Shape Magazine

Launched during the nascent fitness boom of the early 1980s, by 2014 Shape magazine had grown to become America’s largest-circulation health and wellness publication for women. Like other fitness-centric brands, its trajectory was abruptly cut short by the body positivity movement, which equated fitness and weight control as outmoded precepts inherently discriminatory towards non-conforming body types. With the mantra “Love the Skin You’re In” gaining momentum, the effort and difficulty involved in maintaining a so-called healthy weight came to be regarded as self-abuse and, for some, an unrealistic goal. Fat shaming would no longer be tolerated.

By the end of the decade, the core editorial mission of publications like Shape and Condé Nast’s Self, already reeling from increasingly difficult headwinds, became toxic to advertisers, and by 2019, the titles looked anachronistic, flaming out as suddenly as they had once emerged. Seemingly overnight, brands from Cosmopolitan and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue to Dove and Victoria’s Secret would course-correct, scurrying away from traditionally accepted paragons of beauty to feature and celebrate the plus-sized woman in a desperate attempt to adhere to the new standard. 

Several years on, thin is in once again — along with honest dialogue about the health risks inherent to excessive weight — with the advent of Semaglutide anti-obesity therapies. And while the Shape and Self brands live on as digital products, they are a wisp of their former influence as tactile magazines. Although print has irrevocably transformed from an advertiser-supported business model to reader-subsidized, there remains an opening for an intrepid publisher to thread the needle between body acceptance and fitness as an investment in prevention, robust health, and longevity. Health club memberships have steadily grown by an average of 2.98 percent annually over the past decade, with Planet Fitness, a leading franchise, claiming 15.2 million members alone. The athleisure wear market, dominated by brands Lululemon and Athleta, was estimated at more than $358 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow by 9.3 percent by 2030, according to a Grand View Research market intelligence report.

The demand for quality content in the women’s fitness space is unmistakable and tracks with the rise in popularity of women’s team sports, particularly basketball, soccer, and hockey. Similarly, the innovative editorial packaging developed by Joseph Heroun at Shape demonstrates continued relevance regarding reader service, empowerment, and cost efficiency. Shape’s aspirational cover profiles and features fused mental health with physical well-being while embracing attainable fashion, lifestyle, and nutrition content delivered in a sophisticated, aesthetically rewarding product.