You Magazine

Name a supplement that this year made cover stars of Joely Richardson in a balaclava with a cat on her shoulder, an empty deckchair and a statue of Venus staring at a discarded bra?

This variety and originality is what makes YOU Britain’s best-read national magazine, and keeps the weekly readership of more than 1.5 million loyal. The fashion pages have always been a reader favourite and this September fashion weeks were fully back for the first time post-pandemic. To celebrate, YOU produced a special fashion issue, featuring four different covers, including a high fashion shoot with Joely Richardson ‘as you’ve never seen her before’ and the writer and actress Amelia Gething, heralded as ‘the next Phoebe Waller Bridge’. A commercial success in a challenging economic market, the fashion issue brought in £177k of advertising revenue. YOU Magazine is also known for securing exclusive interviews and producing features that tug at the heart strings. Landing Richard E Grant’s first in-depth interview since the death of his beloved wife of 38 years was both, and the resulting piece was a powerful portrayal of grief which chimed with the national mood. This emotional connection with readers has been a cornerstone of YOU magazine throughout its 40-year history (which we celebrated in October). In a world of gloomy news, providing humour is now a key objective. YOU has introduced a column called Everyone’s Talking About which sets out to inform as well as satirise our changing cultural landscape. With fun in mind, YOU also increasingly uses covers to push creative boundaries. Sarah Vine’s essay on the death of the bra became cover-worthy with the concept of a bust of Venus looking forlornly at a bra. This cover – and our empty deckchair with the coverline ‘Insert self here’ for the Summer Issue – both featured on the Instagram feed of the coveted @coverjunkie (110K followers), high praise for any creative director worth their kerning. Food and drink is another important pillar, with a new editor expanding the food pull-out to 12 pages, adding a celebrity spread of My Life in Food, and introducing a budget-friendly food page called The Canny Cook. In late September, YOU dedicated its entire issue to saving money with The Thrifty Issue, another commercial success that outshone even The Fashion Issue. (£185k).