Men’s Health Editor-in-Chief Richard Dorment made his first appointment since taking over the title a month ago, making an aggressive push into fashion with the hiring of Ted Stafford to be the fashion director.
Stafford was the fashion market director at GQ from 2012 to 2018.
Meanwhile, at GQ, cutbacks continued on Wednesday, with Senior Fashion Editor and Grooming Director Garrett Munce, Service and Lifestyle Desk Editor Ross McCammon and Culture Editor Anna Peele all getting booted.
At MH, Stafford’s going to be overseeing fashion, style, accessories and grooming coverage while also working with Esquire and Popular Mechanics on fashion coverage for the Hearst Men’s Group.
Men’s magazines have been hit hard by the ad recession, but Dorment thinks fashion is one area that demands more coverage. “In the real world, studies show men are spending more on fashion and grooming than ever before,” he said. He believes readers “are working out really hard, they want to look their best, and it’s up to us to help them complete that look.”
In the past, Men’s Health was seen as a direct competitor of American Media Inc.’s Men’s Fitness, but that title folded its print subscribers into Men’s Journal, which it acquired from Wenner Media last year.
“In this digital era, we’re competing with everyone on all platforms,” said Dorment.
MH fell into the Hearst orbit with the $210 million acquisition of Rodale in early January.
Hearst brought back longtime MH editor David Zinczenko to oversee the title for several issues on an interim basis before it landed Dorment, an Esquire veteran who had most recently been working for Wired.
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