Karlie Kloss brings iconic Life magazine back from the dead for $45 a copy

Supermodel-turned-media mogul Karlie Kloss is resurrecting Life magazine as a quarterly — with a hefty $45 cover price for its debut issue.Life, which has weathered decades of financial turmoil, is set to publish its first quarterly edition Nov.23 — a 250-page issue marking its return to regular print publication for the first time since 2007.Electric vehicle maker Rivian and software firm Figma are sponsoring the debut issue, which will carry no traditional print ads.

Editors enlisted more than 120 contributors for the edition, themed “Where Are We Now?”Kloss, the wife of venture capitalist Joshua Kushner and sister-in-law to President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, struck a deal through her Bedford Media company in 2024 to relaunch Life.But the agreement left the publication’s vast historical photography archive in the hands of People Inc, formerly known as Dotdash Meredith.“What made Life extraordinary was its ability to make the world feel closer,” Kloss told the New York Times in an interview published Wednesday.“And our responsibility is to preserve and to protect that legacy.”Kloss told the Times she is focused on developing Life’s business, leaving editorial decisions to the magazine’s staff.Life’s revival will extend beyond print, with plans for documentary films, events and short-form videos alongside a website and social media presence.Life debuted in 1936 with a 10-cent issue featuring Margaret Bourke-White’s photograph of Montana’s Fort Peck Dam.Circulation reached roughly 8.5 million copies a week around 1970.But competition from television and specialized magazines, along with rising printing and postal costs, squeezed the publication’s finances.

Time Inc.shut down the weekly in December 1972 after it racked up losses of roughly $30 million beginning in 1969.Time Inc.

reintroduced Life as a monthly in 1978 but halted regular publication in 2000, when circulation stood at roughly 1.5 million.A free weekly newspaper...