Nylon Sold to Bustle Digital Group
LatestNylon, the fashion and pop culture magazine that ceased its print publication in 2017, has been purchased by Bryan Goldberg’s Bustle Digital Group, which recently also bought Mic and the Outline.
Per Variety, Goldberg plans to relaunch Nylon’s print edition—not “as a monthly magazine,” but instead as “special issues” around big events like Coachella. “We view print as an extension product,” Goldberg said, a string of words that could literally mean anything. “It’s impossible to think about Nylon without thinking about the magazine covers. Print is part of who Nylon is.”
So this new physical iteration of Nylon may not look like the last version of the magazine—but that version wasn’t very similar, either, to the one I read growing up. As Variety puts it, “Founded in 1999, Nylon is shadow of what it was in its heyday as a strong indie on the New York publishing scene.” The magazine’s web traffic reportedly also fell by a third this year from January to May.
Goldberg’s BDG has picked up other imperiled media properties in the last two years: In July 2018, Goldberg bought Gawker, although its plan for relaunch has had its own problems. Additionally, in the last year, BDG has acquired Mic and The Outline, among other properties.