Details magazine

Details (stylized in all caps) was an American monthly men's magazine published by Condé Nast, founded in 1982 by Annie Flanders (Justin Timberlake - Man Of The Woods (February 2, 2018) • Page 47 • forum.chorus.fm) (Gallery 98 | ANNIE FLANDERS (1939 – 2022) Details Magazine, Downtown New York, 1980s). Though primarily devoted to fashion and lifestyle, Details also featured music, culture, and occasional social and political commentary (Justin Timberlake - Man Of The Woods (February 2, 2018) • Page 47 • forum.chorus.fm). It began as an edgy downtown New York City pop-culture magazine and later evolved into a mainstream men's style publication. Over the years, Details carved out a niche in the men's magazine market as a trendsetter in style and sophistication. The magazine enjoyed a 33-year run before ceasing publication at the end of 2015, when Condé Nast shut it down amid declining print revenues and a shifting media landscape (Condé Nast closing Details magazine - FIPP) (Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine - Daily Front Row). {{DownloadsBox Hash=f6g7h8i9j0k1l2m3n4o5p6q7r8s9t0u1v2w3x4y5|Description=From electronic source.}}

Origins and Background

Details was created in 1982 by Annie Flanders, emerging from the vibrant subculture of early 1980s downtown Manhattan (Gallery 98 | ANNIE FLANDERS (1939 – 2022) Details Magazine, Downtown New York, 1980s). Flanders, a former boutique owner, started the magazine to capture the “combustible mix of art, music and fashion” exploding in New York’s post-disco club scene (Gallery 98 | ANNIE FLANDERS (1939 – 2022) Details Magazine, Downtown New York, 1980s). Unlike traditional men’s magazines of the time, Details focused on avant-garde fashion, nightlife, and pop culture from the city’s underground. It quickly gained acclaim for its insider access and trendsetting coverage, becoming “the most successful of the many independent publications to emerge out of New York’s downtown scene in the 1980s” (Gallery 98 | ANNIE FLANDERS (1939 – 2022) Details Magazine, Downtown New York, 1980s). Early issues featured contributions from notable figures like photographer Bill Cunningham, whose street-fashion spreads documented the cutting-edge styles of the era (Gallery 98 | Bill Cunningham & DETAILS Magazine, 1982–90). In the men's magazine market of the 1980s, Details filled a unique role. Mainstream men's titles such as GQ and Esquire tended to skew more traditional, while emerging “lad mags” were still years away. Details set itself apart by introducing readers to offbeat fashion trends, music movements, and cultural phenomena before they hit the mainstream (Details Magazine Sparks Protest | News | The Harvard Crimson). The magazine prided itself on “introducing the styles, [setting] the trends and [breaking] the stories that keep you ahead of the crowd,” as one tagline put it (Details Magazine Sparks Protest | News | The Harvard Crimson). This edgy, ahead-of-the-curve approach attracted a young, fashion-conscious male readership and established Details as a tastemaker in men’s lifestyle media. Over time, the magazine evolved from a local underground publication into a nationally recognized style magazine. Its growing popularity and cultural cachet led to a sale to investor Alan Patricof in 1988, providing needed capital for expansion (Details Magazine Covers (2000-2015)). Just a year later, Condé Nast (the media company behind Vogue and The New Yorker) acquired Details in 1989, reportedly for around $2 million (Condé Nast closing Details magazine - FIPP) (Details Magazine Covers (2000-2015)). This acquisition enabled Details to outlast many of its downtown contemporaries and broaden its reach (Gallery 98 | ANNIE FLANDERS (1939 – 2022) Details Magazine, Downtown New York, 1980s). Under Condé Nast’s ownership, the magazine began transitioning from its niche downtown roots to a glossier national platform, while trying to maintain the irreverent spirit that defined its early years.

Publishing History

Throughout its three-decade history, Details underwent several editorial shifts and reinventions. Annie Flanders remained editor-in-chief for a time after the Condé Nast purchase, but by the early 1990s she was replaced as the publisher sought to reposition the magazine for a wider audience (Gallery 98 | ANNIE FLANDERS (1939 – 2022) Details Magazine, Downtown New York, 1980s). In the late 1980s, Details had already started emphasizing high-fashion coverage — issues often featured 100+ page spreads covering New York, London, and Paris runway shows, effectively cataloging the era’s fashion history within its pages (Gallery 98 | Bill Cunningham & DETAILS Magazine, 1982–90). Under Condé Nast, the magazine continued to mix cutting-edge style coverage with articles on music, film, and urban trends, cultivating a reputation for both its visual flair and editorial boldness. By the mid-1990s, Details experimented with innovative content that set it apart from other men’s magazines. Notably, Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Art Spiegelman served as a contributing editor and spearheaded a series of comic-based journalism features in 1997. He assigned cartoonists to cover real events – from music festivals to political happenings – in graphic form, an experiment in "cartoon journalism" that added a creative dimension to the magazine’s reportage (The ABCs of Autobio Comix - Page 3 of 5 - The Comics Journal). This willingness to push boundaries in content and format exemplified Details’s editorial ethos: a blend of sophisticated lifestyle journalism with subversive, and sometimes quirky, storytelling. Despite its cultural relevance, Details faced headwinds in the late 1990s amid a crowded men’s magazine market. Upstart “lad mags” like Maxim and Stuff – heavy on humor and sex appeal – were drawing the young male demographic, while more established competitors like Esquire were retooling to stay relevant. Details struggled to define its identity during this time, and its performance faltered. In 2000, Condé Nast made the drastic decision to suspend Details – effectively shutting down its existing iteration – and then relaunch it later that year as a more fashion-focused magazine under the company’s Fairchild division (Details Magazine Covers (2000-2015)). The October 2000 relaunch introduced a redesigned Details with a clearer upscale style mandate, aligning it more closely with Condé Nast’s glossy brand while retaining a dash of downtown edge. Leading the 2000 relaunch was Dan Peres, a young editor-in-chief (he was just 28 when appointed) who would helm Details for the next 15 years (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer) (Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine - Daily Front Row). Under Peres’s leadership, Details cemented its voice as a smart, trend-conscious men’s lifestyle book. The magazine became known for its striking photography, modern design, and a balance of content ranging from fashion spreads and grooming advice to in-depth profiles and investigative pieces. Peres gave his staff considerable creative freedom, encouraging offbeat story ideas and unconventional visuals to embody them (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer) (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer). During this era, Details often featured celebrities on its cover that encapsulated the zeitgeist of style and pop culture. Hollywood A-listers (such as Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, and Johnny Depp) and music stars like Kanye West and Justin Timberlake all graced Details covers, reflecting its cachet in entertainment and fashion circles (Details Magazine Covers (2000-2015)). Celebrated athletes (e.g. NFL quarterback Tom Brady and Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps) also appeared as cover stars, and in later years the magazine even spotlighted top male models on several covers – a nod to its fashion-first focus (Details Magazine Covers (2000-2015)). Details did not shy away from provocative editorial content, which at times stirred controversy. A December 2002 issue, for example, featured pop star Justin Timberlake on the cover with the eyebrow-raising line: “Can we ever forgive Justin Timberlake for all that sissy music? Hey … at least he got into Britney’s pants.” (Justin Timberlake - Man Of The Woods (February 2, 2018) • Page 47 • forum.chorus.fm) This crass quip (alluding to Timberlake’s former relationship with Britney Spears) was later highlighted in the 2021 documentary Framing Britney Spears as an example of early-2000s media’s misogynistic tone (Justin Timberlake - Man Of The Woods (February 2, 2018) • Page 47 • forum.chorus.fm). In 2004, Details ran a satirical piece titled “Gay or Asian?” that attempted to humorously juxtapose gay stereotypes with Asian stereotypes. The feature – which included a photo of an East Asian man and insensitive “tips” on how to tell a man’s sexuality or ethnicity – drew immediate backlash (Details Magazine Sparks Protest | News | The Harvard Crimson) (Details Magazine Sparks Protest | News | The Harvard Crimson). Critics blasted the article as racist and homophobic, noting lines like “One cruises for chicken; the other takes it General Tso-style” as blatantly offensive (Details Magazine Sparks Protest | News | The Harvard Crimson). Protests erupted in New York City, student groups demanded an apology, and the incident became one of the most infamous missteps in the magazine’s history (Details Magazine Sparks Protest | News | The Harvard Crimson). (It later emerged that Details had run similar tongue-in-cheek columns such as “Gay or Jesus?” in the past, but none had sparked as much outrage (Details Magazine Sparks Protest | News | The Harvard Crimson).) Despite these controversies – or perhaps in part because of them – Details maintained a buzz in the 2000s as a publication unafraid to test the limits of men's lifestyle journalism.

Cultural Impact and Readership

Over its lifespan, Details exerted significant influence on men’s lifestyle media and fashion journalism. The magazine was often credited with mainstreaming the idea that men could be avid consumers of style and pop culture trends. In the early 2000s, as terms like "metrosexual" entered the lexicon to describe image-conscious urban men, Details was at the forefront of that cultural shift (even if the editors themselves avoided the label) ([PDF] Gay and Straight Masculinities in Men's Lifestyle Magazines, 1990 ...). It regularly featured grooming tips, designer spotlights, and trend reports that encouraged men to embrace fashion and personal style in ways that had once been considered niche. A 2004 Harvard Crimson piece noted Details touted itself as “the men’s magazine that introduces the styles, sets the trends and breaks the stories that keep you ahead of the crowd,” underlining its role as a trend forecaster (Details Magazine Sparks Protest | News | The Harvard Crimson). The magazine’s blend of fashion coverage, celebrity features, and irreverent commentary was emulated by other publications as the men’s magazine market modernized. Details also left its mark through the talent it nurtured. Many writers, editors, and photographers who passed through Details went on to prominent careers in media and fashion. As one observer quipped in an elegy for the magazine, Details showcased an “impressively wide array of talent” over the years (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer). Notable alumni include Pete Wells, now the restaurant critic for The New York Times, who was an articles editor at Details, and Jeff Gordinier, who later became a New York Times editor and author (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer) (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer). The publication was known for giving creatives latitude to experiment, which in turn produced memorable journalism and photography. For instance, Details’s longtime creative director, Rockwell Harwood, earned a reputation for conceptual imagery that often became the story (such as a notorious photo of a thong on a child’s car seat to illustrate a piece on infidelity) (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer). By fostering such innovation, Details helped push the boundaries of magazine design and content in the men's sector. In terms of readership, Details targeted young, metropolitan men who were interested in style trends as well as substantive journalism. Its core audience was generally males in their late 20s to 30s (Condé Nast Shuts Down Details Magazine - Subscription Insider) – a generation coming of age in the MTV and Men’s Health era, hungry for a publication that reflected their dual interest in fashion and popular culture. Circulation-wise, Details remained moderately sized compared to some competitors, but its influence often outpaced its raw numbers. In the first half of 2015, the magazine’s total paid circulation was about 560,000, a figure that had actually grown slightly from the previous year (Conde Nast Closes Details Magazine -- Advertising Age | PublishersGlobal.com ). This steady subscriber base attested to a loyal readership that valued the magazine’s voice. Culturally, Details’s impact was evident in how it shaped conversations around men’s fashion – making high-end style accessible – and in how it addressed evolving norms of masculinity. It stood apart from more traditional “straightforward” men’s magazines; as one retrospective noted, Details was “always slightly harder to define” than the likes of Esquire or Maxim, occupying a unique middle ground in tone and content (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer). This distinct identity helped cement Details as a reference point in the industry, even for those who may not have been regular readers.

Decline and Closure

By the 2010s, Details faced mounting challenges common to many print magazines. The rise of digital media and a downturn in print advertising hit the magazine’s finances hard. Despite its devoted readership, Details was a relatively small title within Condé Nast’s portfolio, and it struggled to attract sufficient ad revenue in an era when luxury advertisers were consolidating around bigger brands like GQ and Esquire (Conde Nast Closes Details Magazine -- Advertising Age | PublishersGlobal.com ). Industry rumors about Details’s vulnerability circulated for years. In fact, Condé Nast had nearly folded the magazine once before in 2000, and by 2015 those whispers had grown louder that Details might again be on the chopping block (Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine - Daily Front Row). Advertisers were increasingly shifting budgets to digital platforms, and Condé Nast was looking to streamline its operations amid cost-cutting measures. On November 18, 2015, Condé Nast officially announced that Details would cease publication after its December 2015/January 2016 issue (Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine - Daily Front Row). The shutdown was part of a broader corporate restructuring directed by Condé Nast president Bob Sauerberg (Condé Nast Shuts Down Details Magazine - Subscription Insider). Sauerberg and company executives framed the decision as reallocating resources to stronger titles and new initiatives. (The closure news coincided with other shake-ups at Condé Nast, such as the merging of Self magazine’s staff with Glamour and the exit of longtime Allure editor Linda Wells (Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine - Daily Front Row) (Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine - Daily Front Row).) Dan Peres, Details’s editor-in-chief, and Drew Schutte, the publisher/chief revenue officer, both left the company as a result of the closure (Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine - Daily Front Row). For Details, its final cover featured actor Eddie Redmayne, capping off a 33-year run for the brand (Details Magazine Covers (2000-2015)). The decision to fold Details was met with disappointment from its staff, readers, and many in the magazine industry. Media commentators noted the irony that Details’s subscription numbers were actually on the rise in its final year (Condé Nast Shuts Down Details Magazine - Subscription Insider), underscoring that the closure was driven more by economics than by lack of audience. (Even with over half a million subscribers, the revenue from subscriptions wasn’t enough to sustain the publication without robust advertising support (Conde Nast Closes Details Magazine -- Advertising Age | PublishersGlobal.com ).) Former Details editors and contributors penned heartfelt tributes; some pointed out that the magazine’s demise marked the end of an era when risk-taking print journalism for men had a place in the market (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer). The New York Observer gathered alumni memories in a piece that highlighted Details’ legacy and its somewhat indefinable quality compared to other men’s mags (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer). Many saw the closure as a sign of the times, as even a storied title like Details could not escape the pressures facing print media. In shutting down Details, Condé Nast aimed to migrate its readership and advertisers to other properties. Company officials indicated that GQ – Condé Nast’s flagship men’s lifestyle magazine – would pick up some of the slack. In fact, Condé Nast announced plans to expand its offshoot GQ Style to capture Details’ audience niche (Condé Nast closing Details magazine - FIPP). GQ Style, which had existed as an occasional special edition, was ramped up with a new quarterly print schedule and a beefed-up digital presence to attract style-focused readers and luxury advertisers in lieu of Details (Condé Nast closing Details magazine - FIPP). The Details website (Details.com) remained live for a short time after the print closure but was eventually folded into GQStyle.com, consolidating content under the GQ banner (Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine - Daily Front Row) (Condé Nast Shuts Down Details Magazine - Subscription Insider). For subscribers with remaining issues, Condé Nast likely offered other magazines (such as GQ) to fulfill those subscriptions, a common practice when titles shut down (Condé Nast Shuts Down Details Magazine - Subscription Insider). The shutdown also meant a dispersal of Details staff. The magazine employed roughly 60 people at the time of its closing; of those, only about 20% were expected to be placed in other positions within Condé Nast (Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine - Daily Front Row). The majority of the team, including the editor-in-chief and publisher, departed the company. A few staffers transitioned to roles at GQ or GQ Style, while others moved on to different publications or new ventures in media. In essence, Details’ spirit lived on in the work those alumni carried to other platforms, and in GQ Style’s attempt to court the style-conscious men’s market that Details had cultivated. Details magazine closed out its run as one of the defining men’s magazines of its time – evolving from a scrappy downtown indie to a Condé Nast glossy, influencing fashion and pop culture along the way, and ultimately succumbing to industry change. Its legacy endures in the continued blurring of fashion-forward content and men’s lifestyle journalism now common across media, a trail Details helped blaze. As the media world moved increasingly online, Details’ closure in 2015 marked not just the end of a publication, but the end of a chapter in men’s magazine history.

References

Gallery 98 (April 7, 2022). “Annie Flanders (1939–2022) – Details Magazine, Downtown New York, 1980s.” Gallery 98 website. (Gallery 98 | ANNIE FLANDERS (1939 – 2022) Details Magazine, Downtown New York, 1980s) (Gallery 98 | ANNIE FLANDERS (1939 – 2022) Details Magazine, Downtown New York, 1980s)
Daily Front Row – Fashion Week Daily (Nov. 18, 2015). Paige Reddinger, “Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine.” (Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine - Daily Front Row) (Condé Nast Folds Details Magazine - Daily Front Row)
Observer (Nov. 18, 2015). Matthew Kassel, “Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine.” (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer) (Former Staffers Remember Details Magazine | | Observer)
FIPP – Media News (Nov. 19, 2015). “Condé Nast closing Details magazine.” (Condé Nast closing Details magazine - FIPP) (Condé Nast closing Details magazine - FIPP)
The Fashionisto (Dec. 17, 2015). “See Every Details Magazine Cover Ever” – cover timeline and history. (Details Magazine Covers (2000-2015)) (Details Magazine Covers (2000-2015))
The Comics Journal (2011). “The ABCs of Auto-Bio Comix” – on Art Spiegelman’s cartoon journalism at Details. (The ABCs of Autobio Comix - Page 3 of 5 - The Comics Journal)
Harvard Crimson (Apr. 19, 2004). Risheng Xu, “Details Magazine Sparks Protest.” (Details Magazine Sparks Protest | News | The Harvard Crimson) (Details Magazine Sparks Protest | News | The Harvard Crimson)
Subscription Insider (Nov. 19, 2015). Dana E. Neuts, “Condé Nast Shuts Down Details Magazine.” (Condé Nast Shuts Down Details Magazine - Subscription Insider) (Condé Nast Shuts Down Details Magazine - Subscription Insider)
Advertising Age via PublishersGlobal (Nov. 18, 2015). “Conde Nast Closes Details Magazine.” (Conde Nast Closes Details Magazine -- Advertising Age | PublishersGlobal.com )
Chorus.fm (Feb. 9, 2021). User forum thread quoting Details Wikipedia – Justin Timberlake cover line and controversy. (Justin Timberlake - Man Of The Woods (February 2, 2018) • Page 47 • forum.chorus.fm)
Gallery 98 (n.d.). Marc H. Miller, “Bill Cunningham & Details Magazine, 1982–90.”

Published on: 01 March 2025 07:52

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