In early 2021, Wirecutter soft-launched a new dedicated style section on its homepage. Hunter, who joined Wirecutter as its editor of home goods five years ago, was named senior editor of style in June of 2020. And Wirecutter is currently hiring for other style-dedicated roles, including an associate style editor. While much of Wirecutter’s guides focus on consumer electronics and appliances, Chen said there was an undeniable appetite for more style recommendations.

“Any time we would cover anything style-related, we would see lots of comments from people clamoring for more,” said Chen, who worked at New York Magazine’s Strategist prior to joining the Times. “If we did a wallets guide, people would follow up asking for passport holders. If we did men’s jeans, everyone would ask for women’s jeans. I started [at Wirecutter] two-and-a-half years ago, and it always struck me as an opportunity we were leaving on the table by not covering style more regularly.”

Chen said Wirecutter has a dedicated social team whose job it is to read comments on articles, gather feedback and use that to help guide editorial direction. That team has been noting an interest in style coverage for several years.

Right now, Hunter said the priority is to establish the big, broad tentpole guides for the best white sneakers, men’s jeans and sunglasses, among other categories. Unlike newsy digital media, Wirecutter guides tend to see traffic for years after they’re published and are often updated as time goes on.

“There are some style guides we’re doing that will probably continue to be relevant for a while,” Hunter said. “We’re working on one right now about the best black tights. There aren’t a ton of cutting-edge developments in black tights, so I don’t imagine that one will [require] a lot of updates through the years.”

Chen and Hunter want the style section to stand apart from other product recommendation sites thanks to the publication’s focus on rigorous and lengthy, months-long testing periods. Chen said that, because of that focus, the style coverage won’t heavily focus on trends. Trends change faster than Wirecutter’s typical publishing schedule.

Tackling trends, when it does happen, will likely take two forms, Chen said. Either a single product becomes so buzzy that the brand will feel the need to weigh in with a test and review, as it did with a popular Offhours housecoat that went viral on Instagram in early 2021. Or, a trend lasts long enough to warrant a guide of its own, like blue-light blocking glasses — Wirecutter’s guide went live in 2019.

“We’re working on things like reviewing the one-size-fits-all jeans from Good American that claim to …read more

Source:: Digiday

Author: Aaron