Montreal fashion magazine Dress to Kill is using next week’s LG Fashion Week as a springboard for the launch of its new Toronto edition.

Likening it to UK fashion titles like Nylon and the now-defunct The Face (which is rumoured to be relaunching in an as-yet-undetermined format in 2010), editor-in-chief Stéphane Le Duc describes Dress To Kill as a ‘bit more edgy, less mainstream’ than Canada’s existing fashion titles, and an alternative to pricey European imports.

The luxury title launched in Montreal in 2008, and is available at 200+ locations with a distribution of 15,000. Le Duc says that 15,000 copies of the free quarterly will also be distributed through ‘small, upscale’ boutiques in Toronto’s downtown core, with plans to increase distribution through the GTA. There are also plans to introduce a newsstand edition sometime next year (the Montreal edition currently sells for $4.50).

The Toronto and Montreal editions will share editorial resources, says Le Duc, although about a quarter of the content in the Toronto edition will be exclusive. Advertisers in the Toronto edition’s 50-page launch issue include Ben Sherman, Puma, Birks and Penguin.

While many magazine categories are being battered by the recession and changing readership habits, Le Duc claims there is still a healthy appetite for print among fashion enthusiasts. ‘People like to look back on the pictures,’ he says. ‘It’s the type of magazine that you look at more than once. That’s why people still buy the September issue of Vogue.’

Dress to Kill is aimed at people between the ages of 20 to 40, with a personal income of $60,000. The price for a full-page ad ranges from $1,850 to $2,200.