GQ

History

The magazine Apparel Arts was launched in 1931 in the United States as a men's fashion magazine for the clothing trade, aimed primarily at wholesale buyers and retail sellers. Initially, it had a very limited print run and was aimed solely at industry insiders to enable them to advise their customers. The popularity of the magazine among retail customers, who often took the magazine from the retailers, spurred the creation of Esquire magazine in 1933.

Apparel Arts continued until 1957, when it was transformed into a quarterly magazine for men, which was published for many years by Esquire Inc. Apparel was dropped from the logo in 1958 with the spring issue after nine issues, and the name Gentlemen's Quarterly was established.

Gentlemen's Quarterly was re-branded as GQ in 1967.

Nonnie Moore was hired by GQ as fashion editor in 1984, having served in the same position at Mademoiselle and Harper's Bazaar. Jim Moore, the magazine's fashion director at the time of her death in 2009, described the choice as unusual, observing that "She was not from men's wear, so people said she was an odd choice, but she was actually the perfect choice". Jim Moore also noted that she changed the publication's more casual look: "She helped dress up the pages, as well as dress up the men, while making the mix more exciting and varied and approachable for men."

GQ has been closely associated with metrosexuality. The writer Mark Simpson coined the term in an article for British newspaper The Independent about his visit to a GQ exhibition in London: "The promotion of metrosexuality was left to the men's style press, magazines such as The Face, GQ, Esquire, Arena and FHM, the new media which took off in the Eighties and is still growing ... They filled their magazines with images of narcissistic young men sporting fashionable clothes and accessories. And they induced other young men to study them with a mixture of envy and desire." The magazine has expanded its coverage beyond lifestyle issues. GQ has been called the "holy text of woke capital" by The Spectator.

In 2016, GQ launched the spinoff quarterly GQ Style, headed by then-style editor Will Welch, who was later promoted to creative director of the magazine.

In 2018, writing for GQ, Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing for her article about Dylann Roof, who had shot nine African-Americans in a church in Charleston. In September 2018, Will Welch was named the new editor-in-chief of GQ, succeeding Jim Nelson.

In 2020, GQ launched its webstore and first merch drop. The GQ Shop lineup was designed by the editors and art directors behind the GQ website.

Men of the Year

GQ (U.S.) first named their Men of the Year in 1996 and featured the award recipients in a special issue of the magazine. British GQ launched its annual Men of the Year awards in 2009 and GQ India launched its version the following year. Spanish and Brazilian GQ launched their Men of the Year awards in 2011 and GQ Australia launched its version in 2007.

Controversies

Russian apartment bombings

GQs September 2009 U.S. magazine published, in its "backstory" section, an article by Scott Anderson, "None Dare Call It Conspiracy". Before GQ published the article, an internal email from a Condé Nast lawyer referred to it as "Vladimir Putin's Dark Rise to Power". The article reported Anderson's investigation of the 1999 Russian apartment bombings, and included interviews with Mikhail Trepashkin who investigated the bombings while he was a colonel in Russia's Federal Security Service.

The story, including Trepashkin's own findings, contradicted the Russian Government's official explanation of the bombings and criticized Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia.

Condé Nast's management tried to keep the story out of Russia. It ordered executives and editors not to distribute that issue in Russia or show it to "Russian government officials, journalists or advertisers". Management decided not to publish the story on GQs website or in Condé Nast's foreign magazines, not to publicize the story, and asked Anderson not to syndicate the story "to any publications that appear in Russia".

The day after the magazine's publication in the United States, bloggers published the original English text and a translation into Russian on the internet.

''Glee'' controversy

In 2010, GQ magazine had three adult members of the television show Glee (Dianna Agron, Lea Michele and Cory Monteith) partake in a photoshoot. The sexualization of the actresses in the photos caused controversy among parents of teens who watch the show Glee. The Parents Television Council was the first to react to the photo spread when it was leaked prior to GQs planned publishing date. Their president Tim Winter, stated, "By authorizing this kind of near-pornographic display, the creators of the program have established their intentions on the show's directions. And it isn't good for families". The photoshoot was published as planned and Dianna Agron went on to state that the photos did push the envelope, that they did not represent who she is, any more than other magazine photo shoots, but that she was a 24-year-old adult in the photo shoot, and wondered why the concerned parents allowed their eight year old daughters to read any racy issue of the adult magazine GQ.

Criticism of the Bible and Western literary canon

On April 19, 2018, the editors of GQ published an article titled "21 Books You Don't Have to Read" in which the editors compiled a list of works they think are overrated and should be passed over, including the Bible as well as The Catcher in the Rye, The Alchemist, Blood Meridian, A Farewell to Arms, The Old Man and the Sea, The Lord of the Rings, and Catch-22. The article generated a backlash among Internet commentators.

Karol G's photo retouching

On April 6, 2023, the Colombian singer Karol G said on social media that the photo used on the cover of an issue of GQ Mexico was "disrespectful" and a misleading depiction of the way her body and face naturally looks. She wrote: "I don't know how to start this message. Today my GQ magazine cover was made public, a cover with an image that does not represent me. My face doesn't look like that, my body doesn't look like that and I feel very happy and comfortable with how I look naturally." "It's disrespectful to me. It's to the women that every day we wake up looking to feel comfortable with ourselves despite society's stereotypes."

Circulation

The magazine reported an average worldwide paid circulation of 934,000 in the first half of 2019,

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK), British GQ had an average circulation of 103,087 during the first half of 2019, down 6.3% from 110,063 during the second half of 2018, and down 10.3% from 114,867 during the second half of 2013.

Editors and publishers

U.S. publishers

• Bernard J. Miller (1957–1975)
• Sal Schiliro (1975–1980)
• Steve Florio (1975–1985)
• Jack Kliger (1985–1988)
• Michael Clinton (1988–1994)
• Michael Perlis (1994–1995)
• Richard Beckman (1995–1999)
• Tom Florio (1999–2000)
• Ronald A. Galotti (2000–2003)
• Peter King Hunsinger (2003–2011)
• Chris Mitchell (2011–2014)
• Howard Mittman (2014–2017)

U.S. editors

• Everett Mattlin (1957–1969)
• Jack Haber (1969–1983)
• Art Cooper (1983–2003)
• Jim Nelson (2003–2019)
• Will Welch (2019–present)

U.K. editors

• Paul Keers (1988–1990)
• Alexandra Shulman (1990–1992)
• Michael VerMeulen (1992–1995)
• James Brown (1997–1999)
• Tom Haines (1999)
• Dylan Jones (1999–2021)
• Adam Baidawi (2021–present)

References

References

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10. Safire, William. (December 7, 2003). "On Language; Metrosexual". The New York Times.
11. "The Creep with the Golden Tongue".
12. Sixsmith, Ben. (October 19, 2019). "GQ is a holy text of woke capital". [[The Spectator]].
13. (May 17, 2016). "Inside the GQ Style Launch Party Photo Booth". GQ.
14. [http://orf.at/#/stories/2434433/ Pulitzer-Preis für Weinstein-Enthüllungen] {{Webarchive. link. (April 20, 2013 orf.at, April 16, 2018, retrieved April 17, 2018. (German))
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16. Nast, C. (2020, August 25). GQ's first Merch drop is here. GQ. https://www.gq.com/story/gq-merch-shop-is-here-announcement {{Webarchive. link. (April 18, 2023)
17. (November 19, 2015). "Watch Tracy Morgan and Donald Trump Welcome You to GQ's Men of the Year Issue". GQ.
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19. (November 5, 2015). "How Deepika, Shahid and Akshay will save the world". GQ India.
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21. (November 16, 2011). "GQ traz Men of the Year ao Brasil". Meio e Mensagem.
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23. Anderson, Scott. (September 2009). "None Dare Call It Conspiracy". GQ.
24. Folkenflik, David. (September 4, 2009). "Why 'GQ' Doesn't Want Russians To Read Its Story".
25. Snyder, Gabriel. "Эй, вы можете прочитать запрещенную статью GQ про Путина здесь". [[Gawker]].
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27. "Racy 'Glee' GQ Shoot Creates Controversy". [[Deadline Hollywood]].
28. "Racy GQ photo spread gives you all the 'Glee' you could expect to see, and so much more". [[The Washington Post]].
29. (April 19, 2018). "21 Books You Don't Have to Read". GQ.
30. Bryant, Taylor. (April 20, 2018). "White Men Are Mad That This 'GQ' List Dismisses Books By White Men". [[Nylon (magazine).
31. Schwartz, Dana. (April 20, 2018). "''GQ'' suggests people not read ''Catch-22'', ''Catcher in the Rye'', more — and it's totally fine".
32. (2023-04-07). "Karol G critica los retoques que han hecho a su imagen en la portada de la revista 'GQ': "No me representa, mi cara no se ve así"".
33. Garcia, Thania. (2023-04-06). "Karol G Calls Out GQ Mexico for 'Disrespectful' Magazine Cover: 'My Face Does Not Look Like This'".
34. Bloomgarden-Smoke, Kara. (January 23, 2017). "What to watch: The future of men's magazines is in flux". [[Los Angeles Times]].
35. (August 15, 2019). "GQ: January to June 2019 – Circulation (average per issue)". [[Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK)]].
36. (February 14, 2019). "GQ: July to December 2018 – Circulation (average per issue)". [[Audit Bureau of Circulations (UK)]].
37. Plunkett, John. (February 13, 2014). "FHM circulation drops below 100,000". [[The Guardian]].