What ‘Conservative Cosmo’ Thinks Women Want

The Evie reader can work. She can be a mom. It’s her choice. It’s just not feminism.

“Does Brittany look oppressed to you?” Gabriel Hugoboom asked, gesturing toward his wife.

Mrs. Hugoboom did not. The model, clad in thigh-high black boots, was perched on a cream-colored couch in the couple’s new apartment, poking fun at her critics. As editor in chief of Evie, a women’s publication opposed to what she calls “modern” feminism, Mrs. Hugoboom has been accused of participating in her own subjugation and undermining women’s rights, claims she finds ridiculous and unfair.

“There are all these people that are so triggered and angry that we exist,” she said. Those seeking left-wing views had other publications to read, she added: “Why can’t there be one that offers women an alternative?”

Behind her, floor-to-ceiling windows showed off a dizzying view of the city’s skyline. The turnkey rental in Midtown Manhattan was a work in progress, since half of the Hugobooms’ belongings were still in Miami, where they had lived until last month. But it was spotless, luxurious and spacious enough for them to fit their two young daughters (as well as the relatives who often fly in to help care for them) and work from home on building what they call their “feminine” business empire.

The Hugobooms, both 33, are co-founders of two companies: Evie, a glossy magazine and website that Mrs. Hugoboom has described as a “conservative Cosmo,” and 28, a menstrual cycle-based wellness app backed by the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel. Through 28, they sell a supplement called “Toxic Breakup” that encourages women to quit hormonal birth control, and through Evie, they release limited-edition clothing — most recently, a corseted “raw milkmaid” sundress “inspired by the hardworking dairymaids of 18th-century Europe.”

“We want to build the one-stop shop for femininity,” said Mrs. Hugoboom, who is the public face of both businesses.