Written by Bree Gladd
On Wednesday I had the pleasure of sitting in on a sneak preview of the next evolution of New York Magazine’s inimitable The Cut. Now moving into its own standalone site, The Cut revealed new positioning and recurring features. The new site puts emphasis on high-quality photography and a mix of content to appeal to a wide variety of audiences, “from high end fashion to low budget shopping, street style photography, the beauty industry, sex and relationships, current issues and feminism to “goofier fare,” as Editor-in-Chief Adam Moss put it.
The Cut has become both a source of inspiration and information, as well as an outlet for community and creativity. And while ardent readers of The Cut will no doubt polarize on the introduction of content that no doubt seeks to emulate the success of sites like Jezebel, Hello Giggles, The Hairpin, The Grindstone and the like, for Fashion PR’s and brands, the site offers a wealth of new editorial opportunities.
Overall, the site now seeks to tow the line between the highly edited glamour of September glossies and the playful, personal atmosphere of a blog. While the site has been designed to have more of a magazine layout, it can also be viewed as a more traditional blog. With new categories Fashion, Fame, Beauty, Goods, and Love & War, The Cut will now deliver in virtually every area of pop culture, and boast higher resolution photos – 10x higher than in previous iteration,s to be exact.
The site will go live Monday morning at TheCut.com, in plenty of time to debut all its new bells and whistles before fashion week begins.
Partial masthead includes:
The Cut has invested heavily in not only vintage photography, but in one of a kind, never before seen fashion photography. “Out of the Box” is a feature where a fashion photographer is given a box of high fashion pieces and sent off to create as they please. Photographers may choose any location – Paris, Sweden, Berlin, or as one brilliantly chose, an abandoned coal mine in Utah. There is no styling direction given by The Cut, the end result is purely the work of the photographers.
Street style will no longer be limited to NYC or fashion week attendees. Now, each week will be dedicated to street style of another country, from Moscow to Australia to Amsterdam.
Runway shows will now be given report cards: a one-sentence review of the show as well as any key points, including beauty. In one possibly brilliant move, runway lookbooks will now include photos of the backs of clothing as models walk away.
The beauty section will “do beauty like no one is doing on the web,” according to Creative Director, Stella Bugbee. This section will create a tight knit community – by involving readers in new opportunities like the Lunchtime Q&A, in which readers can also comment on the advice of Cut staffers.
The fame section will offer highly original celebrity content. Celeb lookbooks are comprised of photos from a star’s early years to their most recent appearance. Meant to be fun and comprehensible, lookbooks are also easily searchable. “Celeb-rotica” will be another feature where Cut writers will create a narrative of what the tabloids report.
Readers can find sex, politics, relationships and feminism in the Love & War section, as well as interviews and personal accounts on current culture, issues and experiences. This section will be managed by former Gawker writer Maureen O’Connor.
Goods, as you may have guessed, is all about shopping. There will be “click to buy” options, and the best of eCommerce technology, like the ability to zoom in for quality on buckles, fabric, zippers, texture, & any other details you crave. Lucky for fashion publicists, all budgets will be accounted for, “from $5 Forever 21 earrings to Nina Ricci shoes.”
In their new positioning, The Cut has acknowledged the need to expand its reach and provide opportunity to dialogue more fully with its readers. The site is planning for around 40 new pieces of content a day, which can be accessed from a desktop, laptop, tablet, iPhone, and Limited-Edition Virtual Experience Contact Lenses…totally kidding. Maybe next version!
