Icon

Icon, the Mondadori Group’s male fashion and lifestyle magazine is on newsstands from tomorrow with a collectors’ issue dedicated to sport, with Claudio Marchisio, former champion of the Italian national team, for the first time in the extraordinary role of guest editor.

Together with the editorial team led by editor Andrea Tenerani and editor-at-large Federico Sarica, Marchisio has created a special issue of Icon to celebrate the symbolic values of the world of sport, that remain relevant even in these difficult days: commitment, sharing, belonging, and excitement.

This is illustrated by the exclusive stories of the talented protagonists featured on the cover, authentic contemporary icons, alongside Claudio Marchisio, the footballers Matthijs de Ligt and Pierluigi Gollini.

At the heart of the issue, sport, ranging across the pages of the magazine, from interviews with great champions, to fashion, beauty and lifestyle features, and all related to the passions of today’s man, lifestyles and trends through the global approach that characterises the brand’s successful formula.

“In these difficult times, I often find myself retracing the happy moments of my life,” Claudio Marchisio begins in the letter to the Icon community that opens the new issue. “All these memories are always accompanied by a common, perhaps even banal, gesture, but one which we certainly take too much for granted: a hug. Strangely, looking back on one of my goals, I never remember the moment when the ball crossed the goal line, but I always remember the embrace of my teammates. I hope that my wife won’t read this, but even of my marriage I don’t remember the moment when we said: “I do”, but I remember very well the beauty of our embrace immediately after.” Now a commentator on the matches of the Italian national team, the new Marchisio talks about his plans for the future in a conversation with Icon: “I have always lived with the motto of my favourite team, which is Juventus obviously, in my head: ‘Winning is all that matters.’” But often victory lies in the path you take to get there. Unexpected things that happen to you, how you train, how you change and mature as you pursue your goals. Whether you reach them or not. In life, for me, this is what winning means.”

Matthijs de Ligt, who appears exclusively on the cover of this month’s Icon, is set to become one of the greats of his sport: at 18 he was already captain of a legendary club like Ajax, at 21 he is consistently one of the best in the world in his role, a staple of the Juventus team after just a year in Turin. “I think the Ajax style can be summed up in two words: courage and discipline. There they expect you to learn to play the ball, without fear, that you learn to prove who you really are, as a player and as a man. And you always work for that. It’s something that stays with you, a mentality that is also helping me a lot at Juventus. Juve will only call you if you are good enough and really deserve it. We young players who have recently arrived, understand this. Obviously, we are here to grow and become like our teammates with more experience: we all want to be the next Chiellini, Bonucci or Buffon. In the end, what we do is work hard every day and push each other to improve. This is the beauty of having a young but aware group of players. We are trying to get to know each other better, even off the pitch: we want to grow together and together raise the level, both individually and as a team.”

At 25, Pierluigi Gollini, who features on the third cover of November’s Icon, has become one of the best goalkeepers in Italy: he has already won his place in the national team and with Atalanta, which is looking to qualify, for the second year in a row, for the Champions League. “We feel the responsibility of being the pride of Bergamo: there is so much warmth here, I really like the city and the spirit of the people. When we are around, we notice the great enthusiasm that surrounds us:” Gollini not afraid to be open about his passions, from rap to fashion and video games, which he often talks about on his social profiles. “I’m not afraid of being judged, indeed, it would be nice if I could be a spur for cultural change.” This awareness comes from the years he spent at Manchester United’s Youth Academy, where he went at the age of 16. “In England I found much more openness than in Italy. There the players make music, or are designers, it’s another world. My goal now is to start a record label,” continues Gollini, the first Italian footballer to have recorded a rap song, and for whom music is more than a passion, “to push some guy from out of nowhere. For now, I am working on some things, there is a project for a new song with my rapper friend,” he reveals in the interview in the issue of Icon on newsstands.

Icon, the Mondadori Group’s male lifestyle magazine, dedicates its latest issue to the New Generation of Italian cinema.

The running theme of the entire issue, on newsstands from 20 October, fashion, lifestyle, stories and male passions as seen through the new faces of contemporary pop culture.

“Icon New Generation perfectly represents what the magazine increasingly aims to be: a thermometer of talent and trends, a conveyor of new languages, an amplifier for a generation that is fundamental also for  fashion and the companies that work in the sector, of which they are, in all senses, the new interpreters,” declared Andrea Tenerani, editor of Icon.

This month’s cover stories feature portraits of four talents that symbolise the new generation of the entertainment industry. Andrea Arcangeli, 27, one of the country’s most promising young actors, star of the series Romulus, which is about the origins and foundation of Rome, and soon to appear in the role of Roberto Baggio, talks to Icon about working on set, the physical preparation and  “ the hours and hours of studying a script in proto-Latin.” The actor and director of I predatori Pietro Castellitto, 28, reflects on his first forays into cinema: “It’s very good to start when you are young, because you learn about cinema through your mistakes and it is only when you are young that you have the courage and freedom to make mistakes.” Riccardo Mandolini, 20, “the bully” in the series about adolescents Baby, talks about the desire to improve oneself and new male role-models: “Becoming an adult isn’t easy for anyone. It’s great to be able to do it while feeling free to express your desires and weaknesses. But what is most important is to know what you feel and come to terms with your feelings without having to repress them.” And finally, Patrick Schwarzenegger, class of ’93, an actor, but not only: “I love acting, but I want to be an entrepreneur, and have the possibility of choosing.”

In the fashion special, photographer Giampaolo Sgura, along with the magazine’s team, led by the editor Andrea Tenerani and editor-at-large Federico Sarica, has created a brand-new story built on images. A game of interpretations in no particular order, without hierarchies of fame or sector, in which nine young protagonists from the cinema interpret themselves playing with a selection of items from the 2020 autumn-winter collections.

The new issue also sees the return of the supplement Icon Wheels, with exclusive news from the word of cars and motorcycles, previews, interviews with protagonists and the most iconic and desired models of car and motorcycle enthusiasts.

Icon, the Mondadori Group male lifestyle brand, has dedicated the latest issue of the magazine to restarting, from the world of cinema to fashion, two of the sectors that symbolise the rebirth of the country’s system.

A special issue, with over 264 pages of di stories, exclusive interviews and features that the editor Andrea Tenerani has entitled Starring: “Being protagonists, which doesn’t necessarily mean being celebrated, but rather going where things are happening, becoming – at least partly – masters of one’s own destiny, transforming dreams into projects.”

Icon will be presented at the Venice International Film Festival with an exclusive event organised by the brand, in collaboration with Bulgari: a reserved Gala Cocktail, to be prudent, at the splendid location of the Aman hotel, the sumptuous rooms of which will welcome guests in a unique context characterised by frescoes by Tiepolo and rococo works of art.
The protagonist of the event will be the actor Alessandro Borghi, a much-loved face to whom Icon has dedicated the cover of the new issue.
Also taken part in the event will be the photographer Max Vadukul, who shot the cover for Icon, and is known around the world for his unique work, able to transform reality into art. 

In an exclusive interview for the magazine, on newsstands from Wednesday 16 September, Borghi talks about himself in the round: his origins, in Rome, his early life, gratitude, and commitment. But also: friendships, the roles he has played, the actors’ craft, and a possible future far from the cinema. “The age component doesn’t worry me, I’m sure that at a certain point I will cease to be fascinated by this kind of work, and it with me. I’m in favour of generational change, and I know that to make space for someone else, a place needs to be vacated. I’m not concerned about having to invent a different kind of life,” the actor reveals in the interview.

At the heart of the issue, as well as cinema, is fashion, with a detailed look at the world of boutiques and retail in general in this particular historical moment: plus a special feature inside the magazine called “New shop experience” with a survey on how shops are changing, how they are getting going again and how customers’ shopping experience will change in the future.

Naturally, there are also interviews with celebrated individuals, including an icon of boxing, Mike Tyson, who tells Icon that he is preparing to return to the ring: “I’ll be back in the ring for a good cause. I haven’t done it for years, but I’ll be ready, and I can’t wait.”

The content of the September issue also features a homage, created for the magazine by the extraordinary photographer Bruce Weber, to John Lewis, the Afro-American civil rights activist who died in July.

Icon will be on newsstands from tomorrow with a special feature “A love letter from the fashion community to the World“: over eighty pages by the leading creatives from the world’s top brands, produced exclusively for the community of readers of the Mondadori Group’s magazine of fashion and lifestyle.

With this special issue, Icon wants to give voice to an Italy that is looking to the future beyond its borders and as a fundamental medium for companies that want to strengthen their presence both nationally and internationally.

“We are in the middle of something of epochal significance, also for the fashion sector, a profound crisis to which only a special response will do,” declared the editor of Icon Andrea Tenerani. “I am convinced that the Italian fashion system has both the characteristics and the capacity to the savoir faire of the retail chain and the quality of its raw materials. For now, it is important to look to the future keeping in mind what made us great in the past.”

The June cover story is dedicated to Charles Leclerc – the Ferrari F1 driver, with an exclusive portrait by the photographer John Balsom – who talks to Icon in a special three-way conversatione with Giorgio Armani and the magazine. A discussion that takes in how the world is changing, the young, cars, the future of style and Made in Italy and the concept of timeless elegance as it encounters new generations.

It’s time for Italian fashion companies to get going again: Icon dedicates a thirty-page report to new products and successful strategies, from the productive chain to retail, with a look at innovation and sustainability.

For lovers of cars, Icon Wheels makes a return, with 16 pages featuring the most exclusive new proposals from the world of cars and motorcycles, with previews, interviews with the protagonists and the most iconic and desirable models.

The Icon Instagram channel  Icon  has successfully launched Icon Play Live hosted by Andrea Tenerani: a cycle of live events on social media that has featured guests such as the actor Brenno Placido and the leader of Negramaro Giuliano Sangiorgi, with the extraordinary participation of  Saturnino.

Over 100 pages of unpublished images and portraits by the extraordinary photographer Bruce Weber, fashion stories, interviews and special services: all in the new issue of di Icon, on newsstands from Friday 6 March.

A collectors’ issue celebrating art and beauty for the Mondadori Group’s fashion and lifestyle brand that, under the editorship of Andrea Tenerani, editor-at-large Federico Sarica and new creative director Luca Stoppini, signals a further step forward in its mission to increasingly be a “contemporary classic” and to represent fashion, lifestyle, stories, personalities and male passions to an increasingly global audience.

“Icon is becoming a statement, a declaration of the intent to more and more identify and define the contemporary by selecting the best stories, personalities and photographs that are also destined to last. In other words, iconic,” explained Andrea Tenerani, editor of Icon. “’I’ as in icon, so, starting from the cover, but also ‘I’ as in the first person singular, a declaration of the desire to  place at the centre of the magazine’s narrative the uniqueness of life and the style of each of our readers and members of our community.”

The is month’s three covers, from the portfolio of Bruce Weber, feature the actor Brandon Thomas Lee, an exclusive Bruce Weber portrait of David Bowie and Antonio and Piero Teoli, two Italo-American brothers, both students at the Frank Sinatra School of Arts in Miami.

Among leading contemporary photographers, Weber has capture many of the biggest names in the world of show business and art. Plus, for Icon, Weber is not just the figure behind the lens, but also talks about himself in an exclusive conversation with actress Anjelica Huston.

It is a collaboration that consolidates the relationship with Icon, which has always been committed to the highest standards of quality in images and content, with the support of leading photographers and personalities from the world of contemporary culture.

This is also a continuation of the process of strengthening the brand in the upscale male lifestyle segment. Also marked by a new look, thanks to a re-design that increasingly highlights the strengths of Icon and its distinctive positioning, starting from the logo, with the highlighted “I”, a graphic symbol that characterises all of the sections, from fashion and beauty, to news and culture.

This month Icon is launching a special edition dedicated to the world of cars and motorcycles: Icon Wheels, with interviews with protagonists, stories of success and the most iconic and desirable models. From supercars to SUVs: powerful, ecological or simply irresistible cars of fascination and distinction.

“With Wheels, the first special issue dedicated to the world of both four and two wheels, Icon begins what is set to be a series of brand extensions with the ambitious aim of vertically expanding and deepening its coverage of the male passions that remain the foundation of the magazine’s original promise,” explained Andrea Tenerani, editor of the Mondadori Group’s male lifestyle title. “The next stage on the journey begun by Icon in 2019».

Icon Wheels will be available on newsstands from 16 July with two different covers: the first featuring the Maserati Levante Trofeo V8, with its distinctive and captivating style, a symbol of Italian excellence, and the second featuring actor Ewan McGregor, a motorcycle enthusiast, and a veteran of two wheels, who talks about his passion for bikes.

Plus, exclusive interviews with some of the big names from the world of engines, such as Marquez, Dovizioso and Bautista, enriching the content of the magazine, along with a section dedicated to lifestyle, with the most exclusive bars and restaurants bar of the summer 2019, in both Italy and around the world.

The new Wheels will also be available on the web with a dedicated channel on iconmagazine.it, a complete digital guide to driving style.

Following the success of the June issue, which confirmed the Mondadori Group’s male lifestyle magazine as leader in the sector – with sales up by +19% compared with 2018 – Icon Wheels also recorded excellent results in terms of advertising, once again in marked contrast to the print media market and the up-market male segment.

Icon continues to grow also across social media, in particular on Instagram, with an increase in followers of more than 30% compared with the beginning of the year.

Icon, the Mondadori Group’s male lifestyle and fashion title, edited by Andrea Tenerani, from Tuesday 11 June will be available to the public with a wealth of exclusive content marking the occasion of the latest male fashion shows.

The latest issue of the magazine will be available with four different covers. Evan Ross, Tom Holland, Kit Butler and Lennon Gallagher, shot by great masters of photography, are the special protagonists of the return of an era. “They are the children of the freedom of the 1980s, often stigmatised for a lack of commitment – explains Tenerani – but in reality the vehicle of a positive lightness that has liberated more than one generation in terms of individual affirmation.”

A light-heartedness, for example, as sung by Diana Ross, that comes to us today through the explosive personality of her son Evan; a freshness that we find once again on the face of Lennon, the son of Patsy Kensit and Liam Gallagher, with a foot in both fashion and music, as can also be seen in the shots of Kit, the successor to a tradition of British models able to reach out beyond the catwalks; a balance that we can find in Tom, among the superheroes who interpret the beauty of everyday life. “Because talking about male fashion today is also this . concludes the editor of Icon – eras that return, never quite the same, and personalities that liberate and express them.”

Made in Italy remains the unmistakeable characteristic of the new issue of the magazine that will be launched on the occasion of the unmissable Pitti Immagine Uomo shows in Florence and those of the Milano Collezioni. Under the editorship of, Icon has become more and more a point of reference for the public and also professionals from the upscale fashion industry and on the strength of this success it will inaugurate, along with Versace, the fashion house’s new boutique in Florence.

To coincide with the Florence shows, Icon will be enhanced by Icon Padiglione – what to wear now -, a virtual space that will range across the pages of the magazine and on social media profiles, featuring a selection of new and representative items from the collections of some of the most significant merging brands.

Italian excellence and know-how are also linked to Icon Report, a tabloid insert full of interviews and background details from the world of fashion and luxury, and which will be distributed with the June edition of the magazine. The protagonists of this third issue will be Dolce&Gabbana: the cover stars are the two designers who, in the pages of Report, talk about a sartorial symphony and underline the guiding concept of an exceptional male wardrobe: made-to-measure.

With a space dedicated to a school from the panorama of Italian academia, in this issue the University of Bologna, Icon Report will have a extra distributioin at the country’s most prestigious schools of fashion, design and journalism.

The Mondadori Group’s male lifestyle title has also become the leader in the sector with a range of new features and an excellent advertising performance: “For Icon June has been a record month – explains Davide Mondo, chief executive of Mediamond – with an increase in sales of +19% compared with 2018, an excellent result and in marked contrast to the print media market and the up market male lifestyle segment. The new editorship of Andrea Tenerani and the new editorial content featured in Report and Padiglione Icon have convinced readers and advertisers and have further consolidated the qualitative level of the magazine’s editorial platform.”

Icon also continues to grow on digital, in particular on the Instagram channel, which, thanks to the creative drive of the new editor, has increased its fanbase by 30%, with specific content and a more dynamic page, adapted to the current language and approach.

Icon, the Mondadori Group’s magazine for today’s man dedicated to fashion and lifestyle, from Friday 8 March will be on newsstands with a new look and renewed content, with even more attention to image, style and the quality for which it has always been known.

Under the leadership of editor Andrea Tenerani and the new team that has seen the arrival of Federico Sarica in the role of editor-at-large and the creative director Riccardo Ruini, Icon offers content that ranges from fashion to beauty, and takes an all-round look at male passions and enthusiasms, using images and stories able to capture the interests and habits of the modern man.

The result is an upscale product dedicated to men constantly on the look out for style and inspiration, a point of reference for lifestyle and Made in Italy.

“With the new Icon we are opening up our pages and our social media channels to an even more focused account of Italian excellence  and know-how, a chain of production and thinking that the largest part of the global market looks to in the search for quality,” declared Andrea Tenerani, editor of Icon. “We will do this by each month providing – in images and words –  an account of what inspires us, and offering our readers a moodboard. And always keeping in mind a very precise vision:  to blur boundaries and rigidities, and to try to blend the classic and the contemporary, fashion and society, pleasure and rigour.”

The new Icon will also dedicated extensive space to the most iconic personalities from the world of international entertainment, with interviews and photographic features shot exclusively by some of the the great masters of photography.

This month’s issue will have two covers dedicated to two actors Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Vincent Cassel, immortalised respectively by da Mario Sorrenti and Michel Comte as well as articles by prestigious contributors including Marco Missiroli, Mariarosa Mancuso, Chiara Beria di Argentine.

AN ENTIRELY NEW STYLE

The changes in the new Icon start from the paper chosen for the magazine which an increased weight and enhanced whiteness. flicking through the magazine, readers will find new columns and sections, starting from Inventario: a rich concentration of news, short interviews, still lifes and stories about products, personalities and cultural consumption, with a special emphasis on the world of beauty.

Completely new is Wheels & Watches, a monographic section of the magazine that will provide an elegant glance at the world of cars and watches, two big male passions to which 15 pages, rich with fashion photos and lifestyle, will be dedicated.

More wide-ranging news and information will feature in Icon Guide, a new column that will enable readers to keep up to date with what’s new in technology, travel, hotels, food & beverages, cinema, TV, books and much more.

The new approach of Icon will also be characterised by Icon Report, an editorial project focused on the luxury sector and which will inaugurate the first issue with a cover story dedicated to the Hedi Slimane revolution. This 24-page insert, with special paper and in tabloid format, will feature extensive background detail and interviews, as well as a focus on the latest trends in the market, the protagonists who are delineating new business developments and an observatory of fashion school talents. Inserted in the inside back cover of Icon, it will also have a special distribution at the country’s most prestigious fashion, design and journalism schools.

NEW FEATURES ALSO ON DIGITAL

The restyling will also involve iconmagazine.it, with a new design approach that will enhance photo and video quality and immersive formats conceived for mobile and social media. The content will continue to focus on style guides and consumption for the man of today and tomorrow, with the most exclusive fashion, beauty, grooming and accessories.

Meanwhile, cars will be the protagonists of Icon Wheels which, from the middle of March, will be the new area of iconmagazine.it dedicated to aspirational and luxury cars and style on two wheels, with an editorial vocation able to combine usefulness and ideas, thanks to which, brands can become a central and dynamic part of the story through native advertising and branded content.

The two continuously growing social media channels, Instagram and Facebook, will alternate stop motion, short video, animated gifs and photo galleries, with cover stories and exclusive content dedicated to new products, emerging brands and the most exclusive events.

ADVERTISING

The advertising market has responded enthusiastically to the appointment of Andrea Tenerani as the editor of Icon. In fact, the new issue will feature 90 pages of advertising, 30% more than 2018. The new, contemporary and innovative, projects, will be an additional tool with which to interact with clients, also from outside the sector.

With a total circulation of 110,000 copies (Source: publisher’s figures), the new Icon will enjoy reinforced distribution in qualified locations with big impact spaces inside Italy’s main airports and railway stations, as well as in upscale hotels, the sales points of the Italian Chamber of Buyers and the Mondadori Stores.

Icon is also distributed internationally in Brazil, China, South Korea, France, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Spain, the United States and Taiwan.

The launch will also be accompanied by an advertising campaign planned on daily newspapers and on iDD Magazine, the DOOH (Digital Out of home) circuit, which brings together advertising with the editorial content of Mondadori’s lifestyle titles.

The Mondadori Group continues to pursue digital innovation. The leading publisher for the passions and interests of Italians currently attracts 26.5 million unique users per month (Source: Audiweb, November 2018) and a competitive positioning that makes it a leaders also in social media, with a total of 26.3 million fans through130 profiles.

Every second 300 new users visit a Mondadori Group site 14 people interact on the brands’ social network pages.

OUR STRONG POINTS

• Video factory: an annual production of 10.000 videos 4 different formats, generating over 200 million views per month.

• People: an internal team of 180 talents, including content editor, videomakers, cooks, product designers and data scientists.

• Innovation is in our DNA: from proprietary semantic search engines to Altervista, Italy’s leading blogging platform prima. Mondadori is also among the first Italian publishers to test and adopt innovating conversational interfaces, such as chatbots, intelligent speakers and connected devices.

CONTINUING TO EVOLVE OUR PRODUCTS

The development of languages and engagement systems for users, from the use of video to the valorisation of new web-based talents such as influencers and YouTubers, to the control of all of the touchpoints: our business models makes it possible to respond to new challenges and development opportunities, while constantly focusing on the real needs of users.

Today, our brands are authentic multimedia systems ranged across print, the web, social media, apps, smart speakers, TV and events.

In 2019 the evolution of our products will affect some of the iconic brands in the high-value vertical markets: food, women, beauty, health and wellbeing, design, male lifestyle.

FOOD

Giallozafferano:

• From April, a new look for the web site and a new Giallozafferano Benessere channel, with over 4,000 recipes, enhanced with information about nutritional values and calories.
• The first vocal site with integrated Google Assistant.
• The first on vocal devices: Google Home, Amazon Alexa’s Echo Show, Samsung’s Bixby.

WOMEN AND BEAUTY

Donna Moderna:

• Donna Moderna Beauty: a new social magazine will be launched after the summer dedicated to the world of beauty and conceived by millennials for millennials, with the special participation of Beauty Influencers.

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Mypersonaltrainer:

• a complete overhaul of the site affecting all of its touchpoints from September.
• A new series of videos involving Fitness Influencers.

MALE LIFESTYLE

Icon:

• A new format for the site from March: ideas, inspirations and and models, with the style and shopping guides that today’s man needs.
• Icon Wheels: the creation of a new channel dedicated to luxury and exclusive car.
• Fashion, beauty, grooming, how-to-spend with videos, tutorials and a selection of the best products.

DESIGN

Icon Design and Interni:

• A restyling of the sites to coincide with Milan’s Design Week 2019.