Iconic gay mag Butt magazine returns after a decade-long hiatus
The ‘surprise rebirth’ sees the mag relaunched with its signature pocket-sized pink minimalist design
Butt magazine has made a comeback for its 30th issue, returning ten years after its last print issue in December 2011.
Butt was founded by Dutch journalist Gert Jonkers and art director Jop van Bennekom in 2001. It adopted a distinctly fleshy hue and featured minimalist designs (courtesy of van Bennekom) while offering up unabashedly candid interviews and bold, direct takes on gay life. Among its frequent collaborators was photographer Wolfgang Tillmans, who shot the cover for the debut issue, as well as going on to appear as a cover star.
So why relaunch now? “The early days of the pandemic sparked a lot of conversations – DMs and email from friends and fans of Butt about the desire for its return,” says Butt magazine’s Andrew Pasquier. “Butt’s surprise rebirth this spring begins a new conversation focused on cross-community solidarity and sexual freedom,” Jonkers and van Bennekom add in a statement. “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 ten years.”
The new issue has been designed by van Bennekom alongside Rogier Delfos. The design looks broadly the same as its much-loved predecessor: as Pasquier puts it, it’s “still pink and fits in your hand. It’s still about sex.”
The cover has been shot by Clifford Prince King and shows two men in bed, alongside coverlines in Butt’s distinct blocky font including ‘hung’, ‘fetish’, and ‘femme’. Butt says that the publication addresses a “queer community in flux”, and among the subjects in the issue are photographer Sunil Gupta, porn star Billy Vega, and French actor Felix Maritaud. Pasquier adds that the team are “excited to be a platform for a more diverse, global mix of contributors and subjects including our trans and lesbian friends”.
The new 100-page mag has been launched thanks to a partnership with Italian luxury fashion house Bottega Veneta, which is the sole advertiser in the new issue, and which held a pre-launch, three-day installation event for Butt at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Bottega Veneta’s signature triangle emblem also features the word ’30’ to demarcate the magazine’s 30th issue. Following the 30th issue, Butt will return biannually.
