Fashion magazine has a devout male readership, and this year, there was simply too much content related to men’s style to fit into the book’s regular fall edition, says Karen Cleveland, marketing and communications manager at St. Joseph Media. To cater to the savvy, male trendsetters who care about whether double-breasted suits are in again or not (about 21% of Fashion‘s readers are men according to PMB), Fashion is today launching its first full-size, 66-page Men’s Fashion fall style special, distributed as an insert through the Globe and Mail, Vancouver Province and Montreal Gazette.

Men’s Fashion – and its launch party last night in Toronto – gave advertisers like Audi and Hugo Boss who want to reach the style-conscious demo a new opportunity, explains Cleveland. ‘It certainly allowed us to speak to some familiar faces and tell them what we’re up to and extend the opportunity. And then it also gave us a great reason to chat to some new brands as well,’ she tells MiC.

Audi placed slick creative inside the mag, but it’s also using the event to ‘bring their brand to life,’ says Cleveland, by parking their R8 inside the party, attended by some 300 folks from the fashion and media industries. Models paraded in Hugo Boss threads, while guests could relax in a cigar lounge sponsored by Frank Correnti Cigars or a sample scotch master Joseph Cassidy’s favourite drink.

‘It’s a great opportunity to bring the fashion men’s brand to life in a room full of our audience, and certainly extend access to that audience to our sponsors,’ says Cleveland.

About 150,000 copies of the issue will be distributed through the newspapers, and interested readers can also order it online.