BACK & BETTER THAN EVER

The surge of popularity in print publications has transported us back in time. There's nothing quite like those glossy pages.

While there is so much entertainment and content that comes from the digital universe, nothing will ever compare to the magic of being transported in the glossy world of glamor that only exists because of printed magazines. The TikTok generation may never know the ecstasy of a childhood consumed by hours of flipping through magazines on their bedroom floors, but all of that may be about to change.

You can never turn back time, but many publishing houses seem to be making a push for the impossible. Between the resurgence in circulation of publications like Nylon and the recent jump Editor-in-Chief Willa Bennett took from the ever-edgy Highsnobiety to aughts heroes Cosmopolitan and Seventeen, it is blatantly obvious that the industry is investing in tangible media once again. Any print lover like myself is teeming with excitement as the promise of a rebirth of the tactile — as they were intended — magazine is underway.

Bennett’s move holds the promise of a new wave of inspiration for the current generation of up-and-coming “fashionphiles”. The possibility that some of these kids will know the joy of the escapism that can only come from getting lost in a magazine brings me to nerdy level of giddiness. I find myself quite fatigued with the lack of originality and average of eight hours of screen time on social media that many of my younger counterparts wear around like badges of honor.

This is not to say all digital media is bad. After all, I am writing on a digital platform as well. My bone-to-pick is with the death of passion for physical manifestations of creativity that has come from the utter laziness and uniformity born from too much time spent scrolling.

One can only hope that a return to print will mean a return to some normalcy. We need to continue to invest in artists who desperately want to create rather than iPhone owners who believe they are entertaining the masses by simply hitting “record.”

Stop scrolling. Start flipping.

Print’s biggest fan,

Elena

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