September has long been the biggest month for fashion magazines, but at Teen Vogue, it also means the start of back-to-school. To kick off the 2014 school year, the Condé Nast magazine is teaming up with Staples to launch an exclusive collection of branded school supplies.
“Back to school is the biggest season for our audience from a fashion point of view, but also for school supplies,” said Teen Vogue editor in chief Amy Astley. “I wanted to do paper products because they're relevant to our readers’ lifestyle, whether they’re in middle school, high school, or college.”
Affordability was another important factor in targeting teen girls, said Astley, whose team worked closely with Staples to develop fashion-inspired binders, notebooks, pens and more, all priced between 65 cents and $8.99.
This is the first time that Staples has worked with a third party on back-to-school products, said the company’s svp of product and business development, Scott Young. “The Teen Vogue brand has worked well for us in the past from a marketing standpoint,” he said, “and our teams thought this would be a great fit.”
Teen Vogue already hosts a yearly shopping initiative called Back-to-School Saturdays, for which Staples will be the official school-supplies destination this year. The products will also be featured editorially in the magazine as well as on its digital and social media channels, said Astley.
Teen Vogue, which also has a bedding collection, has been judicious with its brand extensions. The magazine dipped its toes into fashion with a licensed line at Macy’s last year, but has since ended the partnership. “[Fashion] is a category full of worthy competitors and I’d like to focus on an area that isn’t already saturated,” said Astley.
The Staples collection launches in stores on July 1 and will be available on Staples.com on July 15.