Style.com/Print marries street style with high

Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani and Balenciaga touted recent collections in the fifth issue of Fairchild Fashion Media's Style.com/Print magazine to attract fashion-savvy readers to the bi-annual publication.

The Spring 2014 issue's theme, 'Streets of Dreams,' explores the parallels between street style and high-fashion. The connection between the two styles is represented by the publication's dual collectible covers which featured model Elise Crombez in Dior on the streets of Antwerp, Belgium and model Joan Smalls in streetwear fashions styled by Hood by Air.

'We are up five percent in ad revenue over the last issue, fall 2013, and have gained new business from brands including Saint Laurent, Isabel Marant and more,' said Matt Rice, publisher of Style.com/Print, New York.

Fairchild Fashion Media, a division of Condé Nast, owns Style.com, Women's Wear Daily, Footwear News, NowManifest, Beauty Inc and M.

On the streets Style.com/Print continued to bridge the digital and print worlds by including a 'Tweet Chic' section that features notable tweets by fashion industry insiders, celebrities and bloggers.

In addition, the dual-covered publication featured a top 10 of the most viewed fashion shows, ranked by its readers. Chanel took the number one spot, followed by Saint Laurent, with other mentioned labels including Dior, Prada, Givenchy and Dolce & Gabbana.

The 180-paged Spring 2014 issue opened with an inside front cover ad by Dior. The yellow graffiti-like backdrop of the campaign and the spray paint motif on the featured handbag correlated with the issue's overall theme of street art.

Front of the book campaign efforts from Giorgio Armani, Balenciaga, Saint Laurent, Ferragamo, Valentino, Tods and Isabel Marant appeared in the first few pages. The two-paged ads displayed both women's ready-to-wear apparel, accessories and handbags.

Valentino ad

Opposite the table of contents Cartier placed an ad for its Paris Nouvelle Vague collection. Set against the continuation of the table of contents is Lanvin and Balmain.

Chanel ad

To stand out among the fashion-focused ads in the Spring 2014 issue of Style.com/Print, Mercedes-Benz placed an ad for its S-Class. Although not specifically fashion, the ad features model Sui He in attention-grabbing eye make-up and included the link www.mercedes-benz.com/fashion as a way to stay relevant.

Before the beginning of the content pages, Versace and DVF placed single-paged ads. On the outside back cover, Chanel placed an ad for its current apparel and accessories collection.

The issue's featured content included an interview with fashion designer Raf Simons and his role as creative director at Dior, a personal essay by singer Courtney Love on how she became 'an accidental style icon,' the favorite places in Los Angeles as told by Hedi Slimane, creative director at Saint Laurent and creative director Stefano Pilati's take on Zegna's cashmere offshoot, Agnona.

Style.com/Print's main objective in this season's issue is to display and analyze the way in which high-end fashion brands are changing and adapting to modern tastes.

'We wanted to report the news of the season, the biggest shows by page view, the newest trends, the most interesting new designers from New York to Paris, but we also wanted to go deeper and define the mood of the season,' said Dirk Standen, editor in chief of Style.com/Print, New York.

'For spring 2014, there is a fascinating dialogue between high fashion and streetwear,' he said. 'On the one hand, you have designers like Raf Simons at Dior and Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent who are bringing elements of street and youth culture to these grand Parisian fashion houses, and on the other you have a young New York designer like Shayne Oliver whose Hood by Air line was originally categorized as streetwear but that is moving into the high fashion sphere.

'It shows that the definition of luxury is constantly shifting, luxury now is not 'ladies who lunch,' it can also be Mr. Slimane's interpretation of a grunge cardigan.'

Best of both worlds Combining the world of print and digital has helped Style.com/Print reach a larger number of readers through its interactive content format.

For example, Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Balenciaga, Salvatore Ferragamo, Valentino, Tod's, Cartier, Mercedes-Benz, Oscar de la Renta and Chanel targeted the fashion-minded readers of the third issue of Fairchild Fashion Media's Style.com/Print.

Aligning with the brand's digital channel, the editorial content in Style.com/Print gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the fashion industry through features such as those on Balenciaga creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere and Louis Vuitton's Marc Jacobs and Katie Grand ( see story).

In addition, marketers including Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Balenciaga and Cartier kicked off the second issue of Style.com/Print that is centered around recently-released fall/winter collections and shows from high-end brands.

The first issue of Style.com/Print was released Oct. 31, 2012 and focused on spring shows from last year ( see story).

Using visual storytelling, Style.com/Print is taking fashion publications to the next level by approaching the subject from a new angle.

Final takeLike this article? Sign up for a free subscription to Luxury Daily's must-read newsletters. Click here! Jen King, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York

'We always had great reporting, but I think we've significantly raised the level of the visual and photographic storytelling,' Mr. Standen said. 'For example, in the new issue we have a story on Raf Simons and Dior that was shot by Willy Vanderperre and styled by Olivier Rizzo.

'Mr. Vanderperre and Mr. Rizzo are not only at the top of their game in terms of the ad campaigns and editorials that they do, but they are also very close to Mr. Simons and have collaborated with him for years,' he said.

'The result, shot on location in Mr. Simons' home base of Antwerp, is both intimate and powerful and shows Mr. Simons' work for Dior in a different context than we've seen before. It's visual storytelling of a very high level. Again, it's luxury, but from a new angle.'

Jen King is an editorial assistant on Luxury Daily. Her beats are consumer electronics, consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, fragrance and personal care, jewelry, media/publishing, software and technology and telecommunications. Reach her at jen@napean.com.

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Tags: Apparel and accessories, Dirk Standen, luxury, luxury daily, luxury marketing, Marketing, Matt Rice, Media/publishing, Print, Style.com/Print

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