Hugh Hefner has died aged 91 in his well-known mansion in Holmby Hills. This man has been best known for the lifestyle magazine that he founded in 1953 which had a revolutionary approach to men and women relationship.
The life story of one of the most famous men in history didn’t always include many beautiful girls around him. His biography is impressive as he also served in US army in second world war. Hefner was born in 1926 in Chicago and later on graduated from the University of Illinois. Before he launched his magazine, he was a writer for Esquire, but things changed since his first issue of the magazine was sold in 50,000 copies. All this was funded by an investment of $8,000 and it certainly heavily paid off for people that decided to help this man.
At this moment, Cooper Hefner, son of the icon is the chief creative officer of the enterprise that his father built, has said: “My father lived an exceptional and impactful life as a media and cultural pioneer and a leading voice behind some of the most significant social and cultural movements of our time in advocating free speech, civil rights and freedom.”
Hefner’s son continued by adding that his father defined and lived in a style that has been promoted by his brand. This will certainly leave a huge mark in the history as he was one of the people that revolutionized the industry.
For many, Hefner was someone that exploited the popularity of Marilyn Monroe and her earlier pictures before she became famous. This allowed his magazine to receive huge publicity and skyrocket it on the market.
Content that was served helped his company in getting a huge number of fans which then translated to the possibility for them to approach many other stars in the Hollywood and wider. The list of names that gave an interview for the magazine is impressive, and it includes people like Marlon Brando, Miles Davis, Frank Sinatra, Fidel Castro, Jimmy Carter, John Lenon and so on.
Hefner’s brand grew rapidly, and they added branches that were dedicated to film, clothing, printed media, accessories, fragrances, jewelry and much more. Bunny logo certainly became one of the most popular and best-known logos of all time. The company is reportedly making more than $1bn every year.
Magazine easily reached 200,000 in the first year while it jumped to more than 7 million sold copies by the 1970s. This didn’t stop there since in 1960 Hefner decided to open few clubs all over the world, and those were quite unique as the waitresses that worked there needed to wear provocative wardrobe that included bunny ears and fluffy white bunny tails.
Both lifestyle and the magazine that was published by Hefner attracted many critics, especially those from feminists and conservative circles. It certainly didn’t help him the fact that he claimed he had slept with 1,000 women.
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