Magazine Imitates a Catalog and Has a Charmed Life, So Far
By DAVID CARR, NY TIMES
Publishers of women's magazines realized years ago that an ad was more than an ad. Lush fashion advertisements, festooned with pretty models, name-brand photographers and soothing text, were an important part of a reader's relationship with a magazine.
But Lucky, published by Conde Nast Publications, may be the first consumer magazine in the United States to use advertising motifs to design every page of editorial content. Articles, in the traditional sense, are nowhere to be found, and neither are celebrities, instead replaced by pages and pages of extended photo captions extolling merchandise that is accompanied by manufacturers' names, price tags and toll-free numbers.
That Conde Nast, a publishing house that defines the high end of the magazine rack with publications like Vogue and Vanity Fair, would publish such an unpretentious product and hire a relatively unknown editor like Kim France surprised many in the industry. And even more doubted that consumers would pay for a catalog, regardless of how well it was executed.
But Lucky has led a charmed life so far, with a candylike appeal to readers and advertisers alike. Executives at CondeNast, a unit of Advance Publications said it would make money sooner than any new magazine in the company's recent history, although it still could take several more years.
When Lucky was first published in December 2000, it promised advertisers 500,000 paying readers. In the first half of 2002, total paid circulation grew to a monthly average of 780,000, more than Jane magazine, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. And Lucky sold 207,095 of those copies at the newsstand, a telling indicator of consumer interest, outperforming fashion stalwarts like Harper's Bazaar and W. Read more (free reg. needed)

From the NY Post
Bonnie Fuller is throwing a big valentine to her onetime antagonist, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour.
It remains to be seen, however, if Wintour will kiss her back.
In order to raise the fashion profile of Us Weekly, Fuller is going to be putting out daily editions tomorrow, Thursday and Saturday, during New York Fashion Week.
About 10,000 copies of the Us daily will be distributed for free to attendees of the 7th on Sixth fashion shows in New York.
And the debut issue is going to feature Wintour as the cover girl in a piece that is being described as very flattering - even though it was written by formerly mean and nasty Off the Record columnist Gabriel Snyder.
Snyder left his New York Observer column earlier this year to join Fuller at Us Weekly.
Fuller, who has spent an inordinate amount of time editing the piece, said it is intended to be "very flattering."
"Anna is a major celebrity of fashion week," said Fuller. "She happens to be having a tremendous year. Her newsstand circulation is way, way up.
"She's an influencer," Fuller added. "While she's watching the shows, other people are watching her."
The move is a gamble that flattering Wintour will help boost the profile of Us Weekly - which is still hoping to cash in big with advertisers now that its circulation is rising steadily.
To some extent, the profile is a sign that Fuller is willing to forget past feuds in her drive to try to turn Us from a perennial money-bleeder into a profit center.
Fuller's last gig, as editor in chief of Conde Nast's Glamour, came to an end in part because she angered the company's No. 1 editor.
Fuller ordered up a "write-around" profile - one without an interview - on Catherine Zeta-Jones for Glamour. The Glamour story ran in May 2001, a month before a long-scheduled sit-down interview with the star that Wintour had assigned for the cover of Vogue.
"This is not about burying the hatchet," said Fuller. "This is professional. It is aimed at our readers."
Wintour did not sit for the Us interview, however.
"We did not do an interview, but her office has been very cooperative and helpful," said Fuller.