IPC drops Loaded name from its biannual fashion mag

IPC Media has dropped the Loaded brand from its biannual men's fashion magazine, Loaded Fashion, claiming that the lad's mag brand was at odds with its upmarket spin-off and is relaunching it under the name Fashion Inc.

The move effectively recognises that Loaded Fashion, which launched in 1998, could not compete for men's designer fashion and grooming advertising against more upmarket fashion magazines, such as Arena Homme+ and GQ Style.

Fashion Inc, the first issue of which debuts on 24 March, will be positioned away from FHM Collections, and aim to be more of a competitor to Arena Homme+ and GQ Style. Versace, Sand, Richard James and Louis Vuitton are among the fashion brands advertising in the title for the first time.

The first issue will have 100 more pages and its cover price will rise from £3.90 to £5, in line with the Arena and GQ spin-offs.

Nial McKinney, Fashion Inc's publishing director, said the average reader was in their early 30s, around five years older than Loaded's audience, and had more earning power.

He added: "The profiles of the two titles had become completely different. There was little crosspurchase, and Loaded Fashion wasn't benefiting from the assoc-iation."

Although the Loaded name has been dropped, the new magazine's logo will be similar, he added.

More than 100,000 copies will be in distribution, compared to Conde Nast's GQ Style's 70,000.

The latter has secured supermarket listings for its second issue. GQ publishing director Jamie Bill claimed October's debut issue outsold the competition by two to one, although none of the titles report to the ABC.

Meanwhile, Andrew Woods has been promoted from associate editor to deputy editor of Loaded.

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