Mag Watch: A Cloth Covered Button

Gloss over the titans of fashion magazine publishing! Melbourne's own A Cloth Covered Button is here to offer a fresh take as the thinking person's independent fashion zine.

(More page sneak peeks on contributing illustrator, Catherine Campbell's blog)

NAME: A Cloth Covered Button

STRAP: Fashion editorial without the advertorial agenda

GENRE: Fashion

CYCLE: Bi-annual

MADE IN: Melbourne

PAGE COUNT: 88

PROS: Beautiful illustrations, fashion articles with a socio-political ring.

CONS: This is purely from a business perspective. A magazine can't survive on love alone! Soon it'll need ad revenues to fan the flames.

I was at Mag Nation one afternoon with a handful of glossy pop culture mags when I saw this little gem propped up on the counter.

First off, kudos for the placement.

Secondly, the clean magazine cover free of grabby cover-lines grabs my attention. Maybe it's because I'm so used to seeing busy magazine covers that it's actually startling to see nothing but the title and a lady bending over. To pick up her laundry basket, you pervs!

The illustrations inside recall the cute-folky, whimsical kinds in frankie. In the second edition, there's a brilliant feature on what fashion would be like in the future. The writer predicts we'll end up reworking the classic styles of the 1940s etc.

A Cloth Covered Button is the antithesis of your glossy, fashion mags. The models aren't airbrushed. The publication is printed on recycled paper with environmentally sustainable inks. It's also a zine at heart, serving as a platform for good writing and illustrations from folks with an eye for Melbourne's fashion and culture.