International fashion for those at home

By GEORGINA BOND

When New Zealand's first monthly fashion magazine, Lucire, appears in October, its publishers are expecting to feed the fashion appetites of a particular group - the well-travelled woman.

Publisher Jack Yan said the magazine would be aimed at women who had been on their OE, were used to reading stories from the international catwalk and had returned home to find a gap in the market.

"They're internationally minded people or people who desire that lifestyle," he says.

Confident there is demand from this group, and from general fashion fanatics who can't wait three months for their fix, Yan feels it's time to translate his Lucire online fashion site, started in 1997, to a print version.

ACP Media's Fashion Quarterly appears to be Lucire's main rival, but Yan sees most of its competition coming from monthly, imported fashion magazines.

The magazine was initially to be a premium-positioned quarterly, but discussions with agencies encouraged Yan to make it a monthly.

"Since we have the regular content and the country's largest international network of fashion correspondents from our website, I didn't see a problem," he said.

The online edition, for which 85 per cent of readers log on from overseas, will continue and Yan expects the two mediums will feed off each other. Features that are exclusive to the magazine will direct people online for more information.

The title will be edited by former make-up artist Nicola Brockie, who has been promoted from Australasian beauty editor.

It will have fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle sections.

The first edition will have a print-run of 20,000, and will contain fashion week previews from San Francisco, Stockholm, Australia, New Zealand and New York, with preview sketches of designer collections.

"We're hoping for a good first quarter from the New Zealand market, then we will look to expand into other countries," Yan said.

He has plans for an Australian edition next year and has America in his sights for 2006.

Eventually, Yan hopes people will be able to pick up the magazine from news-stands in any country and continue reading the same articles, with international trends translated into what readers can buy in their cities.

"Lucire is about uniting people. We're tapping into the fact we are becoming more global, and people have global tastes," he says.

Yan hopes the magazine will lift New Zealanders' fashion horizons with its international flavour, but says 80 per cent of its content will be local.

Despite its premium positioning, Lucire will feature all manner of labels, "because that's what people are about today".

"While we love Trelise Cooper, Zambesi and Karen Walker, we'll be making sure the smaller K Rd and Cuba St labels get coverage as well," Yan says.

"If it's good quality, it will get in there. Fashion is fashion, we don't care how much it costs."

Contributors from all over the world will provide content, but Lucire will be produced by about 12 staff in Auckland and Wellington, and Yan says he wants to keep it that way.

"It will stay very much a New Zealand title and that's to our advantage. The New Zealand voice translates beautifully into America. They love the way we talk and write."

Yan says Lucire will carry a strong Kiwi look and feel, describing the style as "Kiwi modernism".

Although it is a women's magazine, Yan says men will be able to read it.

"They will be well catered for with a male grooming section featuring the latest accessories and products."

Lucire will be published in a 23.5cm by 33.5cm format, similar to Urbis magazine, and will sell for $9.45.

Lucire Magazine