It’s hard to miss. There’s something distinctly different about Lula. The pleasant mystification begins with the title. Off center, relatively small compared to industry standards. In bright pink – no, fuchsia – the kind of shade you’d expect to find smothered across the face of a young girl as she bravely experiments with the world of lady lipwear. No mind numbing Times New Roman here. It is this same sense of girlish charm you feel as you flip through the kaleidoscope-coloured pages soaked with satire and dream-like liaisons. It is a sense that in the drove of nondescript fashion magazines, Lula has a distinct voice. Oh, and did I mention there’s a dog credited in the masthead? Tilda Plum, to be exact. 
The Pin Up; The Cover; Daisies in the Dust
Lula Magazine was started by ex-Voguettes Leith Clark and Becky Smith. Published bi-annually, it amalgamates fashion, art, film, and culture in a refreshingly unarmored manner. In a short time, its fourth issue is just hitting newsstands, the magazine has brilliantly positioned itself as the read that categorically celebrates individuality in an industry marked by – and dependant upon – sheep-like behaviour. This latest issue, featuring a less than first face model (Claudia Merikula) in a dress indiscernible from the most recent collections of the Magnificent Seven (that’s because it’s Kenzo), boasts everything from photos of very little girls in very grown-up Rodarte to magnetic illustrations of the latest runway frocks.
Remarkable is Lula’s ability to spin even the most mainstream fare into charming foible. A story on Versace? Interview the next generation, Vanessa, and capture her in-flight and surprisingly un-lacquered, unpolished. How un-Versace. The Prada dress of the season? Superseded is the current cliche of sci-fi tendency. Instead, a model irreverently projectiles bottled water as she stands in a Saharan-like desert. Fashion’s ignorance of world poverty? Not from a naive little girl like Lula, right?
If the imagery is downright breathtaking, the read is slightly underwhelming simply because of volume. That’s a compliment. Like its photos, the writing that is there is idiosyncratic, self-deprecating, and earnest. The stories are ones of inspiration and intrigue, not the 24 hour memoir of a wealthy New Yorker as she embarks on the 12-step process to achieve that ideal shade of honey – no, golden sunflower – blonde. I argue there exists opportunity to introduce more observation with its signature Q&A format. After all, the perceptions of the talented contributors are often just as relevant as your own.
With its girlish mannerisms in step, it’s no surprise Lula is as endearingly enchanting a read as any children’s fairytale; simultaneously ethereal, witty, and oh so poignant. Oh, and did I mention there’s a dog credited in the masthead?
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i adore lula.
does this issue #4 have a theme? It seems they sometimes pick a theme to all the fashion stories. Just wondering- we still haven’t seen the latest issue in L.A. yet? can’t wait
how do you subscribe to lula? and how many pages are in one issue? pleeease answer, because i love, LOVE finding under-the-radar magazines!
I want to to find the history of Lula on the inernet. Do you know where it would be? Wikipedia has no listing on their site. Other 2 times a year magazines from England are there but not Lula.
LULA is the greatest, best magazine ever.
[...] schoolgirl’s bible, Lula has established a cult following in a very short period of time and Fashion Verbratim sums up its appeal best: It’s hard to miss. There’s something distinctly different about [...]