Things may be tough for many magazines these days in America, but more and more are now looking overseas for readers. India has been popular lately, so has Japan – now the new target, of all places, is Russia. The latest magazine to announce a Russian edition is Departures, the magazine published by American Express. What makes this newsworthy is that Departures is a luxury lifestyle magazine sent out, in America at least, to holders of the ultra-expensive Platinum Card (annual membership in the US $300). Its features are mainly about high-style living and travel. The Russian edition of Departures will be published seven times a year in conjunction with the French publishing company Hachette Filipacchi. Its editor will be Alexey Aleksenko, former editor in chief of the Russian edition of Gentlemen's Quarterly – which was one of the first glossy American men's magazines to test the Russian market.
Advertisers in the first issue, all presumably keen to tap Russia's growing affluent class, include Bentley, Bulgari, Chanel, Glenfiddich, Rover, Toyota and Patek Philippe, the sort of companies that many magazines in the US are struggling to keep.
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