They've just revealed the cover of their 20th issue, and it's been pretty controversial and divisive. More often a spectacular landscape from somewhere truly wild, this one is simply a head-and-shoulders-portrait of actor/singer/environmentalist/climber Jared Leto wearing some garb from the latest collaboration between The North Face and Gucci (no, that's not a joke, look it up if you don't believe me), taken by none other than Jimmy Chin.
I can't make my mind up about this. Sidetracked has always had adverts and sponsors, often in the form of sponsored articles from brands and tourism agencies; they have to balance the books. But this is so in-your-face. Apparently the accompanying article is mainly about sustainability in the outdoor clothing industry - an important topic if you ask me - and partly Chin and Leto discussing climbing ethics, something I'm sure TNF have no strong desire to influence, and Gucci didn't know existed. And this self-described "disruptive" cover will undoubtedly garner attention for it and start conversations - here I am doing exactly that. They're also sponsored by Patagonia who have regular double-page adverts, often touting their environmental ethics... but I doubt they get as much attention as this will.
And yet... somehow the crassness of it cheapens the rest of the publication. Maybe in time this will come to be seen as one of those moments that was the right thing to do, though controversial at the time (I realised I'm in danger of over-egging the pudding here in terms of the magnitude of this event. It is only one article in a magazine with a readership of probably a few thousand).
The court of the internet also seems undecided, and, predictably, polarised. I've seen comments ranging from "plumbing the depths of profit driven, status fashion" to "absolutely incredible" and "mind blown". And some quite well-known people in their own niches leaping to publicly condemn or defend.
If they wanted publicity, they've certainly achieved that.
Interested to know what anyone else thinks about this, or if no-one else cares.
I guess you'll want to see what the bloody thing looks like:
Some discussion here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKO7bV2Mafi/
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