''Ikonz'' is a national entertainment magazine published in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It was a print magazine between 2006 and 2011.

Background

The publication was launched as a regional monthly glossy in December 2006 by AEM Worldwide. Its official national UK launch took place in February 2007. ''Ikonz'' caters for young

British Asian British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British people of Asian people, Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with a population of 5.76 million people or 8.6 ...

s, focusing on the

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

and

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

in both

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

. The magazine also carries mainstream British

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

gossip, fashion and entertainment stories throughout.

Content

''Ikonz'' is primarily aimed at British Asian women, although not as directly as in other Asian magazines. Initially, the publication balanced editorial for both male and female audiences with distinct urban influences. Following a revamp in September 2007, a large portion of the magazine adopted a more female orientated theme with equal coverage afforded to mainstream content. A series of high-profile mainstream interviews, including exclusives with

Halle Berry Halle Maria Berry ( ; born Maria Halle Berry; August 14, 1966) is an American actress. She began her career as a model and entered several beauty contests, finishing as the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant of 1986 and also placing six ...

Jessica Alba Jessica Marie Alba ( ; born April 28, 1981) is an American actress and businesswoman. She began her acting career at age 13 in ''Camp Nowhere'', followed up by ''The Secret World of Alex Mack'' (both 1994), and rose to prominence at age 19 as ...

, and

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

, have encouraged the growth of the publication. These, along with Brit-Asian and urban interviews such as

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men ( ) is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. Formed in 1985, they have been a trio composed of baritone Nathan Morris, tenor Wanya Morris, Wanyá Mo ...

Keisha White Keisha White is an English R&B singer. She has released two albums: '' Seventeen'' in 2005 and '' Out of My Hands'' in 2006. She is best known however for her song "Someday", which served as the theme to the CBBC television series '' The Story o ...

Richard Blackwood Richard Clifford Blackwood (born 15 May 1972) is a British actor, presenter, and rapper. Between 2015 and 2018, he played Vincent Hubbard in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. In 2020, he began portraying the role of Felix Westwood in the Chan ...

Jay Sean Kamaljit Singh Jhooti (born 26 March 1981), known professionally as Jay Sean, is a British singer and songwriter. He debuted in the UK's Asian Underground scene as a member of the Rishi Rich Project with " Dance with You", which reached No. ...

and

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

, have allowed the publication to increase its appeal However, the magazine's key south Asian content remains in the form of Bollywood interviews with A-list artists including

Amitabh Bachchan Amitabh Bachchan (; 11 October 1942) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is often considered one of the greatest, most accomplished and commercially successful actors in the history of Indian cinema.* * * * * With a cinemati ...

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi cinema. Referred to in the media as the "Padishah, Baadshah of Bollywood" and "King Khan", he has Shah Rukh K ...

Shilpa Shetty Shilpa Shetty Kundra (born Ashwini Shetty, 8 June 1975) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi, Kannada and Telugu films. She made her screen debut in the thriller '' Baazigar'' (1993) which gained her first nomination for the Film ...

Aishwarya Rai Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (; Rai; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress who is primarily known for her work in Hindi and Tamil language, Tamil films. Rai won the Miss World 1994 pageant and later established herself as one of the most-popu ...

and

Bipasha Basu Bipasha Basu (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she List of awards and nominations received by Bipasha Basu, has received a Filmfare Awards, Filmfare Award. In the 2000s and 2010s, she was ...

. In July 2007, it ran special coverage of the IIFA awards. Also featured heavily are British Bhangra artists. ''Ikonz'' is the only British Asian publication to have regular contributions from mainstream celebrities. In October 2007, actors

Kevin Sacre Kevin Sacre-Dallerup (born Kevin Bignell on 23 March 1978), accessed 30 May 2007 is a British actor. He is most famous for his performance as Jake Dean in the Channel 4 British soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', a role he played from 2002 to 2010. Ear ...

Ricky Whittle Richard George Whittle (born 31 December 1979) is a British actor. Whittle first came to prominence as a model for Reebok in the early 2000s. He is known in the United Kingdom for his role as Calvin Valentine in the soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. ...

and

Sam Darbyshire Sam Darbyshire (born 26 March 1989) is an English television actor best known for his role as Jamie "Fletch" Fletcher on the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. He has also appeared in several advertisements and had a small role in ''Coronation St ...

from television soap

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

appeared in a special

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

photo feature for the magazine, alongside presenters from the

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...

. The feature was reproduced by national publications including the Daily Star and

More (magazine) ''More'' was a women's lifestyle magazine published 10 times a year by the Meredith Corporation with a rate base of 1.3 million and a circulation of 1.8 million. A Canadian version was published under license by Transcontinental from 2007 t ...

. The magazine took the step to support glamour model

Katie Price Katrina Amy Alexandra Alexis Price (''née'' Infield; born 22 May 1978) is an English media personality and model. She gained recognition in the late 1990s for her glamour modelling work, including on Page 3 of the tabloid newspaper ''The Su ...

in November 2007, following the publication in

Heat (magazine) ''Heat'' is an English entertainment magazine published by Bauer Media Group. Its mix of celebrity news, gossip, beauty advice and fashion is primarily aimed at women, although not as directly as in other women's magazines. It also features mo ...

of an offensive sticker mocking Price's son Harvey.

Personnel

The editor of ''Ikonz'' is Reena Combo, with

Adam Yosef Adam Yosef (born September 1981) is a British journalist, photojournalist and political activist. Background Yosef was born in September 1981 in Marston Green, England and is of South Asian and Middle Eastern heritage, with family from Ind ...

as the sub editor. The magazine's editorial team includes editorial assistants, contributors, international correspondents and freelance writers and photographers.

New Media

''Ikonz'' magazine is complemented by a website, an online video channel, a blog and online profiles including

myspace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

and

facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

. These mediums are edited by the Ikonz New Media Team and are an online interpretation of the magazine's style and 'personality'. In September 2007, the magazine launched a television advertising campaign. In February 2011, ''Ikonz'' magazine was relaunched as an online-only format, rebranded as 'Ikonz World'.

Charity

In December 2007, ''Ikonz'' donated

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

gifts to the

Birmingham Children's Hospital Birmingham Children's Hospital is a specialist children's hospital located in Birmingham, England. The hospital provides a range of specialist services and operates the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) for the city. The serv ...

Recognition

*In December 2007, ''Ikonz'' became the only ethnic partner for

Clothes Show Live The Clothes Show (formerly Clothes Show Live) was a consumer exhibition brand held annually from 1989 to 2016 in December at the Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre, and in Liverpool in July 2017. The event showcased the latest fashion, b ...

. *In December 2007, the magazine became an official partner of the Asian Style Awards, due to be held in 2008. *In November 2007, editor Reena Combo was nominated by the Institute of Asian Business (IAB), a division of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, as Outstanding Woman in Business 2007. *In August 2007, ''Ikonz'' joined forces with

Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in London in 1835 by the French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud. One of the early main attractions was the Chamber of Horrors, which appeared in advertising in 1843. In 1883, the restricted space of ...

to select the next Bollywood star to appear at the

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

attraction. *In June 2007, ''Ikonz'' was appointed an official partner to the IIFA awards, held in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

References

* - BizAsia, January 2011
New heroes in a house of wax
- Financial Times, January 2008
'Torchwood's success is down to Cardiff'
- South Wales Echo, January 2008
Salman Khan immortalized at Madame Tussauds
- The Asian News, January 2008
Disparate colours of racism
- Hindustan Times, January 2008

- Ethnic Now, December 2007
Presents donated to children's hospital
- Asian Age, December 2007

- Sky News, November 2007
Heat magazine apologises to Jordan for using disabled son on sticker
- Times Online, November 2007
X Factor boyband Boys II Men slam Simon Cowell
- Showbiz Spy, November 2007

- Digital Spy, November 2007
Ikonz only ethnic partner of Clothes Show Live
- Clickwalla, November 2007

- Ethnic Now, November 2007
Ikonz Magazine Backs Jordan’s Complaint Against Heat
- Simply Bhangra, November 2007

- Madame Tussauds, October 2007

- Channel 4, October 2007

- Channel 4, October 2007
Ikonz mag dresses up for Halloween
- Asians in Media, October 2007 * - BizAsia, September 2007
Many Asians 'do not feel British'
- BBC News, July 2007
Richard Blackwood in Bollywood debut
- Black UK Online, May 2007 * Bollywood star unveiled at Madame Tussauds - Wikinews, April 2007
‘Asian Heat’ secures nationwide distribution
- Press Gazette, March 2007 *{{usurped,
Ikonz, the new Asian entertainment mag gets launched
} - Asians in Media, March 2007 * Big Brother star meets Tony Blair, February 2007

External links

Ikonz magazine myspaceIkonz magazine video channel
Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Entertainment magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 2006 Magazines disestablished in 2011 Mass media in Birmingham, West Midlands Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Online magazines published in the United Kingdom Online magazines with defunct print editions