When Details put aside its laddie-mag image and re-emerged as a fashion magazine for younger men, it offered stories that openly appealed to gay and straight readers. What followed was perhaps fitting for a magazine preoccupied with the image of the modern man: Details’ masculinity was challenged.
With cover headlines such as “Move Over, Dorothy–The New Gay Mascots Are Here,” and teasers about how it’s OK not to like sports and suggestions about what to do with body hair, editor in chief Dan Peres was repeatedly asked about Details: Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but is it gay?
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Peres argues stories don’t have sexual orientations, and a sophisticated man will read an article because it’s interesting–period.
Still, some editors branded it a closeted magazine that wouldn’t admit its true orientation. Last year, Radar editor Maer Roshan cited the Details headline “Have You Had Sex with Colin Farrell Yet?” as proof it wasn’t for straight men. In a column in his out-of-print pop culture magazine, Roshan dubbed Details “fey” and “gay.”
Circulation was higher for Details during its laddie days, reaching into the 500,000s. But the editorial and commercial success was seen when Details–current circulation 413,000–discovered a new niche.
Industry observers say Details thrived by being the first to exploit the metrosexual craze.
“Dan was able to create a unique product in the sea of all the men’s magazines out there,” says Samir Husni, a University of Mississippi journalism professor who analyzes the magazine market. Details executive editor Andrew Essex says the magazine’s pitch is a pure reflection of Peres.
Still, Peres is tussling with the image he helped create. Though Peres appeared in a Washington Post online chat last summer talking up all things metrosexual, he told the New York Post by Christmas that he’d banned this “heinous” word from Details.
Like it or not, Peres’ groomed-ungroomed look, which includes designer suits worn with Converse All Stars, is the picture of the metrosexual–the straight urban guy who cares about fashion, culture and not eating carbs after sundown.
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Edited by Cara DiPasquale ([email protected]) and Victoria Rodriguez ([email protected])