Arriving In Style

D.C. Style has arrived in the city in a splash. The first of the city's three new superluxury magazines to launch arrived on newsstands earlier this month--its launch advertising campaign, including banners in the Metro and bus advertisements, has been hard to miss. A Jackie O look-alike graces the front cover, and the photography inside is unlike anything Washington has seen in quite a while--the magazine's $3.99 cover price is almost worth it alone for the sexy fashion spread, shot in Zola, Oya, and IndeBleu, after which will never let you look at those locales in the same way again. Similarly, a portrait of two Virginia vintners shot by the magazine publisher's husband, Michael Spain-Smith, has quite the interesting chemistry to it. While some of the main content--particularly the main interview with Matthew McConaughey--is recycled from sister publication Philadelphia Style, there's enough local D.C. stuff in it to show that the staff has learned a thing or two about their new locale. A profile of the ballet's Septime Webre and the Food Network's Marc Silverstein's "Power Lunch" interview with the ever-present Chris and Katharine Matthews set at the Hill's Bistro Bis brings home the magazine. (The Silverstein lunch series will be a regular feature.) The fashion and trends sections of the magazine show that Washingtonian has little to worry about in terms of direct competition--this is more a localized Vogue or GQ than a regional lifestyle magazine. More Style after the jump. There's not much that says "suburbia" in this magazine--unless you're talking about Wysteria Lane. The magazine's more typical reader is a twenty-something female who wears capri pants, backless heels, and Tiffany jewelry with her designer handbag, who lives with four other friends in order to have the chi chi Penn Quarter/Adams Morgan/Dupont Circle/Georgetown address. Since those folks haven't had much in the way to read locally, the magazine fills an important niche. Style Magazine folks say that the new magazine's launch has been "overwhelmingly" well-received: Annual subscriptions (which at $20 are two dollars more than Washingtonian, but on the other hand, if you can afford the $775 Etro handbag for your mother on page 75 you probably don't care) are pouring in at the rate of about 200 a week. The Park Hyatt Hotel, which has been putting Style in its guest rooms, blew through its two-month allotment in under two weeks, and one woman One woman even contacted the magazine about one of their Metro ads that she said featured "the PERFECT dress" for her wedding weekend. Perhaps most intriguing in terms of buzz? The magazine will be featured in the new Michael Douglas/Eva Longoria movie, "The Sentinel," which will film in D.C. this summer.

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Arriving In Style

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