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• December 11, 2008
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Naked Lunch: Fashion Magazines Forgo Fashion, Opt for Nudity Instead

By Max Berlinger

We just wanted to run this one by you, our beloved readers. Is it us, or have you been seeing a whole lot of skin lately? It all started with the spring/summer '09 collections, where hardly a show passed where we didn't see a gamine teenagers' barely-there breasts having their moment to shine on the catwalk. Yesterday in our mailbox, we received a the latest issue of the fashion/culture/art rag Gravure magazine, featuring a 28-page spread of sorta-kinda-clothed models lounging around. It reminded us of Tar Magazine's debut issue which sported a 34-page Ryan McGinley spread featuring models, but not a stitch of clothing. We're sensing a more liberated and art-driven younger generation of mags storming the shelves, completely ignoring the old guard of label-drenched, consumer-centric pages. Are stylists and fashion editors running out of ideas or, even worse, have their budgets gone poof? Or maybe it's much simpler than that: is skin in? 

Above: A Jenny Gage and Tom Betterton spread from Gravure magazine

Above: A Jenny Gage and Tom Betterton spread from Grauvure magazine

Above: A Jenny Gage and Tom Betterton spread from Grauvure magazine

Above: A Jenny Gage and Tom Betterton spread from Grauvure magazine

Above: A Ryan McGinley spread from Tar magazine

Above: A Ryan McGinley spread from Tar magazine