Lucire is a fashion magazine that originally began on the web in 1997, branching into a monthly print edition in its home country of New Zealand in 2004. It is the first fashion partner with the UNEP, an arrangement that began in 2003.
At its launch, it was the second online fashion title in New Zealand (after Wellington Polytechnic's Fashionbrat), and the first commercial fashion magazine on the web there. It claims to be the first fashion title to extend its brand from the internet into print, and the first website to launch print editions in more than one country. An unusual claim is that Lucire is the first national consumer publication in New Zealand to use exclusively typefaces designed and produced domestically.
Simone Knol edits the web edition, Laura Ming-Wong the "master" print edition in New Zealand. Summer Rayne Oakes was made the US Editor in 2007. Previous positions were staffed by Stevie Wilson, who served as US Editor-at-Large, Catherine Rigod, who filled the role of West Coast Editor and Richard Spiegel, who worked as a New York based photojournalist, among others. Lucire was founded by Jack Yan, who continues to serve as Publisher.
When conceived, the name was not intended to have a meaning; it was only later that the team discovered it was a quaint Romanian term meaning ‘to glitter’ and there is a similar word in Spanish meaning ‘to show off’.
In the early 2000s, Lucire covered new talent alongside more established names. It was one of the first publications to profile Zac Posen, New Zealand shoe designer Kathryn Wilson, MTV New Zealand presenter and former beauty queen Amber Peebles, and numerous others. In 2003, it was the second-ever New Zealand website to be nominated for a Webby Award.
It launched a Romanian edition (helmed by Mirella and Valentin Lapusca) in May 2005, claiming to be the first New Zealand fashion magazine to enter the continent, and the first webzine in the world to launch two print editions. The magazine is subscribed to throughout the world, including Australia, the United States, and various European nations.
Print edition cover girls have included Brittny Gastineau, Vanessa Carlton, Stacie Jones Upchurch, Nicky Hilton, Theodora Richards and Monica Gabor. New York photographers Barry Hollywood, Gray Scott and Jon Moe have contributed the greatest number of covers.
