BLITZ

BLITZ

Front cover Feb 1986
Categories	Fashion, popular culture
Frequency	Monthly
First issue	Sept 1980
Final issue	May 1991
Country	United Kingdom
Based in	London
Language	English
Website	http://www.blitzmagazine.co.uk/

BLITZ was a British fashion and culture magazine published between 1980 and 1991.

Its contributors included the writers Paul Morley, Susannah Frankel, Jim Shelley, Simon Garfield, Ian Parker, Marc Issue, Fiona Russell Powell and Paul Mathur; photographers included Nick Knight, Russell Young, Gillian Campbell, Marcus Tomlinson, Pete Moss and Julian Simmonds; its fashion editors were Iain R Webb (from 1982 to 1987) and Kim Bowen (1987 to 1989). Jeremy Leslie was responsible for the graphic design of the magazine from 1984 to 1989.

BLITZ was the creation of two 20-year-old Oxford University undergraduates, Carey Labovitch and Simon Tesler. They launched the first issue in A3 format at the beginning of their second year, in September 1980, selling copies through newsagents and at street markets including Covent Garden Market in London. The magazine was initially quarterly. However, the third issue was accepted by WH Smith for national distribution, prompting a substantial increase in print run, and also won the Guardian/NUS Student Media award for Best Graphics in 1981. This encouraged Labovitch and Tesler to take BLITZ professional at the end of their final year in 1982. At the same time the format of BLITZ was slimmed down to a traditional expanded A4 format to fit standard newsagents' shelves, and frequency was increased to alternate monthly, and then monthly.

Throughout its life BLITZ had a reputation for being the most "arty" of the style magazines,. Though the main thrust of its editorial content was in the populist areas of music, film and fashion, subject matter also diversified widely into politics, true crime, art theory, philosophy and graphic design. Its cover stars included Boy George, Jack Nicholson, Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon, Morrissey, Robert De Niro; but also artists Andy Warhol and Peter Blake, TV executive Michael Grade and author Martin Amis. The magazine interviewed musicians, actors and filmmakers including Madonna, Martin Scorsese, Siouxsie, Pete Townshend, Mel Gibson, Paul Weller, Daniel Day-Lewis, Lenny Henry and Steve Martin; the politicians Norman Tebbit, Ken Livingstone, Douglas Hurd and Jeffrey Archer; writers Hunter S. Thompson, Germaine Greer, Allen Ginsberg; the artist Gerald Scarfe; TV personalities like comedians Cannon & Ball and Max Wall and travel reporter Alan Whicker; writers John Mortimer and Keith Waterhouse; sportsmen such as darts champion Eric Bristow and cricketer Ian Botham; and the criminals Charles Manson and Reggie Kray.