Caroline Issa “The Thinking Woman’s Style Crush” On The Future Of Fashion Magazines

Fashion Editor Caroline Issa is the darling of the street style snappers, an ex-business graduate turned Creative Director of fashion publication Tank and its Observer supplement ‘O’ and has been described by Phoenix magazine as the “thinking woman’s style crush.”

She recently gave a talk at The Industry, a brilliant networking club for the fashion industry – well worth checking out if you work in fashion  – about the future of fashion magazines and bridging the gap between digital and print.

Tank is a quarterley print magazine, which Caroline said is not “trend or news focused,” it “takes time to consider the bigger ideas.” She said its this unique market positioning which has helped keep it afloat in what is a tough and competitive fashion magazine market. “Weeklies are doing well, but monthlies are really struggling,” she explained. “Blogs are taking up much of our reading time, but I’m still a big believer in print. There’s still a huge appetite for beautifully done magazines.” she said.

It’s this ongoing battle between the worlds of digital and print in publishing which I find fascinating. What does the future hold? I came from a traditional print background, my first job as a journalist was a junior online reporter (the lowest ranked job on the magazine at the time) now probably now the most important! So, when I got an invite into the Tank head offices a few weeks ago to get a sneak preview of their latest launch, which they describe as “the first-of-its kind augmented reality digital magazine,” I was really excited to see what they had in store!

Launched to coincide with Tank’s Observer fashion supplement ‘O,’ it uses image recognition technology to create a magazine where you can hover over virtually every picture (from the front cover, to adverts, interviews, features and even the editor’s letter) and watch additional digital content on your phone or i-pad. All you need to do is download Tank’s Fashion Scan App, it will then recognise virtually every image (which has 4 red lines around it- as in the picture of Caroline in the opening page below) and bring to life the magazine in a virtual world – with tons of original digital content and over a hundred new videos.

It’s the first time a fashion publication has used this kind of technology in a magazine and it really does combine the two mediums of digital and print in a consumer-engaging, exciting way! I’d love to see this used in every print magazine, I think it’s a brilliant idea and a really pioneering use of technology, so congrats to the Tank guys! After the success of ‘O’, they are intergrating the fashion Scan App into their future editions of Tank magazine.

Emily @FashionBite xx

IMAGE CREDIT (TOP): Citizencouture.com