LOS ANGELES, Dec. 2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Playboy magazine officially kicked off its year-long 60^th anniversary celebration today with the release of the magazine's highly anticipated January/February 2014 double issue, featuring Kate Moss in an unprecedented 18-page pictorial and cover appearance photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.

Playboy's 60^th anniversary edition is available digitally on iPlayboy.com beginning today, and on newsstands across the country starting Friday, December 6. Exclusive outtakes and video from the shoot will also be available on www.playboy.com/katemoss as of Friday, December 6.

"Sixty years ago, I created Playboy magazine with an intent to reflect on and influence the cultural changes taking place in America, as well as to become the voice of sophisticated men all over the world," said Founder and Editor-in-Chief  Hugh M. Hefner.  "From its beginning, Playboy has stood for freedom of speech, freedom of choice and freedom of the press. I am so proud to celebrate this anniversary as the magazine continues its mission to promote these core values many decades later."

"Playboy's anniversary edition is a testament to 60 years of beautiful women, discerning taste, sexual emancipation, groundbreaking fiction and world-changing journalism," said Editorial Director Jimmy Jellinek.  "Having Kate Moss, a global icon and the most important supermodel of the past 25 years, appear on our cover makes this issue the perfect way to launch Playboy's next 60 years."

To help mark the occasion, Marc Jacobs has produced a numbered, limited edition of the 60^th anniversary issue featuring an exclusive photo of Kate Moss by Mert & Marcus (available in Bookmarc and select Marc Jacobs stores). Additionally, Marc Jacobs has collaborated with the magazine to create a t-shirt featuring the exclusive cover image (available at select Marc Jacobs stores and online at marcjacobs.com).  Proceeds from the sale of all commemorative items will go to benefit amfAR. Kate Moss will be stopping by Marc Jacobs' Bookmarc (24-25 Mount Street, London) today to sign product. In celebration of Playboy's anniversary issue, a private party hosted by Marc Jacobs and Kate Moss will take place this evening at Playboy Club London.

In addition to its much-buzzed about Kate Moss pictorial, Playboy's 60^th anniversary issue delivers the outstanding journalism and award-winning content the magazine is known for, with a unique mix of essays, articles, fiction and interviews.  Highlights from the milestone issue include:

• Essays from playwright David Mamet, tech pioneer Jaron Lanier, philosopher Slavoj Zizek, experimental fiction king Mark Leyner, novelist Rick Moody, Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Buzz Bissinger, Buzzfeed Editor-in-Chief Ben Smith, acclaimed environmental expert Alex Hall, and legendary comedian Gilbert Gottfried
• Sex: A Very Oral Report: A panel of 12 feminists—including Erica Jong, Naomi Wolf, Jane Pratt, Aisha Tyler, Natasha Leggero, and Dr. Ruth—speak about the best and worst of sexual liberation in modern America
• The Dead Letter File: 60 years of archived correspondence to come over the transom, including letters from Bertrand Russell, Hunter S. Thompson, Ronald Reagan, Ian Fleming, Lenny Bruce, Truman Capote and William S. Burroughs
• Playboy, Magazine Ads and the Original Mad Man:  George Lois examines 60 years of the most creative and downright peculiar ads to have run in the magazine
• The Playboy Interview with Ben Affleck; 20Q with Patton Oswalt; an exclusive comic from Joe Casey; new fiction from B.J. Novak and Don Wislow; and the magazine's 60^th anniversary Playmate

The Celebration Continues
Playboy will continue its 60^th anniversary celebration with a series of international events, commemorative product, pop-up shops, and co-branded collaborations to be announced throughout 2014.  Celebration highlights for 2013 include:

• A collaboration with top Japanese designers in partnership with Special Product Design on a line of men's and women's clothing and accessories that pay homage to Playboy's brand heritage and magazine roots
• The reveal of artist Richard Phillips' "Playboy Charger" at an exhibition concurrent to Art Basel Miami Beach, a project under the direction of Playboy's Creative Director of Special Projects Neville Wakefield (December 3)
• Playboy and Ad Age's "Marketing to Men" forum, where the best and brightest in men's marketing will convene in New York for an afternoon of keynote speakers, educational panels, and Q&A discussions (December 4)
• An invite-only 60^th anniversary party at M1NT Shanghai, one of Asia's most exclusive nightclubs, hosted by Cooper Hefner (December 13)

Playboy's Chief Executive Officer Scott Flanders said: "Over the course of our 60-year history, Playboy has evolved into a global brand and lifestyle that now reaches tens of millions of men and women in just about every corner of the world.  As we look ahead to the company's next 60 years, the magazine continues to inspire us by bringing a new energy and enthusiasm to the iconic Playboy brand."

Historical Background
Founded by Hugh M. Hefner in 1953, Playboy magazine has become a tastemaker, an arbiter of style and a vanguard for political, sexual and economic freedom for the past 60 years.

The magazine's first issue was assembled by the then-27-year-old Hefner on the kitchen table of his South Side Chicago apartment.  It featured Marilyn Monroe on the cover with her now-famous nude calendar photo inside, and was financed with just $600 of Hefner's own money and less than $8,000 of raised capital (including $1,000 from his mother).

Playboy's first issue appeared on newsstands in December 1953 and sold more than 51,000 copies.  It did not carry a cover date because Hefner was not sure when or if he would be able to produce another. The magazine quickly became a part of America's pop cultural landscape, so much so that in 1959 a New York reader was able to successfully send Playboy a letter with the magazine's signature Rabbit Head symbol as the only address.

Over the course of its 60 year history, Playboy has become one of the world's best-selling men's monthly magazines, with an award-winning blend of editorial content that includes celebrity interviews, humor, current social and political issues, short fiction, lifestyle pieces, and pictorials.  Some of the world's most famous women have appeared in its pages, including Marilyn Monroe, Cindy Crawford, Bettie Page, Naomi Campbell, Ursula Andress, Elle Macpherson, Farrah Fawcett, Rachel Hunter, Raquel Welch, Eva Herzigova, Bo Derek, Drew Barrymore, Gabrielle Reece, Carol Alt, Kelly Brook, Belinda Carlisle, Stephanie Seymour, Charisma Carpenter, Tara Reid, Iman, Daryl Hannah, Kim Kardashian, Sharon Stone, Tiffany, Grace Jones, Suzanne Somers, Kim Basinger, Anna Nicole Smith, Deborah Gibson, Lindsay Lohan, La Toya Jackson, Paulina Porizkova, Garcelle Beauvais, Teri Polo, Denise Richards, Brooke Burke, Rosanna Arquette, Jaime Pressly, Carmen Electra, Jerry Hall, Jenny McCarthy, Joan Collins, Paz de la Huerta, Lizzy Jagger, Lisa Rinna, Shari Belafonte, Joanna Krupa, Karina Smirnoff and Pamela Anderson. 

The first Playboy Interview, conducted by Alex Haley with jazz great Miles Davis in 1962, established Playboy as a controversial social and political sounding board for some of the most influential figures of our time.   More than 600 renowned individuals have sat for the Playboy Interview over the years, with a subject list that includes some of the most noteworthy names in politics, academia, the business world and Hollywood including, the Beatles, Muhammad Ali, Steve Jobs, Bob Dylan, Malcolm X, Jerry Bruckheimer, Cameron Diaz, Jon Stewart, Justin Timberlake, Ayn Rand, Jack Lemmon, Princess Grace, Jesse Ventura, Orson Welles, Ralph Nader, Jesse Jackson, Sean Connery, Jennifer Lopez, Samuel L. Jackson, Bobby Knight, George Clooney, Ray Charles, Mae West, Tennessee Williams, Quincy Jones, Walter Cronkite, Clint Eastwood, Groucho Marx, Jane Fonda, Stephen Colbert, Matt Stone & Trey Parker, Robert Redford, Elton John, Barbra Streisand, Luciano Pavarotti, Bette Davis, Dan Rather, Goldie Hawn, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, Yasir Arafat, Michael Jordan, Jerry Seinfeld, Clive Davis, Matt Groening, Sally Field, David Letterman, Johnny Depp, Martin Scorsese, Whoopi Goldberg, Harrison Ford, Denzel Washington, Willie Nelson, Jay Z, Matt Damon, Jim Carrey, The Google Guys, Will Smith, Woody Allen, Ben Affleck, Oliver Stone, The Dixie Chicks, Tina Fey, Kayne West, Helen Thomas, Ai Weiwei, Charlie Sheen, Lance Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Tom Cruise, Dr. Martin Luther King, Bill Gates, John Mayer, Jack Nicholson, Masters & Johnson, Fidel Castro, Sean Combs, Richard Branson and President Jimmy Carter. 

Additionally, the list of artists, writers, journalists and photographers who have contributed to Playboy contain many of the most pre-eminent names in fiction, journalism, film, photography and contemporary arts, including: Andy Warhol, Ian Fleming, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Michael Crichton, Deepak Chopra, Donald Winslow, LeRoy Neiman, Jack Kerouac, Salvador Dali, James Franco, Tom Wesselmann, Ray Bradbury, Naomi Wolf, William F. Buckley, Jr., Margaret Atwood, Shel Silverstein, Norman Mailer, Jay McInerney, Joel Stein, Annie Leibovitz, Roger Ebert, Ed Paschke, Patrick Nagel, Nadine Gordimer, Helmut Newton, Anne Rice, Mario Puzo, Brett Ratner, Michael Bay, Jimmy Breslin, Grant Morrison, Joyce Carol Oates, Patrick Demarchelier, Scott Turow, Roald Dahl, Guido Argentini, Abbie Hoffman, Ron Kovic, Ellen Von Unwerth, John Steinbeck, Sante D'Orazio, B.J. Novak, Andrew Brietbart, Paul Krassner, Gore Vidal, Stephen King, David Mamet, Spike Lee, David LaChapelle, Woody Allen, Donna Tartt, Chuck Palahniuk, Sheryl Nields, Neal Pollack, James Rosen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Herb Ritts, Irvine Welsh, Tom Clancy, Cindy Sherman, Marcus Klinko, Truman Capote, Lauren Weisberger, Richard Lewis, Hunter S. Thompson, Anton Chekhov, Terry Richardson, Jonathan Safran Foer, Hype Williams, Vladimir Nabokov, Jodi Picoult, Mark Boal, Mick Rock, Bret Easton Ellis, T.C. Boyle, James Ellroy and Ethan Coen.

As one of the world's most recognized brands, today Playboy reaches nearly 40 million fans across the globe through its 29 editions, online and television properties, social media channels, and licensed products sold in more than 25,000 stores in 180 countries.

The company is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California.

SOURCE Playboy Enterprises, Inc.