Magazine of the Week

Hi, everyone! It’s time for the MoW:

Avenue magazine cover

 

 

Our library holds only 12 years of this glossy magazine. Avenue bills itself as “Manhattan’s oldest society magazine”. It was launched in 1976, as a way of celebrating the rich socialites and savvy business people (“the blend of affluence and influence”) in and around New York City. The magazine is still published today, but the FIT Library discontinued our subscription during our funding shortage in the late 1990s. Since then we’ve added some issues from the 2000s that have come with other gifts.

 

 

 

 

The magazine’s goal is to convey the glamour of NY City’s life back to its most glamorous residents.

The title has changed focus over the years: issues from the 1980s are more focused on corporate boards and New York as an international business location. By the 1990s, the content shifted towards NYC’s busy social calendar, and the women who organize many of these events. While the advertising always included designer boutiques and name-brand jewelers, increasingly it also included leisure spots like international golf courses and wedding announcements.

 

 

Avenue magazine 1988 cover

 

The publication reinvents itself regularly. Changes are still reported upon in other New York institutions, such the New York Post. For example, all our issues before 1995 feature cover art of architectural details or nature photographed at close range. By the 2000s, covers feature attractive women from the target scene, dressed in sophisticated gowns and luxurious jewelry.

Recent New York Post article on new editors at Avenue

Avenue Magazine’s website

 

 


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Comments

2 responses to “Magazine of the Week”

  1. Sueann Sieren Avatar

    Thanks for this Beth, Avenue looks very cool. Doing some research on the print version of Earth Creature Magazine and stumbled upon your post, this kind of stuff is super inspiring.

    1. Beth Avatar
      Beth

      Thanks for looking. Avenue is not one of my favorite titles by far, but it’s an interesting NYC-centric publication. I think W is trying to do much the same, but doing a better/more interesting job of it.

      Glad you could use our blog for research. At this point, I have written “bios” of more than 400 titles! I didn’t expect to get through that many.