Fashion Forum

We've seen the rise of the free newspaper against the paid version and now maybe we're going to see the glossy magazine market follow. The UK is about to see the launch of at least one free men's magazine from French Connection founder Stephen Marks and film director Matthew Vaughn. The telegraph reports:

Codenamed Alpha One, the title will be the first general-interest weekly given away free to men, who are shunning monthly magazines such as GQ and Esquire. The magazine is the brainchild of former IPC editorial director Mike Soutar... Mr Soutar said half a million copies of the title would be distributed by hand on a Thursday at key commuter points across the country, including London, Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and west Yorkshire.

Mr Soutar added: "For consumers under the age of 45 the power of free media is extraordinary. Survey after survey shows younger consumers value free media as much as paid for and expect the same quality both online and in print. Alpha One, the title will be the first general-interest weekly given away free to men, who are shunning monthly magazines such as GQ and Esquire.

Source: http://www.psfk.com/2007/07/free-mens-mag.html

I was sure this format had been done before, and I found http://www.monkeymag.co.uk/, which seems to have been running for a while now. Its not exactly high brow though.

Its interesting the number of online magazines making the rounds these days... Its a good format and there should be a centralised website for keeping up with them!