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Alastair McKimm has joined Visual Talent Ltd. as chief creative officer, the British media company known for magazines Wonderland, Man About Town and Rollacoaster announced Thursday. With the appointment, McKimm and Visual Talent Ltd. chairman and chief executive Peter Jones have co-founded Prototype_ magazine and a new creative agency called VTG Studios, which will focus on branded content, partnerships and events. Their joint venture is based in New York.
“Having the opportunity to start a magazine and a creative studio is a career-long dream of mine,” said McKimm, who will serve as Prototype_’s editor in chief, in a statement.
The bi-annual print publication will focus on fashion and culture. Its first issue will be published later this year.
Born and raised in Northern Ireland, McKimm served as i-D’s editor in chief from 2019 to 2024 and as its fashion director from 2013 to 2018. He announced his departure from the British youth culture and fashion publication a day after Karlie Kloss — who had acquired the magazine in 2023 through her publication company Bedford Media — announced the magazine would cease print and digital publication while restructuring its business model. Since then, McKimm has served as fashion and image director at large for Vogue France.
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McKimm joins other editors who’ve exited from top-ranking positions to launch new media initiatives, including Linda Wells, Allure’s founding editor in chief who went on to launch Air Mail’s spinoff beauty title Air Mail Look, and his i-D predecessor Edward Enninful, for whom McKimm previously served as an assistant. Enninful left his joint positions as European editorial director of Vogue and editor in chief of British Vogue in 2024 and subsequently founded the digital and quarterly print magazine EE72.
Wonderland launched under Visual Talent Ltd. in 2005 after Jones invested £175,000 ($235,000) for 40 percent equity in the publication after editor Huw Gwyther pitched it the previous year on the first season of British television series “Dragons’ Den,” a reality show in which entrepreneurs pitch business ideas to potential investors.
“[Alastair and I] both relish the challenge of transforming visions into reality and working together gives us the chance to tap into a powerful, refined and culturally aligned vision that will drive a new impactful modern fashion narrative,” Jones said in a statement.
