ACP Magazines are set to launch the long-awaited Australian edition of Elle Magazine early next year.
Ragtrader reports that the magazine’s launch date has been pushed back from March this year to a later,unspecified date. This follows on from the magazine’s initial launch announcement in November of last year. Reports surfaced earlier this year that the future of Australian Elle was looking doubtful, with the title reportedly slow to hire staff and book photo shoots.
However, head of sales at ACP Louise Barrett has dispelled those rumours, telling Ragtrader that “Elle is absolutely coming next year. Without doubt. [Elle] is the largest fashion magazine in the world… The launch has to be done properly. You can’t rush it.”
ACP have come under a bit of flack recently, notably for the defection of its senior fashion staff, both print and online, to Vogue and other places and also for still publishing Zoo Weekly, which in and of itself is a major offence to good sense and taste.
Elle will launch in partnership with Hearst International Magazines and brand owner Lagadère, and hopefully the remainder of its gestation period bears more resemblance to The City (“bright lights/long nights/party till the sun is rising“) than it does to Park St. Because – if we’ve learned anything – dramality television shows offer a very real indication of what it takes to run a print magazine. Plus, good things come to those who wait, right? Just as long as they don’t wait too long (see below).
Photo from US Elle Magazine’s serendipitous August cover, a good example of perfect timing.
