Third Wave Fashion, a consulting firm and think tank focused on the intersection of fashion and technology, is launching Third Wave Magazine, a quarterly print and digital publication focused on fashion tech and wearable devices that will be available online later Monday. The first copies to reach print subscribers are expected to arrive Tuesday.
The inaugural 128-page issue includes features on the Internet and teens’ mobile and computer habits as described by teens themselves, as well as shorter stories, such as a list of 15 hot startups to watch and a series of mini-profiles on 14 notable men and women in New York’s fashion and tech landscape, with AlleyWatch founder Reza Chowdhury and Flint and Tinder’s Jake Bronstein among them. Product roundups and visually driven pages pairing quick fitness exercises and wearable devices appear throughout.
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The service journalism-meets-industry news hybrid is intended to appeal to the mix of fashion professionals, investors, startup founders and entrepreneurs who make up the magazine’s undisclosed subscriber base.
“We wanted to be able to reach people who are used to focusing primarily on aesthetics and bring ideas in a way that would be really palatable and enjoyable,” said Liza Kindred, who worked in both the fashion and technology worlds before starting Third Wave Fashion in 2011.
The magazine, which is launching with a run of 10,000 copies and is available with a $40 annual subscription, is also a new publishing strategy for Kindred, who spent a year-and-a-half selling downloadable reports with similar content on a subscription basis only to find them leaked across the Internet. Believing that showed a bigger demand, Kindred refocused to a quarterly model with print editions and a digital version available online at www.thirdwavefashion.com.
Instead of traditional advertising, the magazine relies on branded content sponsored by companies such as Poshly, Shoptiques, Lion’esque and Empowered Bag. Featuring content and photography by Kindred’s team, the branded stories are labeled with sponsored content banners, but are otherwise indistinguishable from editorial content.
“Readers today are fine with there being some blurring of the boundaries as long as there’s transparency,” contended Kindred.
A second issue is due out in September.