Yet Another Men’s Magazine Bites the Dust: Say Goodbye to Details

Third-tier men’s magazine Details will publish its last issue in December, the Wall Street Journal reports, after months of speculation that the publication would be shuttered.

Third-tier men’s magazine

Details

will publish its last issue in December, the

Wall Street Journal


reports

, after months of speculation that the publication


would be shuttered

.

The

WSJ

writes that some of

Details

content and staff will move to

GQ

(


recently hit by layoffs

)

,

which will start publishing

GQ Style

twice a year. Details.com will redirect to gqstyle.com, and about 20 percent of the brand’s 60 staffers will be assigned elsewhere under parent company Condé Nast’s umbrella.


Founded

in 1982 by Annie Flanders,

Details

was then described as an “offbeat fashion magazine” by the

New York Times

. When Condé


bought

the publication in 1988, it was turned into a specifically men’s fashion magazine, one that


lost its luster

after the ‘90s passed. In the 2000s, it was described as a publication that was


redesigned

to become a “raunchy publication for young males,” to compete with a then-successful

Maxim

(which has also


struggled

with a rebrand recently).

Per the

Details

press release,


those days are over

:

Details

is neither as successful a fashion magazine as

GQ

, nor a sexy men’s magazine able to compete with

Esquire

or even the


struggling


Playboy

.

Additionally, we have decided to build on the success and massive overall audience of GQ as our men’s brand, and will be expanding the business through their GQ Style franchise. GQ Style, which has consistently been popular among upscale millennials and luxury advertisers alike, will significantly expand its digital presence and also increase to a quarterly print schedule.

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It’s been a busy fall for Condé Nast (as well as the rest of the media world): while there was speculation that the company would close women’s fitness magazine



Self

as well

,

Self

is being


saved

, though its business team will be merging with

Glamour

’s. Last week,

Allure

’s founder Linda Wells was


replaced

with former

Nylon

editor Michelle Lee, a move that

Women’s Wear Daily


reported

had been shepherded in by Anna Wintour.

Also at play in this decision: Condé Nast’s


recent acquisition

of Pitchfork, which gives them a brand popular with “upscale” millennial males in a way

Details

apparently has not been. In the greater men’s content market, these closures indicate that what men want is changing: “raunchy” men’s magazine

FHM


closed

this week as well.


Contact the author at


.


Image via Details

DISCUSSION


By


FleanardoDiCaprio

Feeling very old right now because I remember when Details was a clubby kind of magazine. I stole the issue with Julie Brown on the cover from my dentist’s office because I wanted to try to recreate her jean jacket for myself. Spoiler alert: it came out like shit and I got in trouble for wrecking my jacket.

/cool story bro

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