A few hours ago, we turned 25—the quarter-century milestone.

I had always hoped we’d get here but back in 1997 I didn’t envisage what form we would be in.

Tonight I was putting the final touches on one of our print issues for licensing, and we have some wonderful content coming up that I want to share with everyone.

It’s a far cry from 1997 when we struggled to get stories to follow up the first issue. I thought people weren’t answering queries from us because they needed to see proof of concept. But in 1997, they probably didn’t answer us because they didn’t know what a fashion website was.

There were so few back then, pre-Google, pre-blogging software. I still remember when Vogue had to advertise with us to tell readers they were about to launch at style.com.

Today, we are blessed with multiple print editions and websites, as we grow the business steadily and carefully. Earlier tonight we uploaded the above image to our Instagram and Linkedin; seeing 120 print covers like this shows how far we’ve come as a big, global family.

There are thousands of website home page variations, which would be very tricky to put together in a similar montage! So print will have to do.

Last night, after heading out with some of our team, it dawned on me just how young I was when I started this Lucire—in jest (partly) I said I was 2 in taller, 20 lb lighter, and had more hair. But I love doing this far more today than I did 25 years ago. I feel we are making some real, positive changes for people.

I thank our team, our licensees, our partners, and our supporters, especially those who looked out for us along the way and created some wonderful opportunities.

I thank our readers for their faith in us over 25 years, whether they follow our every issue or came across us periodically.

I thank my darling Amanda and my own family, including those who have departed, for their unwavering support and love.

Let’s begin the next 25, stronger and better than we were before. Thank you all again.
 


Jack Yan
Founder and Publisher