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In the past week, two new fashion websites have been grabbing headlines: Emanuele Della Valle's Lifestyle Mirror, and a new "digital monthly magazine" called The Aesthete. The latter is a New York-based arts and cultural site that includes such masthead notables as Adrian Mainella, Cintra Wilson, and Derek Blasberg. (Upping the fashion name ante even higher, former Vogue EIC Grace Mirabella will be featured in an upcoming video segment on the site.) Lifestyle Mirror—which is set to debut on February 13, smack dab in the middle of Fashion Week—will focus on being "a shoppable, digital magazine with premium editorial content spanning fashion, beauty, travel, men’s wear and lifestyle interests."
What they appear to have in common, besides general toniness, is a surprising reliance on the print format. While elegant, The Aesthete's monthly pub schedule is bound to feel slow (if not stagnant) in the online space, and the site appears to offer mostly mid-length articles and glossy-worthy photography that feel lifted straight from the print magazine model.
And though the Lifestyle Mirror's content will be updated several times a day, features—like the inaugural piece on Daphne Guinness and her Manhattan apartment—are planned well in advance and can easily fall behind the times. Curbed reported that the beer heiress put this very New York apartment up for sale last week, for example.
So while we're expecting lots of pretty pictures and good writing (anything with Cintra Wilson's name on it is basically going to be awesome), excitement and innovation are probably not going to be these new pubs' strongest suits.
· Grace Mirabella and New Online Magazine Get Feted [WWD]
· Beer Heiress Daphne Guinness Floods Market at 995 Fifth Ave [Curbed]
· Emanuele Della Valle Expanding Online With LifestyleMirror Site [WWD]