In this chic roundup article, we quietly judge the best fashion & style magazine themes available for WordPress in 2020. If you’re planning to start your own online fashion & style magazine (something like Vogue, Elle, or Bazzar) using WordPress as a platform, one of these themes will offer a low-cost DIY entry point.
To keep the list fresh, no themes included are more than one year old. Out-of-style web designs have no place on a website devoted to fashion and style. If you find a theme on our list older than five years old, it’s because you’re reading it from the distant future–sometime following America’s nuclear war with China, presumably. Godspeed.
We also tried to limit our selections to themes that embraced magazine layouts and aesthetics, as opposed to classic blogging layouts. While simple blogs are useful for independent style bloggers, they maybe not be the best match for larger publications employing several writers. If you have something simpler in mind, and less reminiscent of Vogue & Elle, check out our lengthier collection of WordPress fashion blog themes. (Some fashion-oriented themes appear on both lists, however.)
If you’re looking for a fashion theme that supports WooCommerce, you might find this list helpful, too.
Also worth noting: I, the author of this article, researched and selected these themes by hand. I didn’t Google ‘fashion themes’ and dump the results on a list. There are tons of ’em, and these are, in my most humble opinion, the best of the (most recent) bunch. You may disagree. Feel free to yell at me about it in the comments.
OK. Let’s go.
Allure
Our top style magazine theme, Allure, is also our pick most reminiscent both Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. But the chic design is more than simply an imitation, and Allure forges its own unique character by way of layout and typography. And although we’ve chosen the most familiar header and layout for our screenshot, the theme bundles six other homepage presets, and four distinct header styles.
The homepage slider is visually engaging, and the developers have provided lots of options in the admin for further customization. Visual Composer is bundled free, for easy drag-and-drop page building. (Create and edit layouts without digging into the code.) Social sharing is integrated, and Contact Form 7 is supported. A child theme is included for developers who’ll need to do more extensive customizations.
The theme is retina-ready and responsive to give a consistent, high-performance user experience on all devices.
More Info/DownloadThe Essence
The gorgeous Essence theme embraces a slightly different aesthetic than many other fashion themes for WordPress. Instead of a bold, high-contrast, B&W design, here we find plenty of warm pastels. Although a perfect match for style websites, The Essence includes 17 different homepage layouts and a front page customizer, making this one of the most versatile, customizable selections our list.
Social features are smartly integrated, encouraging user sharing and engagement. Translation-ready 100% mobile friendly.
More Info/DownloadBlake Von Hauer
This is my favorite fashion and style magazine theme for WordPress. The only reason it didn’t get the top spot is because of my decision to to prominently feature the theme most like Vogue and Elle. To my knowledge, this doesn’t really look like any other high-profile fashion website. If it does, feel free to correct me in the comments below.
I love everything about this theme from the ground up. The design is pixel perfect, and the user experience is exemplary. The developers have opted not to include the smooth scrolling feature common on so many modern WordPress themes, and that’s a decision I can get behind. Of course, that really comes down to personal taste. Nevertheless, performance is quick and responsive, and usability soars as a result. And just take a look at the way the developers solve the common issue with image cropping. Smart.
Theme is plenty flexible, with nine layout options, and unlimited ways to tweak the header. Leaderboard functionality and sponsor posts will help to monetize your site. There’s eight widget areas, and 13 custom widgets included. MailChimp and Contact Form 7 are supported. Translation ready.
More Info/DownloadThe Gossip
Next up we have The Gossip. Design wise, this one occupies a space similar to that of Allure. (As do the next several selections.) Eight pre-defined homepage layouts are available to choose from out-of-the-box, and webmasters have twelve blog layouts at their disposal.
The Gossip includes an AJAX newsletter subscription “pop-up”, to help build that all-important mailing list. A fantastic, sweet looking gallery feature is built-in, as well as excellent social media and sharing support.
On the tech side of things, the theme is built on Twitter Bootstrap, and the code is SEO optimized to help you score a top spot in Google, Bing and other search engines. The theme provides WooCommerce support for shopping cart functionality.
More Info/DownloadStreet Style
Street Style is one of the best-selling style magazine themes of the last year. One of the highlights of this one is a lookbook feature, allowing you to annotate photos. MailChimp is integrated for building your mailing list (assuming you use MailChimp).
Performance is optimized and fast, and options are accessible via the WordPress Live Customizer help you to brand and customize the theme quickly and easily, without touching a line of code.
More Info/DownloadAmory
We debated including our next choice, Armory, simply because we worried looked a bit too much like a couple of others. You know: solid black navigation, lots of white, serif title fonts. The design isn’t terribly exciting, sure. But it’s just too good to omit, and belongs on the list.
Although the design and features are both well implemented, this one shines most in terms of versatility. There’s tons of layouts and options at your disposal, and the developers are regularly updating the theme to add more. It’s currently at version 3.
More Info/DownloadCamille
In retrospect, after pointing out the ubiquitous design elements of the themes above, I wish I had of chosen a different screenshot for Camille that illustrates one of its other homepage styles. If you’ve got some time, it might be worth clicking through to have a look. Camille includes six other distinct designs.
Other noteworthy features are advertising management, header banner support, logo positioning, and seven blog layouts. The theme supports MailChimp, Contact Form 7, and WooCommerce. Camille is performance and search engine optimized. This one should secure a good Google position, assuming the rest of your SEO game is on point.
More Info/DownloadAvocet
This classy magazine theme built especially for lifestyle and fashion writers. The minimal design and plenty of open, white space helps to focus visitors on highly readable content. The theme includes four different homepage variations, each featuring a unique header and layout.
Mobile-first sensibility and retina-ready design guarantees flawless, user-friendly experience on smart phones, high-end desktop displays, and everything in between. The Avocet theme provides space for banner ads, as well as extensive typography and color options.
More Info/DownloadThe Mag
While the design maybe self-explanatory, it’s worth noting some of the features the Mag theme has to offer. There are five different headers to choose from. Mag also supports WooCommerce for building your own online storefront. Mag includes bundled premium extras, like Slider Revolution and Visual Composer. It’s definitely worth a closer look if you’re not already sold one of the previous themes we looked at.
More Info/DownloadLook: A Style Magazine Theme
Although its simple, chic design is effective, the Look theme scores points and makes our list partly for its above average UX (user experience). Performance is fast and responsive. The designers have also managed to work in some subtle transitions and flourishes, adding a bit of visual interest to the design, without sacrificing usability.
This one comes with 10 homepage variations, with more on the way. Look includes a drag-and-drop page builder and a built-in review system. WooCommerce integration is additionally featured.
More Info/Download