August 2006 cover |
|
| Editor-in-chief | Marvin Scott Jarrett |
|---|---|
| Categories | Fashion |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Jaclynn B. Jarrett |
| Total circulation (2011) |
218,836[1] |
| First issue | April 1999 (U.S.) |
| Company | Nylon Holding Inc. |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | New York, NY |
| Language | English |
| Website | nylonmag.com |
| ISSN | 1524-1750 |
Nylon is an American magazine that focuses on pop culture and fashion. Its coverage includes art, beauty, music, design, celebrities, technology and travel. Its name references New York and London.
Contents |
In preparation for founding Nylon, Ray Gun and Bikini publishers Marvin Scott Jarrett and Jaclynn Jarrett sold their majority interests in Ray Gun Publishing for an "undisclosed sum", then formed Pop Media. Nylon was co-founded in 1999 by the Jarretts, with ex-Ray Gun Editorial Director Mark Blackwell and supermodel Helena Christensen as Creative Director[2][3] (no longer involved). According to Publisher Jaclynn Jarrett, the magazine's name was chosen because "...Marvin Scott Jarrett, our Editor-in-Chief, just liked the sound of Nylon. After picking it, we realized the New York/London tie-in, which is congruous with our editorial focus on these two cities."[4] The design of the magazine was intended to be "hyper-legible", in answer to criticism of Ray-Gun 's "chaotic" layouts. The first issue was published on April 6, 1999.[2]
In 2006, Nylon and MySpace collaborated on their first International Music issue, making it freely available online for a time.[5][6] The magazine became generally available online in digital form in March 2007. Nylon released their June/July International Music and MySpace issue online for free viewing.[7] Marvin Scott Jarrett's Editor's Letter described it as a collaboration with MySpace, focusing on eight "music and style mecca" cities around the world, featuring the White Stripes on the cover, as selected by Nylon's MySpace fans.[8] On their 10-year anniversary in 2009, Nylon made the April 1999 inaugural issue freely available online, including all articles, in scanned form.[9]
The Executive Editor for the magazine is currently Luke Crisell, who also holds the same position for Nylon Guys .
The first Nylon cover subject was Liv Tyler in April 1999, photographed and interviewed by Helena Christensen.[10] Cover models have included: Christina Aguilera, The Horrors, Lily Allen, Paris Hilton, The Kills, Camilla Belle, Karen O, Evan Rachel Wood, Mary-Kate Olsen, Lil' Kim, Zooey Deschanel, Kristen Stewart, Rachel Bilson, Scarlett Johansson, Mischa Barton, Christina Ricci, Leighton Meester, Blake Lively, Taylor Momsen, The White Stripes, Sienna Miller, Nicole Richie, Megan Fox, Hilary Duff, Emma Stone, Lindsay Lohan, M.I.A., Zoe Saldana, Drew Barrymore, Jessica Szohr, Mila Kunis,[11] Emily Browning, Jena Malone, Abbie Cornish, Vanessa Hudgens, and Jamie Chung.
The inaugural issue of Nylon was received with some disdain from Barry Didcock of the Glasgow Sunday Herald, who referred to Christensen's photography of Liv Tyler as "striking enough" but said her interview was "natter" and her photo/journal article about India was "gushing." He continued, "British music fans won't take much from Nylon they haven't already absorbed" from other magazines.[10]
Medialife Magazine's Jennifer Cox wrote in 2001 that Nylon was "a little uppity, and it's not hard to understand why", describing it as "bold, idiosyncratic, challenging, absolutely of-the-moment," but unnoticed by "the mainstream" until March 2001, when Nylon was nominated for the ASME National Magazine award. She described the April issue as "groundbreaking" (for a fashion magazine) to feature an overweight woman in a history of women's weight, noted that the magazine's models "are more often interesting looking than beautiful per se." She found its photo spreads "bold with their use of white space and innovative photography" and noted Nylon's distinctive "heavy emphasis on music coverage."[12]
The American Society of Magazine Editors noted the magazine three times: Nylon was nominated for "National Magazine Award for General Excellence (100,000-400,000 circulation)" in 2001,[13] was a finalist for "General Excellence (100,000 to 250,000 circulation)" in 2003,[14][15] and was a finalist for the 2006 ASME "Design" award.[16]
In 2006, Nylon was a Nominee at the 10th Annual Webby Awards, in the Fashion category,[17][18] and an Official Honoree at the 12th Annual Webby Awards in the Magazine category in 2008.[19]
In 2008 industry monitor Media Industry News Online editors selected Nylon.com as the penultimate of their "Top 5 Women's Fashion Mag Website Picks", judging on "visual appeal, functionality and usefulness of information". They found it to be the "destination of choice for alternative, fashion minds everywhere", and "...Nylon’s entertainment radar is still alive and well. Its funky illustrations and graphics give Nylon a hip, unique look that is truly hard to come by in the category. Nxtbook provides slick, downloadable digital magazine issues".[20]
The magazine has Radar, Fashion, and Style pages. There is also a Nylon Guys magazine, first announced in 2003[21] and published independently in 2004,[4] which has featured Joseph Gordon Levitt from 500 Days of Summer. According to publisher Jaclynn Jarrett, Nylon partnered with Rizzoli Publishing to publish three books: Street, on global street fashion; Pretty, on beauty; and Play, on music.[4] Pretty: The NYLON Book of Beauty was listed in the New York Public Library's best Books for the Teen Age 2008.[22][23]
In 2009, Jarrett founded Nylon Records and signed French female pop group Plastiscines as its first act, after seeing them on the cover of French fashion and style magazine Citizen K.[24][25] Also in 2009, Nylon introduced its iPhone app; MinOnline listed it (among "Top 5 iPhone Mags You May Have Missed") as "a pleasant surprise. This fashion and culture mag has one of the more attractive magazine-like designs among print brands on mobile."[26] The September 2010 issue of the magazine was released as an iPad app, including video, music and some exclusive content.[27]