A NEW CHAPTER: There will be novelty a-plenty in the next edition of A Magazine Curated By, the annual publication guest-edited by fashion designers.
Issue 26, slated to come out in December, will be curated by Vietnamese American designer Peter Do, who is currently designing his own brand as well as Helmut Lang.
Contributors to the 200-page volume exploring the idea of home — from Do’s childhood in Biên Hòa, Vietnam, to his life in New York City — will include poet and writer Ocean Vuong, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Viet Thanh Nguyen and Oscar nominee and cult director Trần Anh Hùng.
It will also be the inaugural edition for editor in chief Blake Abbie, who was appointed to the role last summer after serving as the publication’s editor at large for a decade, taking over from Dan Thawley, who exited after a 14-year tenure.
In his new role, Abbie’s focus going forward is “being more present, a little bit more disruptive in a certain way, a little bit more surprising and exciting” as the magazine gears up for its 20th anniversary in 2024, the half-Chinese and half-Scottish New York-based Canadian editor told WWD.
“I don’t think of A Magazine Curated By as a fashion magazine [but as] a cultural magazine,” he said. “This is a place where we can really celebrate the industry and what drives [it] is creativity. We engage in the evolution of what fashion is.”
Among his main priorities are expanding the magazine’s social platforms and extending its partnerships to a more regular schedule. In particular, he intends for the publication’s sister projects, which include the “Curated For” subset dedicated to brand partnerships, to be “more agile and on the ground,” he said.
Broadening the publication’s geographical presence is also on the cards, with North America and Asia, in particular its strongly emerging Southeastern area, he said. Also in focus are China, where he spends a significant amount of time, and Japan, “an incredibly supportive market over the years.”
Abbie has worked for titles including Industrie, System and Document Journal, and was part of the ensemble cast of the reality show “Bling Empire: New York,” chronicling the lavish lives of the city’s wealthy Asian fashion set.
In addition to his duties at A Magazine Curated By, he is launching the Tong creative studio, whose first project is “168,” a youth-led zine project supported by the Chinatown Storytelling Center and re:Naissance Opera in Vancouver aiming at engaging young people back into the community.
