Lula Magazine

The amazing thing about the internet is that you can send and receive information in nanoseconds. A former colleague of mine emailed me the other day to ask if I had heard of Lula Magazine, to which of course I had not. She insisted that I splurge on a copy, and that the thick glossy pages of stunning photography and images were worth the purchase.

Upon further discovery, I have tried to get my hands on an issue and it is sold out in all local bookstores. It's not a mag that is carried in trademark bookstores like Chapters/Indigo.

Leith Clark, a 28 year-old from Oakville, Ontario is responsible for the creation of this gem.

Leah Rumack from Fashion magazine writes:

There’s a story, and it begins with quitting school in Toronto and deciding BritishVogue was her favourite and that, well, she would simply move to London and intern there, and it ends (so far) with her being tapped to style ads for Chanel. But really the biggest, shiniest part of her growing renown is Lula: Girl of My Dreams. The über-girlie photography project–meets–zine collectible — people already scour eBay for back issues — is now sold everywhere from Canada to South Africa. Haven’t seen it?That’s probably because it sold out before you got to the shop,pauvre vous.

“It wasn’t like starting Lula was like ‘let’s make a magazine that’s pink,’” says Clark of the mag, now in its third year. She and her publisher, photographer Damon Heath, publish two very heavy, glossy issues a year. “I just started going, what did I love about fashion first? And the first time I remember being obsessed with someone and how they looked was the Childlike Empress from The Neverending Story. I was walking around the house with necklaces on my head, thinking I looked amazing.”

Which probably goes a long way toward explaining the mag’s shtick. A rambling dreamscape full of seemingly random stories and glossy fashion shoots, this is the kind of fantasy land where you can find everything from still-life photos of Christian Louboutin stilettos covered in candy floss to a fashion spread inspired by their “crush” on Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz (hint: there are a lot of bow ties). The artists behind the Sigur Rós videos share air time with Q&As with long-lost ’80s actresses like Martha Plimpton and interviews with Feist and designer Christopher Kane. The font is always curly, the arty photo shoots are full of lovely girls in various states of designer disarray, and the photography is regularly interspersed with art projects, like the one where 13 artists were asked to paint their takes on Dolly Parton. A back page is simply a picture of a Strawberry Shortcake doll bidding good night.

Here are some of my favourite images. Have a wonderful Saturday!