Elle magazine was founded in France in 1945 by journalist Hélène Gordon-Lazareff and her husband Pierre Lazareff. Hélène was originally a writer for children's pages but moved on to becoming the editor of the woman's pages in The New York Times. After getting experience in magazines, she decided to create her own after the second world war. She named the magazine Elle which is French for 'she'. Elle was launched on the 21st November in 1945.
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| The first cover of Elle, 1945 |
Elle started off as a weekly publication that contained both fashion images and articles. What made Elle different to other magazines of the time such as Vogue and Marie Claire, was it's emphasis on written articles. In some ways, Elle was considered an adaptation of a newspaper with in depth articles discussing topics such as feminism. This controversial topic discussion is something still featured in Elle today, with its most recent UK edition featuring articles on the transgender community. Personally, I think that her husband Pierre Lazareff was partly responsible for the almost newspaper feel to the magazine. He was the editor of France Soir, a daily French newspaper, so his experience in writing would have contributed to the magazine.
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| Fact sheet from Publicatas, a leading media sales company |
Today, Elle magazine has 46 editions all over the world. As well as this, it has 37 websites and sub brand magazines such as Elle Decoration, Elle Wedding and Elle Girl, all of which prove to be popular.
What I found interesting and surprising when researching this magazine, is just how little information there is on the background of both the magazine and the founder. Unlike Vogue, which has vast amounts of information about it's history, it appears Elle magazine is much more reserved. What is surprising about this information is that Elle magazine is considered the worlds biggest selling fashion magazine and after 70 years in publication, there is a lot of history to be told.
The Elle Style Awards
Perhaps one of the most exciting events on the UK fashion calendar is the Elle Style Awards. Originally set up in 2002 and held at The Natural History Museum, London, the show recognised the achievements of people in creative industries covering music, film and predominantly fashion. Since 2002, Elle has annually held these awards with an all star guest list gracing the red carpet. This year in February, the awards were held at Sky Gardens in London and saw fashion legends such as Manolo Blahnik and Erdem being recognised for their talents.
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| Fashion Designer Manolo Blahnik is presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by fashion icon Naomi Campbell. |
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| Model Cara Delevingne wins Breakthrough Actress award. |
ADVERTISING
Very much like a number of high end fashion magazines, Elle shows a wide variety of advertisements before the contents page of the magazine. These advertisements are all expensive brands such as Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Gucci and Dior. Like other high end magazines such as Vogue, some of these adverts are shown over a two page spread.
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| Elle's advertising rates, media information from Hearst Magazine UK |
What is interesting about Elle, is that as you progress through the magazine the advertisements shown are high street brands. These brands include H&M, River Island, Topshop and Diesel. Although Elle's advertising is primarily dominated with fashion, it is clear from analysing the magazine that Elle appeals to the consumer with it's other advertisements. For instance, a range of beauty products are also advertised in the magazine such as face creams, hair products and perfumes. As well as this, more affordable jewellery brands are advertised such as Thomas Sabo and Pandora. All of these items appeal to women, Elle's target audience.
Whilst wondering why the more expensive brands are shown first when this magazine clearly appeals to a wider audience, I came across Elle UK's advertising rates through the company Hearst Magazine. (Pictured above) Analysing this information and comparing the cost of buying the first double page spread in the magazine (£92,000) to a standard single page in the magazine (£16,550) it is clear why the bigger brands are seen first- they make more money therefore can afford more expensive advertisement.
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| Fold out three page Ralph Lauren Advert on the inside front cover of Elle |
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| Standard double page advertisement, H&M, high street brand |
ARTICLES
Staying true to Hélène Gordon-Lazareff''s original concept for the magazine, Elle features many articles including debating topics. The current issue of Elle UK features more serious articles about transgender discrimination and also includes a piece on a diet extremist who starved herself to a size four until she was 'celebrity thin'. What I found interesting about this article and almost contradicting, is that on the page after the article is an advert for Diet Coke with the words 'Regret Nothing'. Diet Coke is widely known as a drink that is seen in supermodels hands. As it has no calories, models have used this as a diet aid in order to satisfy hunger. The fact that Elle magazine has produced an article about the dangers of wanting to be celebrity thin and yet allowed advertisement of a drink that ultimately is abused in the fashion industry is very controversial.
Many articles in Elle feature interviews with head strong women who show passion for the fashion industry. The women interviewed are career driven and positive and imply to the audience that it is very much a woman's world. This idea is backed up by a quote in an article interviewing Whitney Wolfe, co founder of dating app Tinder, who states:
"In a world where most women make their own living and run their own lives, it is crazy that we're not meant to be in charge when it comes to dating."
I think this quote is significant to the message that Elle sends to it's audience. By including strong women in their articles with powerful messages, they are influencing the audience to feel that way about themselves.
As well as the more serious articles, Elle features write ups intended to influence women on how they look and dress. With instructions on how to achieve the latest trend hairstyle, as well as skin care information and recommending makeup products to achieve the most popular makeup looks, Elle successfully keeps their readers up to date and on trend with their informative articles.
TARGET AUDIENCE & FASHION INFLUENCE
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| Statistics from Elle Media |
The official Elle media website states that the age of the audience ranges from 18-49. (see above) However there are many indications from the Elle itself that tell us the target audience of the magazine.
The first thing that tells me the target audience of Elle is the cover. Elle, meaning 'she' in French conveys that the magazine is intended for women. For those who would not know that fact, what backs this up is the female actress on the front cover. Although males have featured on the cover of Elle before, (Elle made publishing history in 2012 by featuring David Beckham as their first solo male cover star) predominately females are used on the covers of women's magazines. The featured stories on the cover also tell us about the target audience. The writing is structured and organised neatly unlike many magazines aimed at a younger generation. The stories shown such as 'Diet Extremist' and 'Elle how-to wear colour to work' all indicate the age range of women intended to buy the magazine.
Another thing that tells me the target audience of Elle is the advertising shown in the magazine. Certain adverts in particular are featured throughout the magazine that give clear indication of the type of woman that buys Elle. A mixture of high street and expensive brands shows that Elle can appeal to both women of a certain wealth but also the high street consumers. What contradicts this is that the price of the magazine (£4.00) suggests that overall, a woman with a more disposable income would purchase Elle.
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| Tiffany&Co advert in the current UK issue of Elle |
An advert that drew my attention in the latest version of Elle UK was from the popular jewellers, Tiffany&Co. (see above) The advert featured a proposal with engagement rings which conveys that the target audience is women of a certain age that are in stable relationships and considering marriage. To my knowledge, I am aware that Tiffany engagement rings are very expensive so this shows that the readers of Elle are thought to be able to afford these types of luxuries. Surprisingly, an advert that I didn't think I would see in Elle magazine was for a Jeep car. Stereotypically, Jeeps are more masculine cars but I think that the fact it is featured in Elle conveys that the readers are women mature enough to have families, as the Jeep could be perceived as a family car.
Perhaps the main indication of the target audience for this magazine is the fashion influence. The models in the magazine show confidence, sexuality and generally hold themselves well. I think that this shows the age range of the intended audience because there is definitely a self assured confidence about the women featured in this magazine, which I think comes with experience and age and cannot necessarily be seen in the more youthful models.
The fashion in Elle UK's current issue includes work wear and is generally very sophisticated. Featuring brands such as Russell&Bromley (which I think is a more mature brand) suggests the age of the target audience and what I think is interesting is how brands like River Island, (which I consider a more youthful brand), have advertised one of their more maturer fashion looks for the purpose of appealing to Elle's audience.
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| A maturer look from River Island, Elle UK |
Overall, my general idea of the Elle reader is a woman in her late twenties/early thirties who primarily has an interest in fashion but is also committed to looking and feeling good about herself. She may/may not be in a stable relationship but it is definitely something she takes seriously. She is neither a young adult or middle aged. Equally, she is career driven and it is through this job she is able to afford more expensive brands whilst not afraid to experiment with high street fashion.
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