When I get into conversations about the future of magazines, I often mention the concept of "analogue snobbery". It's the theory that, in an increasingly digital world, all that is analogue will become desirable. Or cool, for want of a better word. Typical examples might be vinyl records and Polaroid cameras. And increasingly, magazines. The magazines that survive the digital revolution will look more like coffee table books (beaux livres) than wads of stapled paper.
And so we come to the re-launch of Holiday magazine, the American literary travel title that last saw the light of day in 1977. Its new incarnation - while still written in English - is a French affair, run by art director Franck Durand and journalist Marc Baugé. The writing of Hemingway and Kerouac and the photographs of Cartier-Bresson will be replaced with pictures by Josh Olins and words by Arthur Dreyfus (I can't wait to see how they match up). And to add to the air of elitism swirling around the venture, the first issue will be pre-launched exclusively at Colette. It will be interesting to see how a 21st century travel magazine manages to conjure a spirit of elegant adventure that most trips now sadly lack - mostly thanks to the dehumanized processing plants known as airports. But since Holiday is the perfect example of analogue snobbery, I'm expecting a very luxurious voyage.
