Softgrit #1

215 x 280mm, 72 pages

Toronto, Canada

Biannual

Published since 2025

Editor-in-chief: Jack Matthews

Creative Director: Jack Matthews & Sarah Bavington

‘A mildly abrasive magazine’

Softgrit is a new culture magazine from Toronto that explores fashion, sex, media, and cultural archetypes with sharp wit and playful design.

The first issue addresses desire and identity, detailing the best songs featuring orgasms (‘Sex Dwarf’ and ‘Je T’aime’ for two) and polling friends to reveal trends in pubic hair. There’s an interview with perfumier Frances Shoemack, a study of the Loser archetype, and its unlikely rescue, and a nice take on the traditional Hot/Not list.

It’s a clever mix of tropes—part zine, part glossy mag—that add up to a promising start.