In just two or three years, the digital native generation will become Nylon Japan's main readership. With this in mind, it's inevitable that we'll need new media, not just magazines, but also digital and social media.
When Nylon Japan first began, we relied on licensing, but by the time we changed direction, we had connections and support, and our branding was almost complete. Togawa decided that it was time to develop it further. At that point, he knew how to approach digital would be key.
In 2011, we launched the online version, NYLON.JP, but initially, we didn't know what value to find in it. While other magazines were saying, "The era of paper is over," they lacked profitability and struggled to find a clear answer on how to utilize digital media.
Until now, print media could attract readers by producing good articles, leading to increased circulation and advertising. However, this same approach doesn't work in digital. Togawa noticed that Nylon Japan's policy change, which focused more on the magazine's image than on its image, such as using Japanese models and featuring realistic clothing, contained hidden hints for practical production methods.

In the digital world, communication is important, so Togawa began creating a digital community to foster interaction with fans/readers. However, this community was based on Nylon Japan's core readers, with some new members joining from sources unrelated to the magazine. From the magazine's launch, events were held at clubs and other venues to raise awareness of Nylon Japan and get the magazine on track. He learned this technique at the Dazed editorial team in London, and it now plays a role in community building. "Basically, we don't directly link the magazine and digital media. That's because their roles are different. We do use digital media to announce magazine projects, but these days, digital media has an overwhelmingly larger fan base. Social media is useful for building communities, and we use Facebook and Instagram a lot." The magazine has accounts on a variety of social media platforms, from Twitter to Pinterest and Google+. The January 2015 issue of Nylon Japan featured street snaps on Instagram. While traditional street snaps are taken by the editorial team, this project involved editing photos submitted by fans. The prediction proved successful, with approximately 2,000 posts from across the country, delighting fans who saw the photos. Furthermore, Instagram Inc., the parent company, also expressed gratitude, saying that this was the first time in the world that the Instagram logo had appeared on the cover of a fashion magazine. Traditionally, the magazine would create a project first, and then use the same materials for the digital version. By reversing this approach, sales of the magazine doubled.

"Licensed magazines have helped me, but ever since I started my business I've wanted to create an original media outlet someday," says Togawa, who plans to launch a completely new form of media outlet within 2015.

4/11 -- Following in the footsteps of the legendary luxury magazine L'Officiel.