All I can say is, it’s about time! In recent years, I had been sorely disappointed in The New York Times’ bi- annual magazine devoted to the styles for the upcoming season (which had been called, ‘Fashions of the Times’). I had often found it to be visually confusing, editorially jumbled, and self consciously trying too hard to be ‘edgy’ and controversial. Quite frankly, it was something I would pick up, glance through a few times, and simply toss out.
with Stefano Tonchi’s new kid on the block , ‘T’, the Times now has a refreshing entry into the wide world of magazines devoted to fashion, beauty, style, culture. Not only did they completely change the title and format, but supposedly, this will this be published each month, positioning itself to compete with all the other monthlies who are trying to reach the same audience. And in a world with so much sameness- same hype, same ads, same clothes, same models, same ‘must haves’ (I am sick of pins already), where everything is done and overdone ad nauseum, ‘T’ seems to have their own slant and their own stamp.
I always enjoy reading Suzy Menkes, Tyler Brule, Josh Patner, and Horacio Silva, and generally found ‘T’ to be intelligent, gossipy, visual, entertaining, and filled with lots of information. Well, okay, so what if much of it is ‘useless’ information (unless you’re a die hard fashionista who cares what Barneys’ Julie Gilhart considers to be the season’s best bets or who wants to know how to makeover a $25 thrift shop fur for well into the 4 figures), but nonetheless, in this crazy world filled with all too much horrible reality, I admit I enjoyed the fluff.
One thing I wasn’t crazy about was the cover- I think they could have done better than that closeup of Kate Winslet (it was a bit too close-up), but all in all, good work!
Posted by Marilyn Kirschner
