Canadian Magazine Industry News
22 January 2013,     TORONTO
Zoomer magazine struts its style stuff
Zoomer's appointment of Derick Chetty to the newly-created role of fashion director signals the mag's move to expand its fashion and style coverage.

Suzanne Boyd
Suzanne Boyd
"It's something we've grown into as the magazine has evolved," said editor-in-chief Suzanne Boyd. "We said from the very beginning in the first Zoomer philosophy column that part of positive aging is about looking and feeling current."

Boyd said the lifestyle magazine, launched five years ago and targeting Canadians 45-plus, used to cover fashion "in drips and drabs" in the mag's 'Attitude' section for beauty, lifestyle tips and products. "Now it's time to explode that," she said.

Starting in March, fashion coverage will be integrated into the front end 'Zoom In' section of the mag in the form of news items, nostalgia pieces and lifestyle bits. The 'Attitude' section will have a more direct fashion message and standalone features and profiles will appear in 'The Well' feature section. According to the 2013 media kit, ad positions will remain unavailable for 'The Well' section.

The mag has seen action from fashion and beauty advertisers in the past. Boyd mentions Tiffany's and Joe Fresh as companies Zoomer has counted as clients. She thinks the stronger style content will interest more of the same. "Advertisers like an environment that suits their message. I do believe that the fashion point of view will be very welcoming to that kind of advertiser," she said.

More magazine, which covered fashion and beauty for women 45-plus, might have been a competitor but TC Media ceased publication after the Dec/Jan 2013 issue. Boyd said Zoomer's fashion push was already in the works before More's demise. "I thought it was a great magazine, and I loved that it was in the category," she said.

Derick Chetty
Derick Chetty
Zoomer's readership is split 65/35 between women and men. As with the rest of its editorial, including travel, health and money, 35% of the fashion coverage will be geared to men to reflect that breakdown.

The development marks a return to magazines for Chetty, who previously covered the runways for the Toronto Star and before that worked as fashion editor at Flare. It also makes him the latest in a line of former Flare employees Boyd, editor of Flare from 1996 to 2004, has called in for duty at Zoomer.

"Derick is an incredibly astute and smart fashion editor," Boyd said. "He can make fashion relevant in a way that speaks to our demographic," she said.

"Our readers were the hippies, they were the cool people, and now we're older. So how do we continue to be who we are without looking like we're jokes of our former selves?" Boyd said. "Staying cool and current, that's what we're here to help people do."
— Jef Catapang
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