MAGAZINE MOVES: Stefano Tonchi To take Over W

Once upon a time, W was a full color bi-monthly newspaper that took all of the fashion news and lifestyle content from Women's Wear Daily and packaged it for non-industry consumers. Some of us remember it fondly as a quirky, almost poster sized alternative to the monthly glossy magazine, but sometime in the early 1990s, it was transformed into a more traditional though still oversized magazine that forged its new identity with cutting edge photography. Once Fairchild Publications, parent company of W and WWD was purchased by Condé Nast, they retained their connection and editorial independence until last Friday, when it was announced that the two publications would finally be separated, and longtime editorial director Patrick McCarthy would be leaving.
After a few days of names and rumors flying, it was confirmed this morning that The New York Times T Magazine's Editor In Chief Stefano Tonchi (pictured at left) would be stepping in to helm the magazine, so we expect some major changes in the book starting this summer.
The main difference, aside from Tonchi's direction, will be that W will no longer use editorial content generated by WWD. Tonchi basically ripped apart the Times' style magazines and reconstituted them as T, so we are interested in seeing what kind of magic he has planned for W. While WWD remains indispensable as an industry paper of record, W's troubles have been plain to see at any newsstand, with many of its issues coming in perilously low on advertising pages. As a niche player, it has always been more daring and less commercial than its cousin Vogue, the jewel in the Condé Nast crown. It was not unusual for W to give large editorial sections over to photographers like Steven Klein or Bruce Weber to produce extensive portfolios that often featured little actual fashion content.
Look for a major overhaul of W in the coming months. Now that it is fully under the Condé Nast magazine group umbrella, it will be interesting to see how it fares alongside Vogue, which has had its own advertising challenges and rumors to contend with. Of course now begins the rampant speculation about who will take over from Tonchi at T.
Stefano Tonchi Named Editor-in-Chief of W Magazine (The Shophound Inbox)