When it came to clothes, Boston was once considered conservative, even dowdy. But no more. The city now boasts a fashion scene ready to take on all comers, even New York, according to a woman who is partly responsible for the trend.
"Boston has changed dramatically," said Nash Yacoub, publisher and editor-in-chief of platinum, a monthly fashion and beauty magazine based in the city. "Boston is getting dressier."
Yacoub, 30, launched platinum last year from her home in suburban Canton, Massachusetts because she has always loved glamour, but also wanted to put her adopted city on the fashion map. "The goal is to really bring a heightened awareness of what is happening in Boston," she explained.
"But we do attend the [fashion] shows in New York."
Yacoub said that the influx of immigrants from all over the world, including many students, has contributed to Boston’s growing cosmopolitan atmosphere. For instance, she said Arab women tend to be dressy and "are very, very concerned with their appearance.
Born in Cairo, Yacoub moved to Framingham, a town outside Boston, when she was five years old. Her father, Onsy Makar, an engineer and chemical consultant, and her mother, Samia, a certified public accountant, have been "extremely supportive" about the magazine.
"In Arabic cultures you have close-knit families and you spend a lot of time with them and their friends," she explained, adding that she is usually working in the platinum office downtown from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. She also credited her physician husband, Dr. Tamer Yacoub, with subsidizing the magazine.
Yacoub said that she loves her work so much, it doesn’t seem as if she has a job at all. However, she does miss participating in Boston’s close-knit Egyptian community, especially attending services at St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Natick and the Egyptian Protestant church in West Roxbury.
Boston’s Arabs in general have also been "very welcoming and very supportive," Yacoub said. "It’s a nice feeling."
The support is important because publishing can be difficult. "It’s a very tough business," Yacoub said. "It’s my understanding that 93 percent of all magazines fail in the first year. It’s really unbelievable how far we have come."
Now a year old, platinum is 72 pages large, up from its original 36 pages. It is no longer free, but is sold on newsstands for $2.95 or by subscription for $26. While Yacoub points out that the publication is now meeting its expenses, she adds that none of her staff have been paid for over a year. But that, too, is about to change. Furthermore, with its next issue, platinum will feature all color photos. Currently it contains a number of black-and-white shots.
With no publishing experience, Yacoub relies on her life-long love of fashion and beauty, plus her marketing and management degree from Boston University. After graduating, she worked as a women’s clothing buyer and personal shopper at Next, a now-closed store on Boston’s fashionable Newbury Street.
As to her fashion philosophy, Yacoub said women should feel free to develop their own styles and not accept everything that is presented by a designer. She does, however, think that regardless of their choices, women should try to look pretty and feminine. "You should take those extra few minutes in the morning," she said. "You know why? You feel stronger, more confident if you are put together."
Not surprisingly, Yacoub said she loves the new spring looks now in stores. "What’s coming is a lot of pattern for women, very feminine, feminine designs, a lot of flowers."
For more information, call platinum at (617) 521-0004, or visit their website, which should be running soon, platinummagazine.com.
