Today is a red letter day in the menswear world. DNR, the bible of the menswear business, published its last stand-alone issue.
Moving forward, DNR and Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) will be merging their publications and WWD will begin covering menswear at least on a weekly basis. Fairchild, the parent company of both publications made the call as the global economy continues to beat industries either into submission and failure or realization and adaptation. Fairchild chose the latter option.
Editor-in-Chief john Birmingham notes in his final letter in the final issue that throughout its 116-year history, DNR led the way. From Zoot suits to Ralph Lauren, DNR covered, commented and analyzed the menswear industry like no other. No, it’s not going away per se, but it is changing. Now we can access everything we need online, and the diminished staff covering the menswear space can get stories to its readers faster and cheaper.
Faster and cheaper. That is the way of the world these days. So it goes. A Continuous Lean has a nice tribute to DNR and you can read the full text Mr. Birmingham’s letter there as well.