Condé Nast is launching Vogue Scandinavia, with the first print issue set to publish in spring 2021, under a license agreement with Four North Stockholm, of which editor-in-chief Martina Bonnier is also the founder and chief executive. The fashion title will cover Scandinavian countries like Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and the wider Nordic region that includes Finland and Iceland.
For years, revenue from print advertising has declined and many magazine publishers have felt the more recent financial impact of Covid-19 pandemic. But Bonnier believes there is no better time for the launch. “Many thought it should have launched years ago, because Scandinavian style is so well known throughout the world,” she says.
The past decade has seen Scandinavian and Nordic design influence permeate across the world, thanks to globally acclaimed brands like Ganni, Cecilie Bahnsen and Stine Goya that have emerged from the region, as well as international fascination with Scandinavian lifestyles.
“For several years now, Scandinavian design and the region’s unique cultures have been the source of inspiration for people worldwide,” says Wolfgang Blau, global chief operating officer and president, international at Condé Nast, the parent company of Vogue Business as well as Vogue Scandinavia. “Scandinavian fashion companies have also been important drivers of the global conversation about fashion, sustainability and climate change.”
The region is also home to a lucrative audience. Scandinavia — and Sweden in particular — has also been at the forefront of the technology boom in Europe, and the result is that the region is home to most of Europe's millionaires, data from Capgemini's 2020 World Wealth Report shows. Though GDP growth slowed in 2019, Sweden’s millionaires increased 10 per cent from the year prior, moving the country up two places to rank 23, despite that there are only 10 million people in the country.
Bonnier has a long career in journalism that began as a news reporter at Göteborgs-Posten, before she moved into fashion. For eight years she was editor-in-chief of Damernas Värld (“Women’s World”), the biggest women’s lifestyle magazine in Scandinavia, and has also published five books on fashion and style.
Vogue Scandinavia is Vogue’s 28th edition, following the respective launches of Vogue Hong Kong and Vogue Greece in March 2019. Instead of being headquartered in one place, staff will be split into small teams across Copenhagen, Helsinki and Oslo.
Bonnier’s priority for the magazine is to deliver digitally savvy content by working with local influential figures and top influencers — she declined to name who, but said that they were “the best in the region” — and by constantly engaging with the local audience through the newly launched hashtag #MyVogueScandinavia, a democratic, more inclusive approach to running a high-fashion magazine. Users can use the hashtag when posting on social media to share their thoughts, inspiration and opinions about the magazine and other topics they’re interested in.
Bonnier says she will check the hashtag frequently and engage with users online. “It's something I really want people to interact with,” she says. “I will listen to you and we will curate it in different ways, so you can be a part of our platform. The best ideas will be seen and heard.”
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