New(ish) Indie Mags

North of BuzzFeed and east of W, there’s a whole world of indie magazines where the interviews drop f-bombs and the fashion is new. They’re not free, and some are petty hefty (great for arm toning!) but you can Instagram them next to a latte and a vase of fresh flowers for some intellectual-I-support-the-print-industry-and-I-know-about-avant-garde-things cred. On the real — which is not to say fashion street cred counts for nothing — there’s something to be said for work that doesn’t come out of a giant corporation: it’s somehow freer, riskier, weirder. And as fun as Pinterest is, you gotta spend an afternoon with a pair of scissors making a real, 3D mood board on a rainy Sunday (Monday?) at least once.

Can I get an amen?

If you own more than one shirt with a Peter Pan collar, read Union.

Union Magazine has a dreamy, girly aesthetic reminiscent of early Lula editions. Produced in Japan, Union is chock full of beautiful fashion editorials. It also spotlights some on-the-rise photographers. Even better? It’s hardback, so you can display it along with your perfectly curated selection of coffee table books. Even if your collection is one book. They also have a great “Journal” section on their website. Click and drag to your inspiration folders.

If you’re all about #freethenipple, you’ll probably like Adult.

So you’re down with shirts that show your nipples and you don’t blush easily? Enter Adult: a “magazine of new contemporary erotic experience.” What does that actually mean? The contributors section of the magazine is written in the style of old school want ads (“woman seeking male for frisky fun and literary eroticism…”), and the NSFW (yet totally artful) photos, paintings, collages, non fiction plus just-enough-copy will you intrigued.

If you know the names of all the leading actors in low budget dramas, try So It Goes.

So It Goes comes to us from England and is rife with smart contributors. Like The Gentlewoman (the original English bible of cool), the magazine tackles film, art, travel and music in addition to fashion. In their fourth issue, out now, find a stripped-down Poppy Delevingne, plus interviews — which are the best part — with up-and-coming actors Dane DeHaan and Brit Marling.

If you frequent MoMA PS1 (or at least their Instagram) pick up Out of Order

Out of Order was started by Dorian Grinspan while he was still at Yale (kids these days), but it’s in no way your typical student magazine run out of the underground computer lab. In fact, it’s downright beautiful. OOO is so hefty you can lift it up and down in place of Soul Cycle weights, and the most recent issue boasts not only a Matthew Barney cover but also contributions from Larry Clark, David LaChapelle, and Prabal Gurung.

If all of your Pinterest pins are Scandinavian interiors, read Cereal

Minimalism? Check. Airy Font? Check. Lifestyle coverage? Once more: check. Each issue of Cereal is focused on stories from different cities. You will want to sell everything you own after 20 minutes with its clean, no frills aesthetic. Hopefully your earnings from said garage sale will cover the cost of travel, because Cereal’s bound to give you a serious case of wanderlust.

If people in high school didn’t get your fashion/music/lifestyle choices, look at The Wild

The Wild is equal parts activist and artist. It’s for that kid from the small town who thrifted Comme des Garçons among a sea of polo shirts. Their “about” section reads like a minimalist poem while portraying the ethos of the magazine. Two highlights from their self-declaration include:

“The WILD supports vanguard creatives pushing boundaries throughout the realms of fashion, art, and music and brings them together to create videos, editorials, and narratives that are anything but status quo.”

“The WILD believes in a world where LGBT and women’s rights are no longer a matter up for debate but a gold standard for equality and tolerance.” Yeah, that’s worthy of a page-turning amen.

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That should cover it. So, which are you reading?