Look sold 300,000 a week at its peak — 11 years on, it begged readers to buy rivals

Look launched in February 2007 as Time Inc UK's weekly for celebrity fashion — red carpets, high street style, £2.10 at the till — and sold more than 300,000 copies a week at its peak, 'a publishing phenomenon' in the company's own words.

Eleven years on, the statistics were a freefall: circulation stood at 57,110 by the end of 2017, and its 37% year-on-year drop was the largest of any UK women's magazine. Time Inc UK had just been sold to private equity firm Epiris, whose partner Chris Hanna promised to 'bring clarity and simplicity' to the portfolio. Closure was announced on May 14, 2018; fashion and beauty MD Justine Southall said the audience now consumed fashion and celebrity 'via screens,' and the sales pressure was continuing.

The final issue, No. 561, came out on May 29, 2018 with Michelle Keegan on the cover saying 'Bye! x' — and inside, a farewell no other magazine had printed: Look named its competitors, from Cosmopolitan and Grazia to Stylist and Marie Claire, and told its readers to buy them. 'Otherwise the closure of our beloved brands will continue.' Within weeks the website was gone too, and the group pointed its remaining resources at Marie Claire.