Porter Magazine Carves Out New Territory For Luxury Magazine Readers

Net-a-Porter chairman Natalie Massenet and colleague, former editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar UK Lucy Yeomans have launched Porter as a content rich, thinking woman’s magazine. Emotion counts too, with Porter’s intention to not only address how to wear a given dress, but also how you feel wearing it.

In the first issue of Porter, Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz reveals how “to master the art of dressing up” with his style rules to live by.

Chanel Iman for Porter Magazine #1

Not only will Porter feature women around the globe who have outstanding style — women like Eva Herzigova who frequently appears in the company’s digital magazine The Edit. In the first issue Tom Ford interviews Julianne Moore; Natalie Massenet interviews Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts while Craig McDean captures Uma Thurman at home with her baby daughter.

Gisele Bundchen’s Porter spread is posted at AOC. The feminine intimate images called ‘The Woman Within’ are sensually engaging, captured with an emotional intimacy by Inez & Vinoodh. Steve McQueen, Harvey Weinstein, David Bailey, Penelope Cruz and Claudia Schiffer also appear in the first issue. A curve ball is financial broker Amanda Staveley’s article about her role in the controversial bail-out of Barclays in 2008.

Porter will maintain editorial integrity by featuring items not sold in its online business. An example is the red Chanel cardigan worn by Gisele on the debut issue cover. And the company will use its retailer’s concierge service to help a reader track down a purchase outside the Net-a-Porter network.

“There’s no quota we have to hit with Net-a-Porter products, and we know that having plenty of styling options is part of the creative process,” Massenet explained. Porter will also be fully staffed with its own edit and publishing teams.

Julianne Moore by Paola Kudacki for Porter MagazineThe Telegraph writes that 50 top-tier fashion and luxury advertisers appear in the first issue, with more promised in the next. Many wonder why a successful online business in a high-tech world would turn to a glossy print magazine.

Net-A-Porter’s magic 6 million, says (publishing director Tess) Macleod Smith at this point, tend to be avid consumers of the famous old fashion magazines. “Print is me-time,” she says. And Porter, resumes Massenet, is seen as “the cherry on the icing on the cake” of the Net-A-Porter model. “Print is at the very, very top in the fashion business - of course it is. Just because we are disrupting print, changing it, doesn’t mean we don’t love it.”

With a features, rather than fashion background, Yeomans likes articles about travel, international relations, war and business. The debut issue features an essay by Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario, who found herself kidnapped in Libya in 2011.

Adddario is a recipient of the US MacArthur Foundation’s ‘Genius’ grant for her work documenting conflict and how it impacts women in particular. The photojournalist was also kidnapped in Iraq in 2004.

Porter will be distributed in 60 countries and published in American English.

The Business of Fashion CEO Imran Amed interviews Natalie Massenet, Lucy Yeomans and Tess Macleod Smith about Porter.

Uma Thurman by Pamela Hanson for Porter Magazine