New York Magazine put a topless Elliot Page on the cover of its first-ever men’s style issue, and the internet noticed immediately.
Quick Take
- New York Magazine released its first standalone issue built entirely around men’s fashion, a first in the magazine’s nearly six-decade run.
- Transgender actor Elliot Page appears partially nude on the cover, alongside singer Troye Sivan and actor Christopher Abbott.
- The issue carries the subtitle “Men’s Style: A Special Issue about Putting Clothes on and Taking Them Off Again.”
- The launch follows the magazine’s hiring of former GQ editor Samuel Hine as its senior men’s style editor earlier in the year.
A Six-Decade-Old Magazine Tries Something New
New York Magazine has covered fashion since its 1968 debut, but it had never devoted a full print issue solely to men’s style. Editor-in-chief David Haskell announced the change in May 2026, tying it to the hire of Samuel Hine, who came over from GQ to lead the effort. The magazine framed the issue as a deliberate milestone, not a one-off gimmick, and built out supporting coverage around it in the months that followed.
That supporting coverage included a new weekly newsletter called New York Look, which Hine began writing in August 2026 to answer reader questions about men’s fashion and style trends. The name nods to a similar special issue New York published between 2007 and 2008. Building a newsletter and an editor role around the print launch shows the magazine treated this as a long-term bet on men’s style coverage, not a passing stunt.
Why Elliot Page Landed the Cover
Elliot Page, known for roles in Juno and The Umbrella Academy, came out as transgender in 2020 and has spoken publicly since about his transition. Putting him on the cover of a men’s style debut sends a clear signal about how the magazine defines “men’s style” in 2026. The cover also features Troye Sivan and Christopher Abbott, giving the issue a mix of music, film, and openly discussed personal identity across its featured subjects.
The magazine’s own subtitle leans into the theme directly: clothes going on and coming off again. That phrasing, paired with a partially nude cover image, was clearly meant to grab attention on newsstands and online. It did exactly that, generating rapid commentary across social media within days of hitting stands.
A Predictable Cultural Flashpoint
Cover choices like this one rarely stay confined to fashion commentary. Broader research on media coverage of transgender public figures has found that outlets often center the most attention-grabbing identity detail while giving less space to the underlying editorial decision itself, and this cover followed that same pattern almost instantly. Commentators on the right, including media personality Oli London, quickly framed the cover as evidence of a broader agenda in mainstream magazines rather than a straightforward style feature.
this new york magazine mens style issue pic.twitter.com/KAkGhhkFPC
— Tyrell Martinson (@tyrellmartinson) September 29, 2026
None of that online reaction changes what actually happened on the page. New York Magazine made an editorial choice, backed it with a new hire and a dedicated newsletter, and put Elliot Page on the cover of a historic first issue. Readers are free to debate whether that choice reflects good judgment or cynical attention-seeking. What is not in dispute is that the magazine built this launch deliberately, over months, with real staffing and content investment behind it.
Sources:
facebook.com, fashionista.com, nymag.com, zinio.com
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