This is a historical page last revised in 2004. For the current version, please click here.

Lucire is one of the world's leading fashion magazines on the web. It covers fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle, with a global perspective for today's woman. The magazine is targeted at the woman who truly wants to be herself and is not afraid to be different.
   In 2003, Lucire became the United Nations Environment Programme’s first Fashion Industry Partner. Lucire is committed to bringing stories that combine fashion, style and issues of sustainability and environmental consciousness. It makes sense that the global fashion magazine does something for the globe.
   For the second consecutive year, Lucire is the Official Internet Partner of L’Oréal New Zealand Fashion Week.
   Lucire is one of the leading new-media consumer fashion titles, according to rankings at independent tracking service Alexa.

A brief history of Lucire
Jack Yan began planning a digital women's magazine as early as 1993 at Lucire's owner, Jack Yan & Associates. In 1994, JY&A even created experimental digital magazines that could be loaded on home computers, even in DOS. By 1995, the web emerged as a credible medium for fashion editorial, although it was to be another two years before Lucire started.
   Part of the reason for the delay was to get the magazine right on launch. There were still pitfalls, but on the whole much of Lucire's success has stemmed from JY&A and JY&A Media creating other sites first, including CAP Online.
    The name, Lucire, was conceived by Sylvie Poupard. It wasn't known as a negative word in any language and had positive connotations in most European tongues. It also had the same number of vowels as consonants, which Yan was keen on.
   Lucire was launched on October 20, 1997.
   Although not tagged the 'global fashion magazine' then, all the articles were international, with New Zealand, Thailand, California and Bali as their settings. For the first three years, the magazine was broadcast from Alexandria, Va., with all art direction taking place in Wellington, New Zealand. Editing was done in London (as it still is) and design in Wellington, New York and other centres.
   Rebecca Thorpe was brought on board in 1997 as photographer. Simone Knol was fashion editor from 1998 and editor-in-chief from 1999.
   Correspondents and editors including Phillip D. Johnson, Ann Fryer, Carolyn Enting, Susan Kelly, Stevie Wilson, M. K. Johnson, Catherine Rigod, Devin Colvin, Nicole Curin-Birch, Alice Goulter and Margie Ambrose continue to bring the magazine its strong, global mixture of articles.
   The magazine earned a reputation at various fashion weeks. In particular, its L’Oréal New Zealand Fashion Week coverage gained fame for going online immediately after each show. In 2002, Lucire had a 100 per cent coverage of LNZFW shows.
   From the start, Lucire has won awards for its design and editorial content. The first day online, the magazine received a SODA (Site of the Day Award) from New Zealand. Since then, it has received coverage not just from established media, but from email newsletters and discussion groups to new web sites. In 2003, it received its first nomination for a Webby Award. You'll have seen Lucire mentioned in online and print magazines and television programmes, including The Sydney Morning Herald, Harper's Bazaar Australia, Vogue Korea, Fashion Magazine, Radio Caracas TV2, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, The Detroit News, Desktop, TV One, Nightline, Access, Saturn Television, The New Zealand Herald, MAP Magazine, FashionDig.com, Office.com, Women Planet, XtraMSN, NZoom and NineMSN.

Some quotes
‘The luscious web-site and quality journalism is partly what distinguishes it from its competitors. But also it is Lucire's “sense of communal pride” and merit-based approach, which shines the spotlight on all talented designers regardless of where they originate or who they are. Rather than pandering to the big names, Lucire encourages each woman to be true to herself and her values.
   ‘In October [2002] Lucire's success was highlighted when it became the official Internet partner of L'Oreal New Zealand fashion week, seen worldwide. Such a high-profile position reflects how Lucire has slipped from being an underground 'zine into the mainstream.’—Scobie: ‘Jack Yan’, MAP Magazine, no. 38, December 2002–January 2003

‘L’éditeur est en Nouvelle-Zélande, le rédacteur, à Londres et les correspondants, dans toutes les grandes capitales de la mode. Ce webzine traite de tout ce qui se passe dans le village global de la mode: nouvelles à tous les jours, revue des collections et toutes les chroniques habituelles d’un grand magazine de mode. Lucire est un must, un site supérieur à ajouter à vos signets.’—De Melo: ‘La mode et la toile’, La Presse, April 9, 2002

‘… online magazine for fashion junkies across the globe. … Like being in the front row with the A-listers.’—NW, November 20, 2000

'From La Perla in Milan, Italy, to Betsey Johnson in New York, digital fashion magazine Lucire keeps trendsetters up-to-date with runway accounts and intelligent articles. Not snooty about style, Lucire appeals to women who appreciate fashion but dare to be themselves. …
   'Bottom line: The real deal as far as fashion is concerned.'—Access, April 29, 2001

‘From reviews of the Fall 2003 collections to a global directory for shopping the world's most chic designers and boutiques, Lucire.com is one of the world's leading online fashion magazines for fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle with a global perspective.
   'Lucire's 1997 launch was set in New Zealand, Thailand, California and Bali, and soon the digital diva of fashion went truly international. With such diverse features as trends at the Melbourne Fashion Festival to the Jerry Garcia handbag line and its historical context, the site offers views of New York Fashion Week, a book store with the latest fashion books reviewed, a newsstand for subscriptions to the rag mags and a community where users can get a free e-mail account and e-mail updates.’—Charles Kessler: ‘Global fashion magazine’, The Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter, May 1, 2003

'An online weekly fashion magazine that tags itself as "global", Lucire is heavy on the graphics, but doesn't skimp on content. If you just can't get enough of hippie models with necks like swans in gear that clings in all the right places, take a whirl through this site's Fashion Features page—an all-out section that's flat-out informative. You can read about and view the current collections from top designers from all over the shop.'—Maryanne Phillips, The Sydney Morning Herald, January 20, 2001

'… Lucire's vision also stands for decency and professionalism, Yan says.
   '"We are a global fashion magazine, not just because we have bureaux around the world but because we treat every nation we cover equally," Yan says.
   'Lucire is one of the few publications that sticks to Hart's Rules and Oxford English. It guards against exploitation: "no 14-year-olds on coke, thank you", and provides the same quality of coverage for new designers as established names in the business. …'—Carolyn Enting, ‘Flair’ supplement, The Evening Post, July 3, 2001

‘Lucire bills itself as a global fashion magazine, combining topical celebrity and fashion feature stories with lifestyle columns and articles, along with online shopping channels and your very own Lucire email account! Their round-up of news from other fashion magazines will save you time, as well!’—Netweek, October 3, 2000

‘Lucire is a global fashion magazine, and one of the world's leading fashion titles on the web. It covers fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle, with a global perspective for today's woman. It is known for providing in-depth, quality journalism …’—Nicky Wagner, FashioNZ, April 27, 2003

‘Even better [than style.com and Fashion Net] is our own fashion mag, Lucire. This huge site covers fashion at a global level. …
   ‘Online since 1997, Lucire has earned an international reputation and won numerous awards.’—Helen Varley Jamieson, ‘New Zealand Infotech Weekly’ supplement, The Dominion, November 12, 2001

'London, New Zealand, Sweden—wherever you may be, Lucire gives a glimpse on hot fashion items all over the world. The site contains fashion features, style talk, international shopping guide, travel destinations, gift guides and designer profiles among others. A haven for style, a load of insightful articles, Lucire is a global fashion magazine indeed.
   'Content: 4 Design: 4 Links: 4 Overall: 4 [the highest ranking given to a foreign fashion magazine]'—The Web Philippines, May–June 1999

'On the big tip of the world fashion scene. The articles on this site touch on the fact that most major fashion magazines seem to miss: that there is a fashion world outside of Europe, New York, and LA. Check out major designers coming out of New Zealand … and still keep in touch with the moods made by major labels in the west.'—Red Filter, December 16, 1999

‘… www.lucire.com, a site that commands ratings above and beyond the URLs owned by big name sites Vogue (www.vogue.com) and Cosmo (www.cosmopolitan.com). …’—Philippa Sinclair-Thompson, ‘From Wellington to the world—virtually’, The Buzz, no. 2, April 24, 2003

‘The absolute best online fashion magazine.’—Luxury Fashion, March 2002

'It’s not the great look we love most about Lucire. Not the Features Section. Not even the broad fashion links. What we love most is the diversification. It’s not on every e-zine that you’ll find fashion, living, community, news and shopping links. It’s also not every site that profiles new designers and trends for upcoming seasons.'—Bruckner and MacGregor: 'Fashion dot com', Fashion (Toronto), October 2001

‘Lucire is a fashion website for fashion fans familiar with labels big and small. The coverage on the site is quite extensive. The roster of designers, with collections available for viewing, reads like a who's who of the industry. Informative, descriptive and well-written articles accompany the choice photos from each collection. Much of the site seems to be centered on user feedback, which is a great element and something that other sites as well as designers should take note of. Lucire is a very utilitarian site; visitors will not be bombarded by a lot of celeb fluff while traipsing through the fashion pages. This site is for fashion fans though and through.’—Zap2It.com, 2001

'From reviews of the fall 2003 collections to a global directory for shopping the world's most chic designers and boutiques, Lucire.com is one of the world's leading online fashion magazines for fashion, beauty, travel and lifestyle with a global perspective.'—The San Diego Union–Tribune, May 26, 2003