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What are the top Fashion trade newspapers or magazines in the United States by subscription number?
Hi there! Thanks for asking about the top fashion trade newspapers and magazines in the U.S., ranked by number of subscriptions. The short version is that your anecdotal information appears to be correct, with WWD standing as both the most popular print publication and the most popular online publication for fashion industry professionals in the U.S. I have compiled a list of 10 publications which fit your criteria, 9 of which have print publications. You will find a deep dive of my methodology and findings below.
METHODOLOGY
After confirming that there is no publicly available pre-compiled list for your request, I generated a large pool of candidates by gathering publications listed or recommended by U.S. fashion industry associations, U.S. fashion institutes, B2B industry networks, and U.S.-based news sources. Only trade publications specifically geared to fashion industry professionals were selected for consideration.
As your request specified "newspapers or magazines", I focused on finding subscription data for print-based publications. However, some of the publications only reported readership numbers reflecting a combined print and online audience. Wherever possible, I have separated out print subscriptions in the details provided below.
Furthermore, I found few print publications with large subscription numbers in the U.S., so I have supplemented my findings with two prominent online-based publications.
One key issue with the data I was able to find is that most of these publications do not specify the number of subscriptions per geographical region. However, all of these listed publications are recommended by U.S.-based industry professionals. I have made an attempt to further highlight the U.S.-based audience for these publications by noting in the details below what percentage of each publication's website visitors are located in the U.S.
TOP FASHION TRADE PUBLICATIONS
1. WWD
WWD, formerly Women's Wear Daily, a Conde Nast publication, has the largest print reach, with a claimed circulation of 60,000 C-suite executives and a total readership of 250,000. WWD has 59,032 paid, verified subscriptions. 55.73% of WWD's website traffic comes from the United States.
2. 20/20
20/20 Magazine is the leading publication for optical (eyeglasses, sunglasses) fashion professionals with 50,050 qualified subscribers. 75.5% of 20/20's website traffic comes from the United States. According to the listed whole numbers of subscribers by category, I have calculated the follow subscriber breakdown:
3. Accessories Magazine
Accessories Magazine claims to be "the only trade publication dedicated exclusively to the $30+ billion fashions accessory business". Accessories' reported print readership is 30,000, and encompasses owners, executives, and buyers from "every class of trade". 69.07% of Accessories Magazine's website traffic comes from the U.S.
4. Sportswear International
Sportswear International, based in Germany, focuses on denim and sportswear fashion for industry professionals. The publication has a reported distribution size of 30,000 for its January and July issues, and a size of 25,000 for its four other annual editions. The publication's website is most popular, by far, in China, with just 7.98% of its traffic coming from the U.S.
5. Fast Fashion Magazine
Fast Fashion is aptly named for its focus on fast fashion wholesalers and retailers. The magazine reports a circulation of 50,000 combined from print and online. 100% of the magazine's online traffic comes from the United States, though this traffic has reduced to zero during a few of the last six months. Unfortunately, there was no way to verify how the print subscription base has performed during the same time period.
6. Footwear News
Footwear News, another Conde Nast publication, focuses on the footwear segment for fashion industry professionals. The magazine has 17,466 paid, verified subscriptions for its print edition, while the magazine's website draws 61.13% of its traffic from the U.S.
7. VOWS Magazine
VOWS, formerly Better Bridal Magazine, is focused on the bridal segment of the fashion industry and is geared toward North American buyers, in-store consultants, and bridal salon owners. The magazine has a distribution size of 10,000 with a claimed readership of 32,000 per issue. The publication's website draws 89.72% of its traffic from the U.S., though traffic has fallen sharply over the last six months.
8. INSTORE Magazine
INSTORE is targeted at U.S. professionals within the jewelry segment of the fashion industry, including owners, executives, buyers, and designers. While the magazine has a qualified circulation of 22,079, only 26 show as paid subscriptions. 89.78% of the magazine's website traffic comes from the US. The circulation breakdown is as follows:
9. Business of Fashion
While Business of Fashion (BoF) began as an online portal for global fashion industry professionals in 2007, the company has recently released some print issues. Unfortunately, no subscription or circulation data for the print publication has been released. However, Business of Fashion's website traffic rivals that of WWD. The most recent analytics reveal this comparison between BoF and WWD:
It follows that BoF has approximately 340,010 U.S. visitors per month, while WWD enjoys approximately 475,600 U.S. visitors per month.
1,100,000 * 0.3091 = 340010
853,400 * 0.5573 = 475599.82
10. Sourcing Journal
Sourcing Journal is an online publication which focuses on sourcing and manufacturing for apparel and textile executives. The publication claims a readership of "over 70,000 executives", with 60% based in North America. However, the most recent data shows an estimated total monthly visitor count of 50.5k monthly visitors, with 48.47% of traffic coming from the U.S.
CONCLUSION
WWD appears to be both the most popular print publication and the most popular online publication for fashion industry professionals in the U.S. Most other popular print publications in the U.S. are focused on specific segments of the fashion industry, such as footwear, optical, or jewelry. Online publication Business of Fashion's rapid growth and strong U.S. traffic suggest that the company's website is the second-most popular destination, after WWD, in the U.S.
I hope this helps! Thanks for asking Wonder. Please let us know if we can help with anything else!