American magazine with a French accent

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, March, 1986 by John Peters

American magazine with a French accent

No field is too crowded for the right magazine. Elle's success is a textbook example. Like great French cooking, Elle depends on the right ingredients as well as a deceptive amount of taste, timing, skill and experience.

Since 1945, the French Elle has been a phenomenon unknown in this country: a successful fashion weekly. Elle's launch here was an experienced one. In 1983, Hachette's subsidiary Edi Sept was invited by Bloomingdale's, the New York department store, to publish a special English edition of Elle in conjunction with the "Fete de France" promotion. Following its surprising success, three special seasonal issues were tested before Daniel Filipacchi's Edi Sept linked up with Murdoch Magazines to launch Elle as a monthly in September 1985.

The vital ingredient imported from France is the point of view. Elle was the first to glorify "street fashion"--what people, not designers, do with clothes. Elle makes the point that it is not a fashion magazine but a magazine of style. This echoes the dress designer Coco Chanel's explanation that "Fashion changes but style stays the same."

Publisher Marybeth Russell explains, "The idea is that the Elle reader will do her own selecting, editing and adapting to come out with her own very distinct style." The idea also is that from the arts to food, Elle's message is to live with style.

Like experienced chefs, editor in chief Karen Anderegg (from Vogue and Mademoiselle) and publisher Marybeth Russell (from Glamour, Woman's Wear Daily and W) feel the timing is right. Russell, who calls what's happening here the "Europeanization of America," says, "Travel to Europe is the key--people's sights go beyond our shores in terms of cuisine, fashion and lifestyle. Even Sara Lee is doing croissants these days. From a marketing standpoint, it's the right time and the right place for Elle in the United States."

Design is extra important in a fashion magazine. M.F. Agha and Alexy Brodovitch won fame as art directors of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar, respectively. Brodovitch aptly described the creative challenge: "Each issue is a closet full of clothes." Publication director Regis Pagniez, at the top of Elle's masthead, brings his French Elle experience and reputation as one of the top magazine designers in Paris to the U.S Elle.

Large 9" x 10-3/4" size, lively layout, typography and photography are combined with fine gravure printing and rich paper. Elle has no monopoly on these things. Many fashion magazines can probably prove they also have created pages like these--and probably before Elle. The interesting fact is that the Elle design consists of surprisingly few basic formats.

For all its lively look with type set at angles, it is a remarkably disciplined visual performance. The bulk of the photography is full bleed for silhouette studio shots. Ninety-eight percent of the type is two san serif faces, Futura and Newton. It is the consistency and total effect that add up to the Elle look. It reflects the French attitude toward fashion: quality combined with imagination.

However, despite his and Elle's background, Regis adds, "The American edition is another publication entirely. It is put together here with American talent and American models for American readers."