Mo Sow

All-Access magazine represents a new take on the genre of elite publications, not only in its appearance and demographic make-up, but more importantly in a mission statement that heralds a new era in reading material for the affluent. Though a travel guide at heart, this international quarterly publication— which profiles a different city in each issue— mixes the best of fashion, art, food, and entertainment. Available in First Class departure lounges and the finest hotels and resorts across the globe, this isn’t exactly a supermarket tabloid. All-Access was launched five years ago in London by Senegalese-born, New York-raised (Mo) Sow who, having working in the music industry previously, used his contacts to upstart a publication which he envisioned as “a new breed of international magazines…[that] offers a fast-track guide to the world’s most exciting cities, a passport for the affluent adventurer in search of the slickest, the latest, and all things outstanding.”[1] Mo was born in Dakar, Senegal in 1973. At age of 15 he moved to New York . After studying International Business with a minor in music technology at New York University, then moved to switzerland where he has worked for Quincy Jones at the Montreux Jazz festival. For the past ten years Mo has been living in London, working as a dj at London's most influential student radio station the S.B.R.on a drive time show ;breaking chart toppers such as jay-z . His decision to start a magazine was spontaneous: initially the publication featured mostly events and parties, and music-related topics. About three years ago, the magazine took on a new angle and made the transition to a more sophisticated, aspirational publication, with large fashion spreads featuring designer labels, profiles of exclusive restaurants in London and abroad, and pages dedicated to high-class travel to the world's most desirable cities. Amongst the twenty-some issues to date, All-Access has profiled world-class cities such as Paris, Tokyo, Dubai, Marrakech and Athens, displaying a selection of the finest hotels, restaurants, and resorts in each. Past issues have featured Paris' Place Vendome, “that beguiling holy grail of luxury connoisseurs”; a trip to India’s hypnotizing Osho Meditation Resort in Pume; a day at the Cowshed Spa in London’s exclusive Soho House; and a visit to the Bajan West Coast where “cherubic blonde children gaze out…over the horizon, while their parents eat caviar and sip champagne.”[2] Each issue of All-Access contains articles on such fashion icons as Christian Lacroix, Vivienne Westwood, and Jane Birkin, as well as interviews with prestigious names in the beauty industry such as renowned dermatologist, Dr. Jean-Louis Sebagh, and spokespersons for cosmetic giants Sisley, and Crème de la Mer, both de riguer beauty products for those who can afford to spend £100 on face moisturizer. The most famous designer labels in the world have graced the pages of All-Access. From clothing designers like Gucci, Hermes, Givenchy and Balenciaga—one issue featured a Chanel-only fashion spread— to luxury jewelry houses such as Bulgari, Graff, De Beers and Cartier, All Access is for those who have money and aren’t shy about Spending it. Despite its obvious upper crust presentation, All-Access denies being elitist. Like Tatler, All-Access is far more interested in profiling, as Mo describes “style-shapers and makers who have arrived in that rarefied air not through family fortunes or connections but through their own initiative, personal talent, or sheer luck”[3] (interestingly, heiress Paris Hilton was turned down by the magazine for a feature article). But what really separates All Access from its peers? Perhaps Deputy Editor, Henrietta Dups says it best: “All-Access is not just a magazine; it is also a coffee table book, as it is visually very strong and the content does not date in the same way as other luxury magazines. A beautiful image will remain a beautiful image whether it is recent or ten years old…and it is for this reason that our readers hold onto the magazine as a prized possession, instead of chucking it out after a month or two.”[4] The sheer visual beauty of All Access is due in large part to the magazine’s photographers and self-proclaimed perfectionist,such as Hiroshi,paul Maffi; in All-Access’s most recent issue the photographer G Bamford captured limited edition, luxury brand watches in all their dazzling glory, but instead of the traditional velvet boxes the timepieces rested on a bed of rock sugar creating the effect of thousands of little diamonds shimmering in the background. “My aim is to make each luxury item I photograph more desirable, more covetable than the next. It has to jump off the page so readers will go out and by the product that very day.”[5] All-Access boasts an international distribution with a circulation of 60,000 copies worldwide. Its readership is composed of affluent, discerning and well-educated professionals, with an AB social profile, who also travel regularly. Matt Morley, one of All-Access’s feature writers, comments, “Our reader is someone who is well-educated, successful, appreciates good-taste and the finer things in life, and is highly cultured and worldly.”[6] Now in its fifth year, All-Access is preparing for its Italian Spread. Due out in December, the issue will feature the best of Rome and Milan, as well as interviews with the CEO of Maserati in the UK, and an article on Donatella Versace highlighting her most recent collection. “Our goal is to keep All-Access a luxury magazine, and not be tempted by the high-street craze, like you see with so many up-scale magazines. Sure we may include an article about H & M, but only when a major name in fashion, like Lagerfeld and Viktor and Rolf, is attached to it.”[7] So what will be the future of All-Access? With so many magazine start-ups (and shut-downs) every year, will it have the substance, good fortune, and appeal to become a Tatler or Town & Country? Mo is confident about the future of his magazine: "Perhaps in good time All-Access will become All-Access Galactic, and feature luxury holidays on Jupiter and Mars."