‘Butt’ Is Back, Baby
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You can’t imagine my shock when I saw the headline this morning: BUTT Magazine returns with a new Spring 2022 issue. After more than a decade off the shelves of local queer shops and LGBTQ-friendly bookstores worldwide (the mag debuted in 2001 and left shelves in 2011), BUTT magazine is indeed back, and with the help of a big-name fashion house to boot.
WWD dropped the news yesterday: BUTT magazine returns — signature pink paper and all — for a special 30th issue that drops March 3. And it’s all thanks to Italian label Bottega Veneta, which is fitting the bill for the brand-new quarterly issue: “As a brand, sometimes you want to support something that you simply have a belief in and a fondness for — BUTT Magazine is one of those things,” says a BV spokesperson.
BUTT is back. The veritable home of faggotry returns with a brand new 30th issue on 4 March. You can celebrate with us in Paris with a special installation at Palais de Tokyo from 4-6 March supported by Bottega Veneta, and a club night on 4 March with party crew Mustang pic.twitter.com/GgrpBqVLNP
— Butt Magazine (@ButtMagazine) February 16, 2022
Timed with Paris Fashion Week, BUTT Magazine is returning with a vengeance, having announced a splashy rollout that includes events in the French capital and other cities worldwide:
On March 3, there will be a prelaunch cocktail-and-dinner party at Palais de Tokyo, thrown by Bottega Veneta and BUTT Magazine.
On March 4, a BUTT magazine party will take place in Paris with the Mustang party crew.
BUTT Magazine #30 will be on sale in a kiosk installation at Palais de Tokyo for the three days of March 4-6. First visitors will receive a special BUTT x Bottega Veneta tee.
Starting March 7, the 100-page issue will be available for order online and in select stores worldwide.
March 10-17: Launch events in London at the Shreeji bookstore.
April 7: A BUTT Magazine launch event in Los Angeles.
“BUTT’s surprise rebirth this spring begins a new conversation focused on cross-community solidarity and sexual freedom,” says a statement from the mag. “While queer visibility may be at an all-time high, BUTT’s candid intergenerational dialogues about contemporary life and love have been sorely missing these past 10 years.”
In addition to the ‘BUTT magazine returns’ news, we have a preview of the issue itself — the cover has been shot by American photographer Clifford Prince King and articles inside will include a story about French actor Félix Maritaud, an interview with hairstylist Holli Smith, artist AA Bronson interviewing trans porn actor Billy Vega and art by Ajamu X and Sunil Gupta.
The legendary print publication is most well-known for its pink-tinged pages, its sexy-and-subversive tone, and its showcasing of intimate photography (often nude) from some of the world’s most talented queer male photographers. Issues of BUTT featured interviews with big-name celebrities and ‘boy next door’ types. (Fun fact: One past issue of the magazine even features a nude photo shoot with a certain fringe-masked queer cowboy crooner you probably know and love!) And even after the magazine ceased printing, its online community of readers around the world, called Club BUTT, persisted.
We’re thrilled that BUTT Magazine is back, hopefully for good.
