New fashion & art publication BAKU launches in October

BAKU will be launched internationally later this year, it was announced today (29 June). The Contract Publishing Division of Condé Nast Britain has secured a deal to publish this lifestyle and cultural title, with Leyla Aliyeva (pictured here) as the magazine’s editor-in-chief.

Debuting in October, BAKU International, named after Azerbaijan’s capital city, is a conceptual quarterly, uniting fashion with art, combining the best of the West elements of Azeri culture.

BAKU is currently published in its home nation and in neighbouring Russia, where the magazine originated in 2007. The new international edition will have an initial print-run of 20,000, and the magazine will be distributed in key locations in the UK, France, the US, Italy and other points globally. The magazine will be produced to larger dimensions than the original, and will use heavier paper stock. BAKU International will collaborate on its covers and contents with some of the world’s most renowned contemporary artists. Beyond that BAKU will collaborate with fashion and art photographers, writers, designers, other key figures.

BAKU will be created in the UK by Darius Sanai, editorial director of the Contract Publishing Division, as launch editor. Mary Fellowes, fashion director of VOGUE Turkey, stylist, fashion consultant, and former assistant to Isabella Blow and for British VOGUE, is appointed fashion director. Prominent contemporary art and luxury travel journalist and regular contributor to both Condé Nast Traveller and the Financial Times, Claire Wrathall will be a contributing editor.

PPA Awards 2011 winners announced

The winners of The PPA Awards 2011 were revealed at the Grosvenor House Hotel on Mayfair’s Park Lane on June 15. Hosted by comedian Kevin Bridges, the PPA Awards brought together more than 1,000 guests from the UK’s consumer and business media companies to celebrate editorial and publishing excellence. A total of 22 awards were handed out on the night following two rounds of judging by 142 independent judges.

Winners of The PPA Awards 2011:

• Consumer Magazine of the Year - Red - Hachette Filipacchi UK
• Specialist Consumer Magazine of the Year - ELLE Decoration - Hachette Filipacchi UK
• International Consumer Magazine of the Year - Time Out - Time Out
• Digital Product of the Year (Consumer Media) - BBCGoodFood.com - BBC Magazines
• Digital Product of the Year (Business Media) - Times Educational Supplement (TES.co.uk) - TSL Education
• Consumer Media Brand of the Year - Cosmopolitan - National Magazine Company
• Business Media Brand of the Year - Times Higher Education - TSL Education
• Weekly Business Magazine of the Year - Times Higher Education - TSL Education
• Monthly Business Magazine of the Year - Windpower Monthly - Haymarket Media Group
• Customer Magazine of the Year - John Lewis Edition - John Brown
• Editorial Campaign of the Year - Backing Britain's Professional Farmers - Farmers Guardian - United Business Media
• Publisher/Manager of the Year (Consumer Media) - Alun Williams - Men's Health – NatMag-Rodale
• Publisher/Manager of the Year (Business Media) - Conor Dignam - Screen International - Emap
• Publisher/Manager of the Year (Annual Turnover Under £10 Million) - Alex Martinez - Procurement Leaders - Sigaria
• Editor of the Year (Consumer Media) - Gill Hudson - Reader's Digest – Vivat Direct
• Editor of the Year (Business Media) - Gerard Kelly - Times Educational Supplement - TSL Education
• Writer of the Year (Consumer Media) - Nick Redman - Sunday Times Travel Magazine – News International
• Writer of the Year (Business Media) - Stefan Chomka - Restaurant - William Reed Business Media
• Columnist of the Year (Consumer Media) - Danny Wallace - ShortList - ShortList Media
• Columnist of the Year (Business Media) - Helen Edwards - Marketing - Haymarket Media Group
• Designer of the Year (Consumer Media) - Marissa Bourke - ELLE Collections - Hachette Filipacchi UK
• Designer of the Year (Business Media) - Finnie Finn - Fujitsu I - Redwood

www.ppa.co.uk

Absolute Bridal magazine set to launch in September

Absolute Bridal magazine is set to launch this September published by Main Event Company UK. The new A4 glossy, local to Essex and Hertfordshire, will feature real weddings, dream venues, bridalwear and all things essential for the special day. Three issues per year; Autumn (September - November), Winter (December - February) and Spring (March - May), will be distributed directly to brides at Wedding shows and mailed to the publisher's database of brides. It will also be available from the Essex Registry Offices and the Meadows Shopping Centre in Chelmsford. The new magazine is edited by Kath Eastoe.

www.mainweddingsandevents.co.uk

New men's magazine PODIUM to launch in July

PODIUM, a new upmarket sports magazine aimed at affluent men, is to launch on 27 July, published by ILN (Illustrated London News) as a bi-monthly title. 35,000 copies will be distributed to business and first class airline passengers, Eurostar Premier Class and private jet lounges. The magazine will also be available online at thepodiummagazine.com, on iStore and across the social web.

PODIUM’s editorial range will extend to the Olympics, golf, rugby, tennis, sailing, racing, cricket, and F1, among other sports, as well as the business of sport (including sponsorship and corporate hospitality) and the latest sports equipment, accessories and men’s grooming products. The launch issue features a cover shoot and interview with Usain Bolt, as well as features on London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton; a preview of the new Premiership season from a financial perspective; and the relationships that have moulded Lewis Hamilton's character, by his biographer Tim Collings.

PODIUM will launch simultaneously online with a website viewable on tablets, featuring the magazine content alongside interactive branded content from luxury and sports brands. The creative team includes Andy Tongue as editor and Corey Jackson as art director.

Observer Ethical Awards Winners announced

The Observer Ethical Awards 2011 have been announced at the V&A Museum, honouring the work of those who champion environmental and social justice. The judges selected winners that represent the best in ethical living and show an innovative approach to working towards a more sustainable future. Derbyshire-based hat brand Pachacuti was awarded in the fashion and accessories category and is the first company in the world to be accredited by the World Fair Trade Organisation. The first Observer Ethical Blog Award was presented to Shirahime, which informs and stirs up debate around the fashion industry. For a full list of winners visit the website below.

www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jun/09/winners
www.pachacuti.co.uk

Bauer Media introduces new magazine Outdoor Fitness

Bauer Media has announced the launch of Outdoor Fitness, the first magazine aimed at people who are getting fit and planning their next outdoor challenges: such as trail runs and cycle sportives, triathlons and adventure races or sea kayaks, open water swims and mountain climbs. Developed by Bauer Media's Specialist division to serve those who participate in outdoor fitness activities, bi-monthly Outdoor Fitness will deliver features on events and challenges, physical and emotional wellbeing and an understanding of our environment and how to make the most of it.

Rob Munro Hall, Group MD Specialist, Bauer Media, said:
"We have built on our expertise gained from Trail and Trail Running and are perfectly placed to be the first to market with this new magazine, which will serve a growing audience. Outdoor Fitness also provides both lifestyle and specialist advertisers with a unique opportunity to reach highly active and affluent, 25-55 year olds."

Outdoor Fitness is priced at £3.99 and the first issue goes on sale nationally 6 July.

more! to create special Facebook issue in June

more!, is to produce a co-created Facebook issue. The weekly will be edited by its Facebook fans to celebrate reaching 100,000 followers this month.

more! has begun the editorial planning process from today (31 May), posing questions to its Facebook fans including choosing the cover star; contributing to regular features; and deciding on the fashion shoots and creating beauty pages - with Skype meetings scheduled to agree and discuss content. The magazine will also recruit five fans to come into the office and work directly on the pages with the more! team. Each page of the issue will have been co-created with Facebookers, with all contributors credited in the masthead.

This issue will go sale on 14 June.

www.moremagazine.co.uk

New magazine QWHO launching at the end of June

QWHO is a new fashion, art, music and culture magazine, made and published in Tel Aviv, Israel. After initially launching online at the end of June, there will also be a 170-page bi-monthly publication launching 1 July available from selected stockists in London, Berlin, New-York, Paris and Hong Kong.

QWHO aims to create a platform for emerging artists, designers and musicians to showcase their work by bringing the content to a younger, more fashion aware audience. The editorial includes contributions from around the world including London, Milan and Paris. For more information visit the website and corresponding blog.

www.qwho-magazine.com

Wallpaper* allows readers to design August cover

Readers of Wallpaper* magazine will be able to design and receive their own cover for the August issue of the design, fashion and lifestyle magazine. Readers who register will have access to an online cover application until 31 May, which can be used to create a design using a palette of graphics, shapes, colours and photography. There will also be the option to create an Rolex ‘Live for Greatness’ advertisement, in which readers can select the focus for the back-cover ad on the August issue of Wallpaper*. The August issue goes on sale 14 July.

Both subscribers and non-subscribers can design bespoke covers by registering now at www.wallpaper.com.

Condé Nast Traveller announces winners at fifth annual Innovation and Design Awards

Condé Nast Traveller last night announced the winners of its fifth annual Innovation and Design Awards. Presented at the new St Pancras Renaissance Hotel London (pictured above), the evening was hosted by Sarah Miller, Editor of Condé Nast Traveller. A panel of judges compiled a shortlist of recent designs across the ten categories which were revealed in a supplement in the May issue of Condé Nast Traveller and on the website. Readers were then invited to vote for the winners online at www.cntraveller.com. Below is a complete list of winners.

Gourmet
Won by Yotam Ottolenghi for Nopi in London, an all-day brasserie.

Sustainable
Puma was awarded for the Clever Little Bag; a new shoebox designed by Yves Behar, that uses 65% less paper than the standard box.

Retail
VitraHaus, Weil am Rhein, Germany won this award. A furniture store house in a building by Herzog & de Meuron: a stack of oblong forms with glazed gable ends that reveal the white interior.

Transport
This category was won by the Mercury, a high-speed train concept.


Leisure
Chico and Rita, an animated film created by Barcelona designer Javier Mariscal won this prize.

Aviation
Air New Zealand was awarded in this category, with European General Manager, Chris Myers collecting the award.

Style on the Move
Jasper Conran won this category for his Jasper Conran at Tripp range.

Infrastructure
Designed by Bernard Tschumi Architects and Hugh Dutton Associates, the footbridge at La Roche-sur-Yon in France won this award.

Communication Technology
This category was won by Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey for Square, an app combined with a credit-card swiper which allows anyone to accept electronic payments through their phone.

Culture
Sir David Chipperfield was awarded for The Hepworth Wakefield gallery.

Designer of the Year
The overall winner was Yves Behar.

For more information click here

The Ethical Fashion Forum launches SOURCE

The Ethical Fashion Forum has launched the Ethical Fashion SOURCE to promote sustainability in the fashion sector. The website aims to make it easier for fashion businesses to work sustainably, consumers and buyers to buy from sustainable businesses, and link fair trade and ethical suppliers to market. The SOURCE comprises of three components:

The SOURCE Directory is an ethical database will allow fashion professionals, consumers, buyers, press and researchers to find ethical designers and brands, shops and buyers of ethical products, experts, and ethical suppliers and manufacturers.

The SOURCE Magazine will provide online content organised in four sections: Business Focus, Market and Sales Watch, Supply Focus, and Expert Analysis. The magazine puts a spotlight on the fashion sector businesses that are combining commercial success with high ethical standards.

The SOURCE Expo, now in its third season, is a fashion industry trade show dedicated to ethical sourcing. Taking place this year on 17-18 October at Sadler’s Wells, London EC1, the show will bring together international manufacturers and suppliers working to fair trade and ethical standards. The event includes a programme of seminars, introducing new products and exemplary supply and production systems.

www.ethicalfashionforum.com/source

gurgle.com introduces new print magazine

Parenting website gurgle.com has just launched its first print magazine ‘Gurgle’, in partnership with publishing and events company, Media 10. The first edition of the new bi-monthly magazine was published this month (5 May) and will be sold exclusively through Mothercare stores, Early Learning Centres and via subscription on the gurgle.com website.

200,000 copies of the launch issue will be distributed nationwide, with 175,000 copies going to stores and 25,000 to online shoppers. The magazine will be sold for around £2.00 and will focus on the lighter side of parenting, recognising the needs of modern mums to experience something fun, intelligent and fashion-forward as well as being a source of information. Andrew Tyler, MD of gurgle.com, commented: “Today’s mums don’t just want to be dictated to about raising their children, they want a fun, informative and fashion-forward magazine – that is what we hope to achieve with the new publication. It will provide a new opportunity for Mothercare and ELC to engage with their customers as well as offering something genuinely new in the parenting magazine market.”

Weight Watchers magazine reveals major redesign

Weight Watchers magazine has unveiled a major redesign this week as its June issue goes on sale. The new look Weight Watchers magazine has new typography, as well as colour palette and photography. Section openers make the magazine easier to navigate and a content refresh brings in new elements such as news pages, a fashion style clinic and even more food and recipes. The new look Weight Watchers magazine is the result of months of design and content workshops, backed up by reader research and focus groups. It follows on from the launch this year of Weight Watchers new ProPoints Plan, its biggest programme initiative in 40 years. The redesign is backed by a retail promotional spend and a cover-mounted Summer Countdown booklet on sale in Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

Esquire’s new editor unveils redesign for June issue

Esquire’s new Editor, Alex Bilmes, has unveiled his first issue of the men’s style magazine, complete with a team of new writers, sections, a new size and a new, curvier logo. Published by the National Magazine Company, the re-launched Esquire features Kelly Brook on its new cover and will be officially launched at a party in London on 5 May, co-hosted by Bilmes and Lily Allen.

The issue goes on sale to the public that same day under the slogan “style and substance”. “Style” because Bilmes has expanded the consumer content to include more fashion, more gadgets, more cars, more grooming, more food, more advice on what to wear and how to wear it. “Substance” because the new Esquire will include longer, more intelligent stories about topics men care about - sports, style, culture, food, women. To write them, Bilmes, who joined Esquire from GQ in January, has hired names recognisable from newspapers and TV: AA Gill, Giles Coren, Will Self, Tom Parker Bowles and more. Bilmes has also appointed Johnny Davis as the magazine’s new deputy editor. Davis previously edited The Face and freelanced for The Times, The Observer, The Guardian, Vogue, Wired and Wallpaper, as well as worked as a contributing editor to Q, GQ and Monocle. Two former Esquire editors, Dan Davies and Jeremy Langmead, have new roles as contributing editors. Davies’s exclusive interview with footballer Joey Barton and Mr Porter Editor-in-Chief Langmead’s first style column can both be found in the re-launch issue, alongside work by David Thomson, the acclaimed film writer, and many more. Other new contributing editors include novelist Geoff Dyer, chef Mark Hix, Mick Brown of The Daily Telegraph and Tim Adams of The Observer.

The re-launched June issue of Esquire is on sale 5 May.

Shortlist announced for PPA Awards 2011

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The Observer Food Monthly Awards 2011 launch today

The 2011 Observer Food Monthly Awards, in association with Bordeaux Wines, have launched today. The awards celebrate the British food industry, with Observer Food Monthly editor Allan Jenkins commenting: “We are proud the awards celebrate the people challenging our eating and shopping habits, those that appreciate the value of food. I hope our readers think hard about who they nominate for an award and I am sure, as ever, the entries will demonstrate innovation and excellence in the field of food and drink.”

This year’s judging panel includes: Nigel Slater, Observer food writer and chef; Jay Rayner, Observer food critic; Angela Hartnett, chef; Sat Bains, chef and restaurateur; Jason Atherton, chef; Thomasina Miers, chef and restaurateur; Jo Barnes; co-founder of Sauce PR; Lucy Siegle, broadcaster and ethical living correspondent, The Observer; Tim Hayward, food writer and broadcaster; Allan Jenkins, editor, OFM; and Gareth Grundy, deputy editor, OFM.

The categories for this year’s awards are:
Best ethical restaurant (sponsored by Cafédirect)
Best independent local retailer
Best food blog
Best restaurant
Best cheap eats
Best cookbook (sponsored by Harvey Jones)
Best place to drink
Best Sunday lunch
Reader’s recipe (sponsored by Bordeaux Wines)
Reader’s cocktail
Food personality (sponsored by Weber)

For information and to nominate, visit: www.observer.co.uk/foodawards. Readers who submit nominations will have the chance of winning a range of prizes. The deadline for entries is Friday 24 June.

John Lewis launches online fashion magazine

Today (13 April) John Lewis is launching its first ever online fashion magazine. The Spring fashion special aims to inspire customers with its products, aspirational images and trend updates. It is a new addition to the retailer’s in-store magazine John Lewis Edition and is published by John Brown Media. The magazine will include John Lewis Edition editor Vanessa Thompson's top fashion and accessories choices for Spring, the latest trends, make-up and beauty videos, wardrobe planner tips and a competition to win John Lewis vouchers. www.johnlewis.com/fashionedition

Liberty to launch bi-annual glossy magazine headed by Grazia editor-at-large

Luxury department store Liberty London has announced the launch of a number of publications over the coming year. A bi-annual glossy magazine titled At Liberty will showcase the best of Liberty, focusing on what’s new and exclusive for the season, and will be published by River. The team behind the magazine is headed by consultant editor Melanie Rickey; current fashion editor-at-large of Grazia, and first issue will launch in September, inserted in targeted consumer magazines and weekend broadsheet supplements. River will also produce a series of brochures for Liberty London, including a beauty brochure due for release this June, featuring a roll-fold cover, as well as a Christmas gift brochure.

New online fashion magazine aimed at plus-size women launches

New online fashion magazine SLiNK brings together fashion trends for the plus-size market, by focusing on high-end, web and high-street brands that stock collections up to a size 22. Aside from fashion, the new magazine offers beauty, hair and make-up trends. Summer hair tips from industry leaders such as Lee Stafford, and lipstick insight from Dior’s UK Ambassador Andrew Gallimore can all be found in the first issue, alongside spa reviews, product news and recommendations. SLiNK covers areas from travel to exhibitions, theatre, film and book reviews, adding technology, music and television to the second issue and has a recipe section run by the Head Chef of the Flemings Hotel in Mayfair, London.

SLiNK has been established by Rivkie Baum. Rivkie studied fashion design at London College of Fashion before becoming a stylist and freelance journalist. She has worked for various independent publications on mainstream fashion editorial, commercial and celebrity shoots. Rivkie worked in personal shopping before taking up a styling, retail based role in plus sizes, it was here she realised that there was a gap in the market for a plus-size magazine that had the same aspirational qualities of the major glossies.

www.slinkmagazine.co.uk

Launch of Marie Claire Fragrance Awards & winners of Prix d'Excellence de la Beauté Awards announced

Winners of Marie Claire’s Prix d’Excellence De La Beauté Awards were last night (4 April) revealed in the Ballroom at Claridge’s. Now in its 25th year internationally and sixth year in the UK, the awards were hosted by presenter Christine Bleakley alongside Marie Claire’s editor-in-chief, Trish Halpin. The winners were selected by a panel of the UK’s best beauty journalists, including Marie Claire’s beauty and style director, Lisa Oxenham.

The winners were:
Best Beauty Care - Olay Regenerist 3 Point Super Serum
Best Make-up - YSL Rouge Pur Couture Lipstick
Best Ethical - Clarins Gentle Beauty Soap

The monthly consumer magazine also announced the launch of the Marie Claire International Fragrance Awards. These awards will be chaired by Lisa Oxenham, with a panel of independent beauty editors and writers judging British winner of the awards. The winner will be the fragrance that is judged to have the best scent, bottle and innovation and creativity of all fragrances launched in the last year. Marie Claire’s August issue will feature the international winners and the British winner.