Conde Nast continues its digital pivot with the publishing giant announcing plans to shutter the print edition of its beauty tome Allure, and the December 2022 magazine will be its last. Editor-in-Chief Jessica Cruel broke the news to staffers this week along with the information that employees' roles may change, but no layoffs have been confirmed yet.
"Our brand is stronger than ever across social and digital and our success is testament to our collaboration as a team and because we know just how and where our audience is accessing content in today's ever-changing landscape," wrote Cruel. "It's our mission to meet the audience where they are and with this in mind, after our December print issue, we are making Allure an exclusively digital brand."
Axios reported Condé Nast is expecting this year to exceed the nearly $2 billion in total revenue it saw in 2021. The print edition of Allure results from the publisher's cost streamlining and transition to digital products.
Bryn Kenny, co-founder MBA Partners, said of the news, "Times have been changing for a while now, and it's clear that most major publishers haven't figured out a way to differentiate their print editions from the digital experience. This is a missed opportunity, because I do think consumers of all ages would respond to a physical product that feels distinct and meaningful."
Allure was founded in 1991 by Linda Wells and published its first issue in March of that year. The title's social traffic has increased 177% year over year during the first half of 2022, according to WWD. The August issue featuring Kim Kardashian was the brand's highest-performing cover of all time.
The Allure retail store that opened in 2021 on Lafayette Street in New York will continue operating as usual, and the business will invest more in other revenue streams, like expanding Best of Beauty into a "live, consumer-focused summit" next year.
The shutting of the iconic beauty magazine touches a nostalgic vein in many. Kenny shared, "As a teenager in the ’90s, I would wait each month for Allure to come out, praying for a new Kevyn Aucoin makeover series—it was iconic! There is an anticipation to a physical product that digital does not provide—it's a slow burn, akin to being seduced, and that feeling is universal, it's timeless.
“Maybe there will be a way moving forward to reinvent the very concept of the print magazine, what it offers, the quality of the content, the strength of the voice, how it is marketed and so on, but for now I am excited for the future of digital and how publishers are being motivated to reinvent themselves."
