Vogue Business: New title focuses on fashion industry

Conde Nast International will launch a new business-focused fashion title in an attempt to tap into new sources of revenue.

Vogue Business will be a digital-only publication aimed at fashion industry professionals.

Analysts say the move is part of a wider shift in the media sector toward niche publications.

The launch comes as the US media industry goes through another round of job cuts.

Condé Nast International said the new title will cover the “market currents, cultural movements, trends and technologies that will impact the fashion industry”.

Vogue Business is the first product to emerge from the firm’s “incubator” which develops new products and services for the company.

“We are constantly evaluating how we work across countries and brands and how we develop our products to expand our global leadership in the fashion, luxury and lifestyle spaces,” Condé Nast International said in a statement.

The company also publishes Wired, GQ and Vanity Fair.

The new title will be edited by Lauren Indvik and global contributors will include Suzy Menkes, it said.

The company said 7,000 industry professionals were involved in beta-testing Vogue Business, including senior executives at some of the world’s biggest fashion brands.

Shift to niche titles

Mark Mulligan from MIDiA Research said the new title appears to be part of a move to focus on smaller, high-value audiences rather than large-scale readerships supported by ads.

“Where more mainstream titles struggle for relevance and readership, print edition niche magazines have proven to have strong, long term appeal with their respective niches,” he said.

Many media companies have struggled to generate sufficient advertising revenues from large digital audiences.

American media firms BuzzFeed, HuffPost and Gannett have shed 1,000 jobs between them this year.