Fairchild Publications

“Our salvation depends on printing the news.” This motto of Edmund W. Fairchild, the founder in the late 1800s of what would become an American publishing empire specialized in fashion magazines and newspapers, is still valid, even after more than a century. Indeed, it has become the credo of a publishing house which has distinguished itself for creating the most famous and influential publications for people in the field, such as DNR and WWD, which were followed in the 1960s by glossy monthlies for a sophisticated public. Owned today by ABC, the roots of Fairchild Publications go back to 1890 in Chicago when Edmund W. Fairchild, who had accumulated a considerable fortune selling soap, acquired the Chicago Herald Gazette, a newspaper focused on the men’s fashion industry. Shortly after, his brother Louis joined the publishing venture and, on 29 March 1892, they began publication of the Daily Trade Record, a paper that was distributed to businessmen at the Chicago World’s Fair. Success was such that Edmund decided to continue publication even after the fair. It was later renamed the Daily News Record, and then abbreviated as DNR. Today, it is published three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) with the latest news about the world of men’s fashion, ranging from economics to the textile-clothing market and the latest trends. The women’s equivalent wasn’t late in arriving: the Fairchilds, who in the meantime had moved to New York, launched Women’s Wear Daily on May 21, 1919. It was published first as a news page in the Saturday edition of the Daily Trade Record and became an independent journal (six days a week, later reduced to five) on July 13th of the same year. But the year which marks the beginning of the most important period in the history of the publishing house is 1960. If under the leadership of Louis Fairchild, the heir of Edmund, the number of publications increased considerably, it was with his young son, Louis John, that an interesting editorial shift took place. Already the head of the Paris branch, John was ambitious and farsighted. Creative, and endowed with brilliant writing skills, he decided to shorten the name Women’s Wear Daily to the easier-to-say WWD and, while remaining focused on being the leading magazine in the field of economic and financial information for the fashion industry, he revitalized it by giving it international stature and a more sparkling and lively editorial approach enriched with scoops, reportage about society events and fashion collections, features about new trends, and profiles of designers who were for the first time treated as celebrities. Intuiting the growing importance of the star system, John invented and published, still in the 1960s, Los Angeles Magazine, the house’s first monthly conceived for an upscale audience. A major feature of the magazine was the lively prose and a glossy look for “covering” events and the most celebrated personalities of the town, a symbol of cinema and show business. In 1972 came the start of W: twenty-six issues a year until 1993 when, with new graphics and an unusual oversized format, it was relaunched as an ultra chic and sophisticated monthly. The primary focus of W is fashion as an expression of lifestyle. The ideal and actual reader is a sophisticated woman interested in the latest news who is curious and cosmopolitan. The magazine, with features by the best photographers, reportage about the most international parties and most luxurious houses, pages filled with the latest news on fashion, beauty, and accessories, and exclusive interviews with stars and designers, was the perfect vehicle not just for describing the latest trends, but often for anticipating them. It was W that first referred to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as Jackie O and first used hot pants to define the micro-shorts that were in fashion during the 1970s. Even though John Fairchild retired in 1997, his sense of humor and brilliant style still have a place in W: under the pseudonym of Louise J. Esterhazy, an irresistible globetrotting countess, he writes a column that appears on the last page of the magazine. Today, Fairchild publishes, in addition to the already-mentioned magazines, a new monthly for teenagers, Jane, launched in 1997, and other niche titles such as Footwear News, Home Furnishings News, Children’s Business, Supermarket News, Salon News, Golf Pro, Executive Technology, and Brand Marketing. In 1999, the editorial group was acquired by Condé Nast.