Their latest endeavor, The GQ Shop, shows an effort to continue on this trajectory, this time leveraging their own brand recognition for revenue. The limited collection includes graphic t-shirts and baseball caps, most of which are emblazoned with the GQ logo. The benefit of building this sort of lifestyle brand is twofold: the clothing acts as a walking advertisement for the magazine, and the magazine drives people to purchase the merch. Plus, by starting with a small number of available shirts, they may be able to churn out hype and build a sense of exclusivity.



GQ is not the first brand to make this kind of move. Premium, niche publishers like Monocle and Hodinkee have done this for years. Monocle even went as far as opening retail stores to sell their products. But it remains to be seen how consumers will react, and whether this model can actually make money for the magazine. As print publications strive to stay relevant and profitable in a digital world, we expect to see them continue to experiment with a variety of new sources of revenue beyond traditional magazine sales.