System Magazine Launches New Bi-Annual Beauty Publication

System, the bi-annual fashion title launched in 2013, is setting its sights on the beauty industry with the launch of a new sister publication, System Beauty.

The launch is part of a larger strategy to evolve System from a singular print product into a broader media brand, which is being spearheaded by Mike Obenson, who took over as CEO and publishing director of the print magazine in 2020. Further strategy developments are set to be announced next year, he told BoF in an email.

“All the main fashion brands have beauty divisions, that most of the time generates most of their revenues, so in my idea to grow the System media brand while keeping our DNA,” he said.

System Magazine first launched in 2013, its debut issue quickly becoming the talk of the industry thanks to Jonathan Wingfield’s exclusive with Nicolas Ghesiquère on his shock departure from Balenciaga in 2012. Since then, System published issues twice yearly out of London, servicing industry creatives by fusing in-depth, substantive features with beautiful creative visuals.

Now, Obenson hopes to replicate the formula within the beauty space, leveraging “more targeted, quality and selective content” in a crowded, social media-driven landscape.

“Beauty has taken up a huge space in fashion these last few years, and we wanted to talk to the best creatives of this industry too, to give them a space and a voice to express themselves,” he said.

Designer Michèle Lamy stars on the cover of the inaugural issue, photographed by Juergen Teller. In an accompanying spread, she’s pictured alongside Kim Kardashian, Instagram duo Fecal Matter and artist Anselm Kiefer. Those featured elsewhere in the issue include Hermès’s Pierre Hardy, Chanel creative partner and makeup artist Valentina Li; Makeup artist Isamaya Ffrench; hair stylist Cyndia Harvey; and Dior Makeup’s creative and image director Peter Philips.

System Beauty will be published biannually, with issue one set to hit newsstands on Dec. 9.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Dec. 7, 2022, to include comment from Mike Obenson.