Esquire to Launch Dubai Edition

posted on: Aug 20, 2009

The men’s magazine Esquire is preparing to launch in Dubai, with an initial print run of 15,000.

Esquire’s English-language Middle East edition will be the 18th international version of the magazine, and is to be published by ITP, the privately owned group chaired by the BBC presenter and former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil, under licence from Hearst International. ITP hopes to have the first issue on sale in November.

ITP and Hearst will hope that Esquire fills a gap in the market that is not served by the US publishing company’s rival Condé Nast, which despite numerous international expansions including GQ in India and Tatler in Russia, does not publish Middle Eastern editions of any of its magazines.

ITP has advertised for an editor to launch an “all-new ground-breaking monthly magazine for men, licensed from a prestigious international brand”.

The ITP advert does not mention Esquire, but an industry source confirmed to MediaGuardian.co.uk that it relates to a Dubai version of the men’s title.

“Through quality and innovation, this magazine engages modern men with the most entertaining, influential and helpful content that has ever existed,” the advert states.

“The emphasis is on producing a publication of extremely high standards which appeals to the articulate, intelligent, savvy, and smart individual who is already a high achiever in both his personal and professional life.”

Esquire was founded in the US in 1933 and made a name for itself with its artwork and the quality of its visuals. Contributors included Ernest Hemingway and F Scott Fitzgerald.

Esquire was bought by Hearst in 1986. After a false start in the 1950s, the magazine came to Britain in 1991. While never outselling its rival GQ – which started as an Esquire supplement – it has outlasted Arena and Maxim, which both closed earlier this year.

ITP already publishes a Dubai edition of the Hearst women’s fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar and 75 other titles in the Middle East and India, including Time Out Dubai, Time Out Abu Dhabi, Arabian Business, Grazia, Men’s Fitness and Middle East Cricket.

In February ITP closed nine magazines, leading to the loss of 60 jobs.

Stephen Brook
guardian.co.uk