By Addison Cao
August 1, 2016
And they said it couldn’t be done! The e-commerce newbie Shoppit unveiled their first issue of Glossy magazine this week after acquiring the editorial brand for a hefty price tag in January.
The first cover featured the stunning supermodel Chanel Iman, wearing Google Glass and a Balenciaga gown. The new magazine is expected to publish four times a year while the website updates daily with editorial, photo and video content. Artistic Director Imogen Tate said she expects the margins on the new product to exceed expectations in the first quarter.
‘We still have the traditional advertisers that have always been loyal to print, but we are able to do incredible things online with native advertising and by driving traffic to our retail partners at Shoppit,’ Ms Tate told us at the wedding of the baby-faced tech mogul Rashid Davis to super celebrity stylist Bridgett Hart, who is seven months pregnant. The extravagant affair took place on Richard Branson’s private Necker Island.
The magazine had a bumpy road over the past twelve months. While under the ownership of Robert Mannering Corp., Glossy was shuttered and turned into a website and an app, run mostly by Editorial Director Eve Morton, who was notoriously wicked to her staff. Ms Morton left the company after its acquisition by Shoppit and is currently working underneath (ha!) Buzz CEO Reed Baxter as his director of external sales. Ms Morton recently split from incarcerated Congressman Andrew ‘I’ve Been Naughty’ Maxwell. A little birdie told us Eve may be the reason Baxter and Meadow Flowers called off their Game of Thrones-themed nuptials last month.
Ms Tate’s former assistant and Glossy community manager Ashley Arnsdale (you know, the one whose outfits always end up on the street-style blogs looking GORGEOUS) is reportedly working on a top-secret project for Shoppit involving vintage clothing.
Following her toast at the reception for Ms Hart and Mr Davis, Imogen Tate told us she welcomes this new age of digital-print partnership.
‘The world isn’t ready to abandon print,’ she said, raising her champagne glass into the air. Adding, with a laugh, ‘Plus, the Internet allows me to work remotely half the time, which is a bonus.’ Ms Tate and her family are currently splitting their time between an apartment in TriBeCa and a home they are renovating in the Garden District of New Orleans.
Ms Tate will be giving a TED Talk next month titled ‘Don’t Call Me a Dinosaur: Embracing a New Era.’
Sitting on her wraparound porch, a balmy summer breeze smelling of magnolias, Imogen Tate read the story with a satisfied smile and clicked her laptop shut.