Loaded magazine and its fashion spinoff, Loaded Fashion, are to go their separate ways as the bi-annual style title heads upmarket in search of readers more likely to buy designer clothes.
The fashion magazine will be relaunched as Fashion Inc on 24 March, under existing editor Adrian Clark, in order to better compete for readers and advertisers with the host of other men’s magazine fashion spin-offs on the market.
Loaded, the original lads’ mag, which relaunched last year with more naked ‘babes’ than ever before, is set to show an impressive increase in next week’s ABC figures.
But Clark said his own audience had "diverged from its parent brand".
He added: "The present fashion bi-annuals for men fall into one of two categories — those aimed at mass market consumers, often with a dumbed-down and cynical approach; and those targeting the fashion trade with elitist and intimidating editorial.
"There is space between these two categories for a magazine that takes fashion seriously, is proudly aesthetic, but also provides grounded and useful editorial. Fashion Inc will build on Loaded Fashion’s achievements in this space."
The relaunched magazine will include 100 more pages than Loaded Fashion, and will focus on "accessible catwalk collections and comprehensive coverage of high fashion", as well as grooming, interiors and gadgets, according to publisher IPC.
Unlike the Loaded readership, which has an average age of 27 and is 43 per cent non ABC1, Fashion Inc will be pitched at "affluent urban professionals"
aged between 25 and 45; people who have "separate wardrobes for work and play", a spokesman added.
Fashion Inc’s main competitors will be spin-offs from other men’s magazines: Arena Homme Plus, the new GQ Style and FHM Collections.
When Loaded relaunched in April last year its fashion pages were revamped to feature no-nonsense budget fashion photographed without professional models.
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