Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
The Face magazine announced on Friday it will cease operations, seven years after relaunching under Wasted Talent Ltd.
The cult British magazine’s spring 2026 issue, published earlier this month, will be its final edition.
Wasted Talent CEO Jerry Perkins shared in a statement that Wasted Talent believes The Face’s brand has potential to evolve into a direct-to-consumer model in the future — but that the company is currently unable to invest in such a shift while the magazine continues to incur financial losses under a revenue model based on advertising partnerships.
“We are using this pause to regroup and reimagine the brand for a new era,” Perkins said in a statement to The Business of Fashion.
ADVERTISEMENT
The magazine confirmed the shuttering in a post on social media: “Yep, the rumours are true: THE FACE is closing. ... [Its] mission was to honour the magazine’s iconic legacy while making people feel excited to be alive at this specific moment in time.”
Though longtime editor-in-chief Matthew Whitehouse, who had been with The Face since its relaunch in 2019, exited the publication in January to join Farfetch as head of editorial content and creative, The Face still appeared to be moving forward. That same month, the publication announced six new hires, including creative director Jonny Lu, and editors-at-large Ursina Gysi, Ashantea Austin, Aaron Esh, Biz Sherbert and Yadim Carranza. The magazine had also announced plans to launch The Face China later this year, which would have been the publication’s first international title.
Perkins added that Wasted Talent, which also publishes print music magazine Kerrang! and digital music and club scene publication Mixmag, is currently in talks with all employees impacted by the suspension.
“I would like to take this opportunity to say how sorry we are that we will have to say goodbye to a number of very talented people. Especially the new young team who were really starting to forge an exciting new identity and voice for this incredible brand,” he said in the statement.
The Face first launched in 1980 and originally folded in 2004. 13 years later, it was acquired by Wasted Talent Ltd., which began republishing the British cult magazine in 2019, both digitally and as a quarterly print publication.
Learn more:
The Face Names Jonny Lu Creative Director, Editor-in-Chief Matthew Whitehouse to Exit
The cult British style and culture magazine has also hired five editors at large and announced plans for its first international imprint, The Face China.
