Lucire brings Hollywood to New Zealand

3 June 2005

Lucire brings Hollywood to New Zealand

Brittny Gastineau, Melanie Lynskey, Jennifer Siebel, Margaret Hema, Patrick Steel, Eva Longoria—even Audrey Hepburn and Dodi Al Fayed—pack out Lucire’s June 2005 number

Wellington and Auckland, June 4 (JY&A Media) Lucire, the only New Zealand fashion magazine to be publishing in two countries, has called upon its contacts in Hollywood's celebrity circles for its June 2005 issue. The issue is expected to bring stronger recognition to the New Zealand title globally.

'When you're the only fashion magazine exporting on this scale, you have to have standards that exceed those of titles such as Vogue and Elle,' said publisher Jack Yan.

'For all those who think that New Zealanders cannot get international celebrities without buying stories from overseas, we ask them to think again.'

Cover girl Brittny Gastineau from E! Entertainment Television and Sky TV's The Gastineau Girls, Melanie Lynskey from TV2's Two and a Half Men and actress Jennifer Siebel, newly returned from Cannes, are three of the celebrities covered in depth in the latest issue of Lucire. The Cannes Film Festival (along with Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Longoria, Laetitia Casta and Maria Bello) also makes an appearance in the magazine's 'The Scene' pages, thanks to its official make-up supplier, L'Oréal Paris.

Mr Yan interviews Margaret Hema, facialist to the stars, including Liv Tyler and Saffron Aldridge. 'Since the November 2004 issue we've heard that people such as Richard Clayderman and Randy Jackson have been flicking through Lucire,' said Nicola Brockie, editor-in-chief of Lucire. 'However, we've resisted calling on some of our celebrity friends till now.

'We didn't want to alienate New Zealand consumers with a magazine that seemed too distant. We needed readers to trust us first. 'When we were to do celebrity stories, they would know that we would do them with the same grace and dignity as the rest of the magazine. That way, there's no speculation, no idle gossip. What we print is fact.’ Miss Brockie relays some incidents that happened during her time working with Dodi Al Fayed, toward the end of his life, in her editorial.

She says that Lucire's third celebrity cover this year does set a precedent, and promises more for the remainder of 2005. The July cover girl has already been chosen, she says.

'It proves that when we got Vanessa Carlton for our own shoot in February, it wasn't a fluke. It was due to the persistence of our fashion director Brad Batory and our director of beauty Jessica Tarazi.' Inside the June issue, Patrick Steel has styled another grand shoot, this time at Auckland's historical Railway Station. June sees the return of Amanda Dorcil behind the lens, as well as Jon Moe, who shot Miss Gastineau with the make-up and styling skills of Ms Tarazi and Mr Batory.

Janet Liu's shoot, styled by Penny Barnett, has taken place in Martinborough, New Zealand, recalling the Katharine Hepburn independence of the 1940s. Meanwhile, Fred Ramirez's shoot with creative director and make-up artist Candace Corey visits the life of a modern star. Stories on Insidious Fix, New York's up-and-coming shoe designers by Désirée Gallas, and travelling in Cinque Terre by David Machowski also feature. Features' editor Phillip D. Johnson has been working the New York scene with a report from the Fragrance Foundation's FiFi Awards.

Melissa Hellstern, author of How to Be Lovely: the Audrey Hepburn Way of Life, which examines Audrey Hepburn's sense of self and style, also contributes.

In the tradition of the magazine's grand prizes that have ranged from a Tahitian holiday to a new 2005½ Suzuki Swift, BoConcept is giving away a $3,500 king-size bed. Given how packed the issue is, Lucire's men's supplement has been postponed.

Images Images for this release may be downloaded at .

About Lucire Lucire, the global fashion magazine (), is one of the world’s leading fashion titles online. Founded in 1997, it covers fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle, with a global perspective for today’s woman. It is known for providing in-depth, quality journalism. The magazine is targeted at the woman who is tired of the offerings from established fashion players, and chooses to be herself.

In 2003, Lucire received a Webby Award nomination—the only New Zealand site to do so that year—and became the first fashion industry partner of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP, ). It was Official Internet Partner of L’Oréal New Zealand Fashion Week for 2002–3, and a media sponsor of the inaugural San Francisco Fashion Week and Official Media Partner of Stockholm FashionDays for 2004–5. It is official media partner of Fashion Week of the Americas in 2005.

A print edition launched in the New Zealand market in October 2004—the first time a fashion magazine went from online to print—and launched in Romania in May 2005. According to Alexa, Lucire was one of the top-ranked pure-play fashion titles in the world before embarking into print. It remains one of the top fashion sites globally, ranking second in Google for fashion magazine.

ENDS

© Scoop Media