Smiles at 'The Face' amid rescue bid reports

The obituaries written for the style press may have been premature, as it emerged last night that a number of potential new buyers have come forward to revive the critically ill fashion bible The Face.

Its publishers, Emap, announced last month the magazine was facing closure after a collapse in its circulation, with only 25,000 copies sold in Britain. Several independent publishers and capital venture firms are understood to have since expressed an interest in giving another chance to the iconic publication that was unrivalled in documenting the fashion trends of the 1980s but has undergone a steady fall from grace.

Hachette Filipacchi, the French-owned publisher of Elle and Red magazine, is said to be among the possible new owners of The Face.

Staff on the magazine were hoping last night that they would be able to keep hold of their jobs as rumours began to circulate of a potential rescue package. Neil Stevenson, the editor, had earlier made a last ditch attempt to save the title with an email-based "Save The Face" campaign, but his efforts appeared to have counted for nothing when Emap decided the magazine was no longer viable.

Emap Consumer Media's chief executive Paul Keenan issued a statement last month saying: "Publication of The Face has been suspended pending its radical reinvention, sale or closure." He said that his group would be concentrating their efforts on other Emap titles including Arena, Arena Homme Plus and Pop. Yesterday it was unclear whether the 20-strong editorial team at The Face would have a future on the magazine if the title was rescued by a buyer.

The Face was launched in 1980. In its heyday, it sold 70,000 copies a month and was the magazine to be seen with.

The title was acquired by Emap in 1999 and Mr Stevenson was recruited from the celebrity gossip website Popbitch to make it more attractive to a younger readership.

The apparent demise of The Face, which followed the relaunch of Sleazenation and declining sales across the sector, led to a succession of articles on the decline of the style press. The writer Toby Young wrote off The Face as "an anachronism, the in-house magazine of a clique whose moment has passed". It was argued that the material that had sustained such magazines was now beinng regularly covered in national newspapers.

Other commentattors pointed to the rise of the internet as a source of style tips. In an interview with Media Week, Andy Capper, editor of the style magazine Vice, admitted the market was in a dire condition. "Style mags have had their day ... you've only got to look at the declining circulation of some of them to see that."

Titles such as Wallpaper, Flux and Dazed & Confused have all seen their sales figures drop in the past 12 months, but the interest in The Face suggests that some publishers feel there is still a readership for titles that specialise in music, fashion and popular culture.

Jo Blake, a media director for Carat, which handles high-profile clients including Dior, told a trade magazine recently: "I think there's definitely life left in style magazines."