I am talking to Warren Noronha, the highly creative and successful British entrepreneur and co-founder of ‘MYMAG’ – a publication with a difference & the very first of it’s kind…
NSA Before we discuss ‘MYMAG’, the exciting new magazine project you recently developed and have now produced, can you tell me a bit about your background….
MYMAG is my first departure from fashion since..er ..ever! I’ve been a ready-to-wear womenswear designer with my own label ever since I left St. Martins in ’97 so it’s really good to feel the ‘fear’ again. Two annual catwalk shows as part of London Fashion week had been my life for so long that it was difficult to see myself in any other role. Right now I feel like a retired tennis player who’ll never touch a racquet again. Feels good!
NSA Can you explain what exactly ‘MYMAG’ is and how it works…..
It’s a simple concept really, I find a celebrity or tastemaker who I think has a particular depth or something to say and I give them a metaphorical soapbox. They get to go into the archives of four magazines that they love and pull content. Remember those great articles that you tore out and lost or a story that inspired a film script, a Photo shoot? Put this altogether in a magazine with twenty pages of personal stuff like Polaroid’s or diary extracts and you have an enchanting stream of consciousness into who that person really is.
The contributing publishers are happy because their old dusty content is being recycled, endorsed and introduced to a new audience through their trusted idol.
NSA Who else is involved with ‘MYMAG’ – both the team behind the project and the celebrities you have worked with to date…
Magnus Greaves, my old fashion backer, came to me three years ago with the grand scheme to have the world’s magazine content on a database and the public would then be able to select and publish. The idea seemed just too big, however you don’t walk away from Magnus Greaves idea without giving it the thrice over. Magnus, Phil Rugile, (the NYC and operational arm of MYMAG), and I embarked on making it happen. MYMAG as it is today is actually the marketing idea that we had to publicise the full-blown version.
We’ve launched with Brett Ratner, Olivia Munn and Steve Aoki all of whom have done a sterling job. It’s the little surprises that make each publication so special. Ratner has a wonderful pool of dark references, Polanski, Bourdon, Toback, totally in contrast with his public perception. Aoki, again contrary to his craft is quite the business man. On a plane for around two hundred days of the year he finds time to break bands, produce, design clothes, write, the man’s a dynamo.
And then there’s Munn, the eye candy! It would be churlish to take her at face value. This woman has the tech and comic world by balls and is set for some huge things to come. It’s been a pleasure working with her pre the entourage day that will surely follow.
NSA When will the first issue be out and how/where can it be seen?
Aoki is out now and can be can be seen at MYMAG.COM along with Ratmag and HeyOlivia. Check it out!
Thanks Warren.
