LONDON — Nobody believes in men’s print magazines as much as Elgar Johnson.
The British editor behind the indie publishing company Circle08 Media that prints CircleZeroEight, where he’s editor in chief, is adding another title to its roster, Sir! Magazine.
The magazine is set to launch in February to time with international fashion weeks. It will debut as a biannual title, but Johnson has dreams of making it more frequent.
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“It’s less HypeBeast and more direct-to-consumer. What menswear needs [right now] is a quite straightforward voice that says, ‘These are really nice jeans because they are rather than because they’re the jeans of the season,’” he said in an interview.
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The team on Sir! includes Robin Derrick as creative director, who has previously held the same position at British Vogue, The Face and Arena; David Bradshaw as fashion director, who was the launch editor of GQ Style, and Jimmy McIntosh as editor.
Circle08 Media’s creative marketing officer, Gary Armstrong, who was previously an editor at GQ Style, will oversee all of the magazine’s commercial activities.
“As a fashion director I don’t seek to challenge anything other than the limits to self expression we place upon ourselves, particularly us men. Fashion to me is about confidence and self-esteem, and encouraging more men to be more interested in more fashion has always been my drive,” said Bradshaw.
Johnson wants Sir! to be a magazine that can be read outside of London and connects with readers beyond those living in a city. It’s an important factor for him because he grew up in the north of England.
“When I worked at GQ and i-D Magazine, I always hoped people up there [in the north of England] would see it. It never felt like it communicated to people that I wanted it to,” he added.
Johnson is set on making a “very British magazine” that speaks to a lot of different people.
“It’s about a sense of humor and having a little bit of fun, as well as having important and serious conversations in there,” he said.
Even though Sir! was a prominent men’s magazine in the ‘50s, Johnson’s publication has no affiliation to it apart from buying the trademark for the name.
As the circulation for mainstream magazines decline, indie magazines are filling the gap.
“People want something different when they go to the news agents — they don’t necessarily want to pick up the same thing or something they’ve already seen,” said Johnson.
In the last year, Man About Town and Another Man have launched Chinese editions; stylist Sarah Richardson and her photographer husband Richard Bush published their biannual magazine Beyond Noise, and Riccardo Tisci guest-edited the eighth issue of Boy.Brother.Friend.