Playboy rebrands nude Playmates, touts – Business News
Playboy is reviving its iconic Playboy Playmates and Bunnies as half of a broader effort to modernize the storied however long-struggling males’s magazine model — with executives insisting the publication stays a far cry from pornography.
“There’s always been a difference between Playboy and porn, especially the kinds of porn that are really prevalent today and that people have access to just by having a Twitter account or a Reddit account,” Phillip Picardi, Playboy’s editor-in-chief and chief model officer, informed Press Gazette over the weekend.
“[A]nd so I actually found the challenge of bringing back an artfulness and a thoughtfulness to nudity to be super exciting as a creative.”
Model and actress Cara Delevingne seems on the quilt of Playboy’s Summer 2026 challenge, the second version of the magazine’s relaunched quarterly print publication. Zoey Grossman for Playboy
The relaunched quarterly magazine has already offered out the modest print run of its first challenge, that includes Colombian pop star Karol G, based on Press Gazette.
A second challenge — that includes model and actress Cara Delevingne carrying solely a latex corset — was unveiled final week with a barely bigger print run deliberate.
Picardi and David Miller, Playboy’s president of media and model, have been employed this 12 months to revive the company’s media operation after common print publication led to 2020.
The relaunch is concentrated on restoring the storytelling that when drove Playboy’s status whereas increasing the model throughout digital, social media and video.
Picardi, Playboy’s first brazenly homosexual editor-in-chief, stated ladies who seem as Playmates or cowl stars resolve how a lot of their our bodies they need to reveal and are “fully involved” within the inventive course of, together with approving photographers and stylists.
Pamela Anderson on the February 1991 cowl of Playboy magazine. Playboy
“I stop short of calling what we do at Playboy feminist, because I think that’s a loaded term, and I’m sure many people would disagree with that qualification,” he stated.
“But what I will say is what our approach with nudity has always been: that it is up to a woman how much she has to show on set.”
He added that Playboy goals to current more genuine imagery than in many years previous.
Vikki LaMotta reads the Playboy challenge she posed for in 1981. Getty Images
“There just is an authenticity and a rawness to the images that I’ve gotten really good feedback about,” Picardi stated.
“Not just from men, but outstanding feedback from women.”
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner with Playboy Bunnies. After his death in 2017, former girlfriends, Playmates and staff alleged he fostered a tradition of manipulation, coercion and sexual exploitation. Getty Images
Playboy reported $120.9 million in income during 2025, up 4% from a 12 months earlier, whereas narrowing its web loss to $12.7 million from $79.4 million in 2024, based on figures cited by Press Gazette.
Founded by Hugh Hefner in Chicago in 1953, Playboy turned one of probably the most influential magazines of the twentieth century, pairing nude centerfolds with celeb interviews and long-form journalism.
At its peak within the early Seventies, circulation topped 7 million copies a month.
But the web eroded Playboy’s greatest benefit by making specific content material extensively accessible totally free.
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner poses with Playboy Bunnies during the magazine’s heyday. WireImage
The magazine dropped nudity in 2015 earlier than restoring it two years later, shifted to quarterly publication in 2019 and halted common print manufacturing in 2020.
Today, Playboy operates primarily as a licensing and life-style model, with the relaunched print magazine serving as one piece of a broader strategy that features attire, digital media, hospitality and different client companies.
Hefner, who died in 2017 at age 91, has confronted renewed scrutiny in recent times after former girlfriends, Playmates and staff accused him of fostering a tradition of manipulation, coercion and sexual exploitation on the Playboy Mansion.
The allegations resurfaced within the 2022 A&E docuseries “Secrets of Playboy,” prompting the company to distance itself from Hefner’s legacy.
Pamela Anderson posed on the quilt of the October 1989 challenge of Playboy. Playboy
Dr. Lillian Glass, a human habits and media analyst, questioned whether or not the revived Playboy might resonate in an period dominated by web pornography and social media.
“Playboy is a brand of the past,” she informed The Post.
“It was devised when there was no access to internet porn that is so readily available today or seeing sites like OnlyFans pop up regularly.”
She additionally argued the company continues to grapple with Hefner’s legacy.
Hugh Hefner with Kristina and Karissa Shannon and Crystal Harris in 2009. WireImage
“With all the recent allegations attributed to Hefner after his death… this is not a brand that will be welcomed with open arms,” she stated.
The Post has sought remark from Playboy.
