Unsurprising, Not Particularly Mysterious Moves:Men's Vogue Gets The Axe...Will Anyone Notice?

Men's Vogue, the high profile brand extension magazine has been euthanized by Condé Nast in a round of cost-cutting that is expected to touch all publications in the publisher's stable.
The Cut had speculated earlier today that "Mogue" was vulnerable, and DNR has just announced that the book's closure is official. Men's Vogue will remain as a bi-annual supplement to Mother Ship Vogue, although we aren't sure if this means it will appear on newsstands separately twice a year like its French counterpart, Vogue Hommes, or simply be polybagged with the February and August issues and sent to subscribers.
This is the second of Anna Wintour's Vogue brand extensions to be canceled, as Vogue Living was suspended earlier this year. All that is left of La Wintour's efforts to expand the brand in a similar manner to Vogue Italia, for example, is Teen Vogue, which still stands amid the disappearances of counterparts like CosmoGirl and Elle Girl.
This development will likely add fuel to the rumors that Wintour's days as Editor-In-Chief at Vogue are numbered, although we maintain that if she goes anywhere (and that's a big "if") she will be kicked upstairs to an Alexander Liberman-type "Editorial Director" position rather than simply be unceremoniously cut loose like her predecessors were.
Developed as a men's magazine for older, more sophisticated readers, it would seem that Men's Vogue was probably doomed from the start given this target readership. After all, no matter how aggressively masculine it attempted to appear (with lots of rugged gear and features on hunting and fishing that were definitely NOT GAY), we think that the fact that it was called Men's VOGUE was an insurmountable obstacle for American men. It was presumed that the magazine would draw major advertising from luxury watch and automakers among others, which it did... at first, but like most magazines, it has seen ad pages slip this year even as it increased it's publication frequency. Since its sibling publication GQ was successfully redesigned and repositioned away from this very particular, mature audience, creating a new magazine to serve it hardly seemed to make sense. Men's Vogue's buzz-free appearance was seen as an example of Anna Wintour's clout and influence, especially since still developing publications like Cargo and Vitals were "coincidentally" closed just before it made its début.
It turns out that Men's Vogue was slick, polished and dull as dishwater. It must say something that a magazine junkie like The Shophound routinely got increasingly cheaper subscription offers in the mail on a monthly basis, and couldn't be bothered to actually respond, even when it looked like they were almost ready to pay us to receive the magazine.
So we'd give you a kiss goodbye, Mogue, but we wouldn't want to upset your fragile sense of masculinity. We'd say we'll miss you, but we haven't been paying any attention to you for a while, so we'll just say rest in peace, and give our best to Cargo and Vitals.
Men’s Vogue Shutters as Stand-Alone Title; Will Become Semi-Annual Supplement to Vogue(DNR)
Will ‘Mogue’ Cut Back to Two Issues Per Year? Or Fold Altogether? (The Cut)