Wallpaper* founder launches new magazine

Wallpaper* magazine founder Tyler Brûlé is launching a new publication called Monocle. Wallpaper*, the iconic global style guide, paved the way for today's abundant lifestyle magazines and quickly asserted itself as one the most influential magazines of its time in the nineties, inspiring directional publications such as Another Magazine, Pop, and Wonderland to diversify and explore different arenas of design, fashion, art, media and travel.

Brûlé sold the magazine, which launched in 1996, to Time Warner a year after its debut, but stayed on as editorial director until 2002 . Then, in a mass exodus, many of his original staff followed Brûlé when he left the magazine, no longer content with the Time Warner association. Brule subsequently set up Winkreative, a design agency in London 's Mayfair .

Brûlé is keen to note that Monocle is not a spin-off of Wallpaper*, nor is it reminiscent of his attempts to launch other publications such as Spruce, which had a run of only three issues, and Line, a cerebral sports-angle publication, which also failed to excite glossy readers, not making it past issue three.

Monocle, in contrast, will be aimed at the affluent business market, finding inspiration in current affairs, the BBC and the Economist, but minus the dull financial analysis. Instead, Brûlé will incorporate the added edge of design he is known for, focussing on reportage, cultural criticism and luxury goods. To start, the publication will be printed on expensive paper, and thus distance itself from the glossies that cramp the current media shelves or the financial papers that are more business oriented.

Brûlé used a reported investment of £5m from private investors to launch Monocle and is planning to open offices in New York , Zurich and Tokyo. "There's enormous scope for a media brand that bridges global affairs and business but also rounds out the mix with the best in design and cultural coverage," said Brûlé. Brûlé hopes the title will sell around 150,000 copies when it launches in early 2007. Wallpaper sold a similar amount when Brule sold it to publishing giant Time Warner.