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Supermodel-turned-media mogul Karlie Kloss is resurrecting Life magazine as a quarterly — with a hefty $45 cover price for its debut issue.
Life, which has weathered decades of financial turmoil, is set to publish its first quarterly edition Nov. 23 — a 250-page issue marking its return to regular print publication for the first time since 2007.
Electric vehicle maker Rivian and software firm Figma are sponsoring the debut issue, which will carry no traditional print ads.
Editors enlisted more than 120 contributors for the edition, themed “Where Are We Now?”
But the agreement left the publication’s vast historical photography archive in the hands of People Inc, formerly known as Dotdash Meredith.
“What made Life extraordinary was its ability to make the world feel closer,” Kloss told the New York Times in an interview published Wednesday.
“And our responsibility is to preserve and to protect that legacy.”
Kloss told the Times she is focused on developing Life’s business, leaving editorial decisions to the magazine’s staff.
Life’s revival will extend beyond print, with plans for documentary films, events and short-form videos alongside a website and social media presence.
Life debuted in 1936 with a 10-cent issue featuring Margaret Bourke-White’s photograph of Montana’s Fort Peck Dam. Circulation reached roughly 8.5 million copies a week around 1970.
But competition from television and specialized magazines, along with rising printing and postal costs, squeezed the publication’s finances.
Time Inc. shut down the weekly in December 1972 after it racked up losses of roughly $30 million beginning in 1969.
Time Inc. reintroduced Life as a monthly in 1978 but halted regular publication in 2000, when circulation stood at roughly 1.5 million.
A free weekly newspaper supplement followed in 2004, distributed through papers with a combined circulation of about 12 million, before that version was discontinued in April 2007.
Kloss assembled a team that includes creative director Richard Turley, who previously held senior editorial positions at MTV, Bloomberg Businessweek and Interview.
Turley, in turn, recruited former New York Times Magazine editor Hugo Lindgren, former Times photo editor Eve Lyons and former Times pop music editor Caryn Ganz.
Kloss, who previously acquired and relaunched fashion magazine i-D and also holds a stake in W magazine, acknowledged that turning the revived Life into a profitable enterprise won’t happen overnight.
“Building a successful media business takes time, and we’re focused on making measurable progress toward profitability rather than rushing to meet some arbitrary deadline,” she told the Times.
The Post has sought comment from Kloss.
“The first buyer is a collector, not a reader,” Amore Philip, founder of Apples & Oranges Public Relations, told The Post.
“The real test is issue three, when the nostalgia wears off and the content has to earn the shelf space on its own.”
Philip, a communications strategist with 16 years of experience, said Life should target a smaller, premium audience rather than attempt to reclaim its former mass-market reach.
She said corporate sponsorships could generate more revenue than traditional print advertising, but warned that such arrangements must not undermine readers’ trust in the journalism.
“Success is a renewal rate, not a launch-day sellout,” Philip said.
Source: NYPost
