In 2020, Fashion For Men celebrated its 10th anniversary….. and here we are, four years later. What sounds like forever slipped by in a flash. What surprised me is that I never expected a Roller Coaster: For two years, we coped with the Covid crisis and its impact on relationships, friendships, and work. It was a time of anxiety and reflection about the future, how we would move forward. But what did not change, and in fact expanded, was screen time. As a publisher, in 2022 it became clear to me that publishing a high-quality, coffee table book’zine was no longer sustainable. Paper and distribution costs were soaring, and  fewer readers were buying magazines. Inevitably, brands and advertisers were ditching print for digital.

That same year, I decided to develop a whole new digital platform concept for FFM. That didn’t stop me from shooting beautiful editorials, but it was definitely a time for rethinking the concept of magazines, and what should be kept versus what needed to be changed or created. Change is good — after all, it’s the only constant in life — but challenging. When the pandemic ended, new ”editors” and influencers broke out on social media. As ever, a new Eldorado opened, for better and (more often) worse. Social media made Fashion much more immediate and democratic; now, everyone’s a fashion critic. A chaos of images and information makes it hard to know what and who is legitimate, who is pay-to-play, what is manipulated and who is sponsored.There will always be those who love and yearn for the golden era of magazines. But the future is now. Rather than turn pages, we read, consume, communicate and find entertainment online. Fashion needs clients, consumers and visibility. So now, the most important thing is clicks and views. To reach new heights, all you need is money — less so experienced journalists or seasoned editors. You need celebrities, buzz, as many posts as possible, stories, Reelzs, blog reviews, the list goes on… whether comments are positive or negative hardly matters. What matters most is the hit. In 2023, with the help of AI, big tech adjusted its algorithms to target who we are, what we like, what we want to see, and what we will buy with the lone goal of pushing us to spend more and more time on screens. Fashion players understood that, with the help of digital technology, you can reach the masses without magazines and their elites. No judges, no critics, no need for a fashion editor’s blessing. What a pretty picture. Yet unfortunately, with every new power game comes a down side. This time, it’s really big.

It feels like, in 2024, we have reached a peak on social media and many digital platforms. Money can buy anything. Quantity of clicks seem more important than quality. Celebrities can become “creative directors” and lend a brand an aura of fame; front rows are the new red carpet, artists (and diversity, to ensure every market is represented) are the new ambassadors and influencers.Tech and fashion CEOs are leaning in on turning a profit by buying our attention…. So why are luxury sales slumping? Maybe people are tired of being manipulated. Perhaps there is less focus on the quality and relevance of a product’s offer. But that’s not the whole story.In order to be desirable, fashion needs to inspire a dream. A celebrity-slash-creative-director’s ego doesn’t do that. Over-exposure doesn’t make people special. And as much as people love to be spooked by AI, it’s deluded to think that tech can control humanity. What makes us human is complex; our emotions and impulses are, more often than not, beyond our control. Don’t get me wrong: I embrace progress, modernity and technology so long as their power is controlled and balanced. As ever, fashion publishers used their power, influence, and monopoly to turn a profit. But they’ve lost their soul and original purpose: selecting, guiding and educating readers. Social media did well on racial diversity — but what about that of opinions and taste? Certainly, not all opinions are welcome, and ideas about good or bad taste can be highly subjective. But if we accept that quantity is better than quality, then we sidestep emotional intelligence, culture and an understanding of history. As Jean Cocteau once said, ”The 21^st century will be spiritual or won’t be at all.” As things stand now, it appears that the 21^st century will more digital than spiritual. It falls to us to fight for our opinions, points of view and differences. Being selective and trying to bring you the best of everything is the inspiration behind this latest issue of Fashion For Men.

Unfortunately due to a serious, long-term illness, I had to delay few times the launch of this new project. This first issue is a sum of everything I was able to produce in these difficult times; it also incorporates the new categories I created in order to move forward. I would like to extend a big thank you to all those who always believed in me and patiently went along with me. They know who they are, and I would not have made it this far without them. FFM+ the new Fashion For Men online magazine is back and here to stay. Here’s hoping that you will enjoy it as much as I do. I can’t say how happy I am to be with you again.

Milan Vukmirovic