Nylon is an American multimedia brand and publishing company, which produces a lifestyle magazine that focuses on pop culture and fashion. Its coverage includes art, beauty, music, design, celebrities, technology and travel. Originally a print publication, it switched to an all-digital format in 2017. Its name references New York and London, and it is currently owned by the Bustle Digital Group.[2] The magazine will return to print in 2024.[3]
History
Nylon was co-founded in 1999[4] by editorial director Mark Blackwell, art director Madonna Badger,[5] creative director Helena Christensen,[6] development director Michael "Mic" Neumann,[6] and the husband and wife publishing team of Marvin and Jaclynn Jarrett, with an initial investment from businessperson Sam Waksal.[7] Four of the founders had previously worked together in their same roles at Ray Gun Magazine: Editor-in-chief Marvin Jarrett, Publisher Jaclynn his wife, Editorial Director Mark Blackwell and Development Director Mic Neumann. The Jarretts had recently sold their shares in Ray Gun Publishing.[8] According to Publisher Jaclynn Jarrett, the magazine's name was chosen because her husband Marvin just liked the sound of Nylon. After picking it, they realized that NY and LON could link the brand to New York and London, which was congruent with Nylon's editorial focus in these two cities.[9] The design of the magazine was intended to be "hyper-legible", in an attempt to mitigate against the criticism of Ray-Gun's "chaotic" layouts. The first issue was published on April 6, 1999.[8]
In 2003, Nylon launched its website nylonmag.com (now nylon.com), under the leadership of Ronen Shapiro. Later that year the digital readership surpassed the print edition and became the center of Nylon's business. In 2005, Nylon was bought by Pennsylvania businessman Don Hellinger.[10] The following spring, Nylon and MySpace collaborated on their first International Music issue. Nylon was freely available online for a time.[11][12]Nylon TV was launched in 2006 with the creation of its own YouTube channel, and by 2014 gained 62 thousand subscribers and 62 million cumulative views.[13]Nylon partnered with MySpace in 2006 for its annual June/July music issue. Nine months later the magazine became generally available online, in digital form in March 2007. Nylon released their June/July International Music and MySpace issue online for free viewing.[14] Marvin Scott Jarrett's Editor's Letter described it as a collaboration with MySpace, focusing on eight "music and style mecca" cities around the world, featuring the famous White Stripes on the cover, as selected by Nylon's MySpace fans.[15]
On their 10-year anniversary in 2009, Nylon made the April 1999 inaugural issue freely available online, including all articles, in scanned form.[17] Later that year, Nylon partnered with iTunes for its annual music issue, which included a free summer playlist download of 22 tracks.[18]
Nylon came together with YouTube in 2010 for its Young Hollywood issue, allowing readers to watch the entire issue as well as the 2011 Young Hollywood issue. 2010 also brought the launch of Nylon Dailies, emails written by local writers every day in ten key American cities.[19]
In 2011, then-President Don Hellinger and then-CFO Jami Pearlman[10][20] were charged with operating an illegal money transmission business (for an online casino), unrelated to Nylon.[10][21] They subsequently pleaded guilty to a reduced charge.[22][23]
In May 2014, Nylon was acquired by a new ownership group, including an affiliate of LA-based investor Marc Luzzatto through Diversis Capital, LLC. The new venture also acquired FashionIndie, with FashionIndie's founders, Beca Alexander and Daniel Saynt, maintaining their titles of editor-in-chief and creative director, respectively. Publisher Marvin Jarrett was blindsided, as he was not retained by the new owners. The staff learned of the takeover via the press.[27][28]
In September 2017, announced that it was transitioning to an all-digital platform. The print edition of Nylon was discontinued between October 2017 and 2019 and the print staff was laid off. Upon the departure of the core print team, only two original staff members, of the 60-odd employees from before the sale in 2014, remained.[29] One of those original staff members included digital team Senior Editor, Gabrielle Korn, who was then promoted to Editor-in-Chief.[30]
In June 2019, Nylon was acquired by the Bustle Digital Group, founded by Bryan Goldberg.[2] Its current editor-in-chief is Lauren McCarthy.
International editions
Asia
Nylon Japan, which first hit Tokyo newsstands in 2004, is now run by editor-in-chief Takashi Togawa.[31]
Nylon Korea premiered in August 2008,[32] and in April 2014, K-pop girl band Girl's Generation (also known as SNSD), was featured in Nylon international editions.[33] In March 2018, the publisher of Nylon Korea was acquired by Krispy Studio, a subsidiary of kakao M (formerly LOEN Entertainment), from Seoul Cultural Publishers [ko].[34]
Nylon Indonesia began publishing in 2011. It ceased publication in 2017.
Nylon Singapore,[35] launched in 2012 and went fully digital in 2017.
Nylon France (published as Nylon FR), launched in March 2021 as a digital magazine. The French edition is also edited on printed every two months with a limited drop in selected stores and on the magazine's e-shop.[43][44]
Melissa Giannini was named editor-in-chief in 2015.[46]
Gabrielle Korn was named editor-in-chief in 2018.
Alyssa Vingan was named editor-in-chief in 2019.
Lauren McCarthy was named editor-in-chief in 2023 and is the current EIC.
Cover models
The first Nylon cover model for the debut issue was actress Liv Tyler in April 1999.[4] She was both photographed and interviewed by Nylon magazine's co-founder, creative director, and supermodel Helena Christensen.[4][47]
Medialife Magazine's Jennifer Cox wrote in 2001 that Nylon was "a little uppity, and it's not hard to understand why", describing it as "bold, idiosyncratic, challenging, absolutely of-the-moment," but unnoticed by "the mainstream" until March 2001, when Nylon was nominated for the ASME National Magazine award. She described the April issue as "groundbreaking" (for a fashion magazine) to feature an overweight woman in a history of women's weight, and noted that the magazine's models "are more often interesting looking than beautiful per se." She found its photo spreads "bold with their use of white space and innovative photography" and noted Nylon's distinctive "heavy emphasis on music coverage."[55]
Recognition
The American Society of Magazine Editors noted the magazine three times: Nylon was nominated for "National Magazine Award for General Excellence (100,000–400,000 circulation)" in 2001,[56] was a finalist for "General Excellence (100,000 to 250,000 circulation)" in 2003,[57][58] and was a finalist for the 2006 ASME "Design" award.[59]
In 2006, Nylon was a Nominee at the 10th Annual Webby Awards, in the Fashion category,[60][61] and an Official Honoree at the 12th Annual Webby Awards in the Magazine category in 2008.[62]
In 2008 industry monitor Media Industry News Online editors selected Nylon.com as the penultimate of their "Top 5 Women's Fashion Mag Website Picks", judging on "visual appeal, functionality and usefulness of information". They found it to be the "destination of choice for alternative, fashion minds everywhere", and "...Nylon's entertainment radar is still alive and well. Its funky illustrations and graphics give Nylon a hip, unique look that is truly hard to come by in the category. Nxtbook provides slick, downloadable digital magazine issues".[63]
Nylon partnered with Rizzoli Publishing to publish three books: Street, on global street fashion; Pretty, on beauty; and Play, on music.[9]Pretty: The Nylon Book of Beauty was listed in the New York Public Library's best Books for the Teen Age 2008.[65][66]
In 2009 Jarrett founded Nylon Records and signed French female pop group Plastiscines as its first act, after seeing them on the cover of French fashion and style magazine Citizen K.[67][68]
Also in 2009, Nylon introduced its iPhoneapp; MinOnline listed it (among "Top 5 iPhone Mags You May Have Missed") as "a pleasant surprise. This fashion and culture mag has one of the more attractive magazine-like designs among print brands on mobile."[69]
The September 2010 issue of the magazine was released on the iPad, including video, music, and some exclusive content. The iPad edition is in the Apple iTunes newsstand.[70]
^"We're Number One". Nylon. Nylon Holdings Inc. May 13, 2009. Archived from the original(>100 JPEG images) on July 24, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2010.
^Women's Wear Daily with FashionIndie's founders, Beca Alexander and Daniel Saynt, maintaining their titles of editor-in-chief and creative director, respectively.
