Metromania: Off the planet

WHAT the world needs now is love, sweet love - that's the only thing there's just too little of. That and movies starring Linda Fiorentino. But does the world need another fashion rag?

The bimonthly Planet bills itself as 'uncompromisingly stylish' - well, it would, wouldn't it - and carries the usual profiles of movers and shakers the publishers have targeted as their prey: 'A controlled circulation will ensure that the magazine reaches every influential style guru.' It looks and feels good (premium matt card and paper, it says here); it has a big typeface that says things like BEAUTIFUL ANGRY GHOSTS INSPIRED BY DISTANT CULTURES; there's a piece by Red or Dead's Wayne Hemingway on British fashion (it's the same old song) and Brian de Palma's daughter, Laura, doing the model thing, and . . . well, you're ahead of me, right?

While it would be unfair to expect the first issue of Planet to repackage the inevitable ingredients so that they became irresistible, I did, foolish thing, hope for something more than a glorified school magazine for networkers and a photo spread of the model Nick Moss flaunting short hair - not that it does a thing for him . . .