Condé Nast International to launch Vogue Hong Kong

By

Godfrey Deeny

Published
Oct 29, 2018

Condé Nast, the New York publishing group that boasts the world’s toniest stable of glossy magazines, is to open an edition of Vogue in Hong Kong, in a move that underlines the growing importance of the former British colony as a major luxury destination.

Vogue Hong Kong will be the 26th global version of the fashion title, and will published under a license agreement with local Rubicon Media Ltd. When it launches in 2019, Vogue Hong Kong will join sister titles in Asia, including Vogue China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand and India.
 
Vogue Hong Kong is the latest Vogue to be launched since the debut of Vogue Arabia in March 2017. Like that title, Vogue Hong Kong will debut digitally and in print. The print edition will be published in traditional Chinese language, with a bilingual website in both Chinese and English.

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“This magical city has long been a magnet for shoppers and a center of taste and luxury in the heart of Greater China. With the launch of its own Vogue, Hong Kong truly steps up to the premiere league of fashion excellence,” said Jonathan Newhouse, chairman and chief executive of Condé Nast International, which handles all Condé Nast titles outside of the United States.
 
The Newhouse family magazine empire also includes Vanity Fair, Glamour; Brides, GQ, The New Yorker, Teen Vogue, Architectural Digest, W, Allure, Them and Condé Nast Traveler, among others.
 
News of the launch comes in a year when the US company has undergone drastic restructuring. With long-time star editors drafted into contract positions, denying them employment benefits; the consolidation of content creation and communications across several titles; and a radical reduction of the print frequency of several titles. While Stefano Tonchi, long-time editor-in-chief of W, is openly looking for an investor to buy the magazine.
 
However, Condé Nast International has more than doubled the number of Vogue editions internationally in the past two decades, as a growing number of consumers in newly developed countries are still keen to discover a Vogue reflecting their own local culture.
 
Condé Nast did shutter Vogue Singapore back in 1997, but clearly believes Hong Kong, one of the world’s greatest financial centers and commercial ports, clearly has a stronger luxury base, and massive retail imprint. No luxury brand of significance is not present in Hong Kong.
 
Vogue Hong Kong already has named a publisher, Desiree Au, a Hong Kong-born media veteran who has both edited and written for leading newspapers, including The Hong Kong Standard, the South China Morning Post and The New York Times International Edition.
 
“My vision for Vogue Hong Kong is to nourish the creativity and individuality which exists in the city today. We are in the era of self-expression and authenticity, and Vogue’s curatorial voice is fitting for the modern woman in defining her individualism,” remarked Au.
 
No news yet on the choice of editor-in-chief.
 
Vogue is also published in Britain, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Russia, Mexico and Latin America, Brazil, Greece, Australia, Portugal, Turkey, the Netherlands and Ukraine.
 
Added Markus Grindel, managing director of licensing at Condé Nast: “Hong Kong has a well-established media market with a strong appetite for luxury fashion and beauty among its sophisticated urban consumers - it’s a natural fit for Vogue and we are excited to partner with Desiree Au and her team to launch Vogue Hong Kong.”