Paul Sych, founder of Fashion Unlimited, a new title launching mid-November from publisher Flash Reproductions, says Toronto lacks the design-focused fashion mag it deserves.

Sych names titles like Corduroy, launched in New York, Denmark's Fat and Paris-based Purple as the kind of magazines he had in mind when creating Fashion Unlimited (F.U.)-lush books that consumers don't mind paying higher prices for.


"I think that if you want [to launch a print product] in a web-magazine saturated market, the only way is to do something way more premium, way bigger, and not just something that you recycle and throw out," Sych says. The first 166-page issue uses four different high-quality paper stocks, measures 9.75" x 13.25" and costs $13.99.

Sych is a long-time designer, operating his Faith studio for over 20 years, and also an associate professor at York University. He's confident the mag will find its place as a Toronto-flavoured high-end title on international newsstands when F.U. expands beyond Canada following the first issue, into markets like Milan, Paris and London.

He says what sets the mag apart is a combined focus on fashion and art, and its commitment to supporting new talent. The first issue, for example, features rising designer Vini Lacerda, and each edition will likewise spotlight the work of emerging visual artists, designers, painters, collage artists, and photographers.

"This magazine is going to prove a point. It's going to say there's a lot of great people here, and we should celebrate it," Sych said.

According to the media kit, F.U. is targeting readers "obsessed with art, culture and fashion," style savvy "influentials" with an average household income of $140,000.


Serving as creative director, Sych worked on creating the magazine while on sabbatical from teaching duties. He tapped Frank De Jesus, an editor whose experience includes tenures at W Magazine and Nylon, to lead editorial as editor-in-chief. Rounding out the team are Chris Jai Centeno as assistant editor and Rita Fiorucci as fashion editor.

F.U. is the second publishing effort from Flash Reproductions, which is better known as an award-winning Toronto print shop. The company launched its first magazine, Wayward Arts, earlier this year. F.U. will share Wayward Arts' affinity for reinvention, switching logo mark, paper stock and design elements with every issue.

Sych, well-regarded for his specialty typography work (next year he will be the lone Canadian on the judging panel for the prestigious New York Type Directors Club competition), crafted two custom typefaces for the inaugural issue: one called OMG, a version of the OCR monospace font; and another he dubbed F.U. Tiffany Display, a play on the popular Tiffany font.

The magazine will be available at Chapters/Indigo in Canada and Barnes and Noble in the U.S., with a projected circulation of 12,500. A full page ad costs $5,500.