Nobody thinks twice about nudity in fashion magazines.
If you picked up the latest July 2008 edition of W magazine, you may have noticed models under the Miami sun sans the usual fashion forward threads. Daria Werbowy, Kate Moss and Lara Stone along with a team of designers joined Bruce Weber for a 36-page photo shoot, taking W into somewhat uncharted territory. I asked a few long time subscribers and they confirmed that the style and amount of nudity was a bit of a departure for W. 
The monthly American fashion magazine is filled with ads for high fashion and is often compared to Vogue and Vanity Fair for sophistication and style.
Their ten inch wide by thirteen inch tall format provides a great canvas for the fashion photographer.
You can certainly make a case that it is still in the spirit of a W as a fashion magazine. If all you are showcasing are Alejandro Ingelmo Shoes and 40 SPF sunscreen, then the photo shoot by Bruce Weber in Miami fulfilled the designers requirements.
Being topless in Miami is nothing unusual for the avid sun worshipers of South Beach. Miami and South Beach, once riddled with drug trafficking in the 70’s, has since cracked down on the Cocaine Cowboys, and is now a major destination for tourists. With those tourists come Europeans and a tolerance for nudity.
You could argue this tolerance along with fashionably hip Miami scene provided a perfect destination for the “Summer Camp” shoot.
(Guys, I know the video below contains a still of a topless man, but if you don’t watch it, you’ll totally miss like 3 minutes of naked hot super models.)
I brought the July issue to the office and the Zivity team posed the question - Is Zivity following a trend, setting the trend or riding a trend at just the right time? There is no way to tell, as the collective acceptance of change can sometime come in waves, fueled by common values that for one reason or another spread throughout society. Long time readers of W certainly are accustomed to some nudity in their fashion mag. Although, it can be argued that it is hard to examine an article of clothing when it is blowing in the wind, being taken off or not being worn at all. Widely known for his ad campaigns for Calvin Klein, Abercrombie & Fitch and Ralph Lauren, Bruce is not new to creating images with lots of skin. You might recall his black and white photos of a unclothed heterosexual couple on a swing or model Marcus Schenkenberg barely holding jeans in front of himself in a shower.
Despite some complaints from subscribers, I don’t think W Magazine will be sealing their publication in foil or a black shroud of plastic any time soon. Why? Dressed or not, it’s not porn.
