The Wall Street Journal's Emily Steel has a story today about thin September fashion magazines and dwindling revenue from fashion marketers.

The sad truth is, this year's September fashion books are paltry shadows of what once were the biggest, fattest magazines of the year. But, are fashion marketers diverting funds once pumped into glossy, full-page ads into online advertising options? Not exactly, although marketers like Louis Vuitton North America and Diane von Furstenberg had upped their online ad spending, Steel said.

"It doesn't amount to much yet, but it represents one of the few slices of the industry's marketing budget that are expanding."

Magazines need ad revenues to survive. And marketers will hopefully still go to magazines to advertise, even if they're buying Web ads, as long as the pubs can promise a consistent audience. This means that publishers and editors will have to work to keep improving their Web sites to draw readers with fresh content and innovative ideas.

We've seen a few Web site relaunches in the past year, but we imagine there will be more as magazine publishers start to understand the importance of the Web as as source of revenue and exposure. Magazines will be able to survive in print form if their leaders can think beyond the business model where print ads are king. It's about time.

Thick Fashion Magazines Are So Last Year Wall Street Journal