understanding of our Millennial and Gen-Z audience and creates highly impactful integrated campaigns for the industry’s most iconic brands,” Elden says.
With this shift, NYLON can appeal to its audience with new features by incorporating videos and influencer programs, among many other ways for readers to get involved. This way, the audience gets instant content that is unique, exclusive and especially up-to-date. For example, this behind-the-scenes video of Dapper Q’s NYFW show, which included over 65 LGBTQ models and 10 designers, was a groundbreaking moment within the industry embracing gender nonconformity across all races and cultures.
Will NYLON’s glossy covers be missed on newsstands everywhere? Of course. But A Magazine can’t wait to see the long future ahead for NYLON’s new content possibly even greater than before.
