Quick flick – Used

Used is a relatively new arrival on the London magazine catwalk. Launched in November 2011, it is the brainchild of London-based creative agency Useful, who were responsible for the art direction and editorial design of Topshop’s 214 Magazine. Each issue is positioned as a collector’s edition and after two issues Used already has international distribution to over 12 countries and a print run of 10,000 copies.

Issue 2 of Used comprises 130 A3 pages of rich fashion, photography and challenging ideas about the role that fashion and art play in our technologically tuned world. Themes around digital media and its questionable impact on society feature in an interview with digital artist Jen Hesse, ‘You’re Breaking Up’ (page 96), in which Hesse depicts the distortion of the digital image and questions the technological addiction of our age whilst acknowledging the bind that it is this very medium that has granted him public popularity.

Positioning itself as more than a straight fashion magazine, Used describes itself as, “a rich visual aesthetic and editorial voice,” arriving at the intersection of fashion and art with a “sophisticated visual language that challenges the way consumers read and explore content.”