Elle

Fashion monthly published in Italy by RCS and directed by Daniela Giussani. It is the Italian edition of Elle, the cult magazine founded in Paris in 1945 by Hélène Lazareff. The first issue came out on 17 September 1987. For the market in women’s magazines, the moment was hot: the Italian edition of Marie Claire (the principal rival of Elle) had just been launched, and the new Rusconi weekly Eva was about to be published. Elle, directed by Carla Sozzani, aimed at a decidedly higher target, with sophisticated, refined graphics. It was conceived for a young, cultivated urban woman with a middle to high income who wanted a magazine to provide suggestions about fashion and beauty. The initial circulation was 300,000 copies and the first issue was a success. But success stopped there. By the second issue circulation already began to drop. Sozzani left, and the fifth issue, in January 1998, was edited by Lamberto Sechi, the editorial director at RCS. In March, Daniela Giussani was hired as co-editor. In July, she became sole editor and introduced small but specific changes: sections about news, travel, women’s stories, and many columns made Elle a more approachable magazine, and things began to change, with circulation slowly rising to a steady 150,000 copies. Thanks to synergies with the 29 international editions, Elle became known for its capacity to anticipate fashions and trends on a world-wide basis.
After 16 years, Daniela Giussani leaves the monthly to become editorial director at EDIF, which publishes Elle and Elle Décor. The new editor is Danda Santini, who arrives from Glamour.