In exciting news for the magazine industry, French high-end fashion and luxury lifestyle magazine L'Officiel is launching Australian and New Zealand editions in November this year.
Launched in 1921, L'Officiel helped launch the careers of fashion royalty such as Pierre Balmain, Cristobal Balenciaga, Christian Dior and Yves Saint Laurent. A bible of fashion and high society - L'Officiel maintains this status through its multiple editions published around the globe.
Owned by Paris-based Jalou Media Group and licensed by Cielo Publishing, the Australian edition of L'Officiel will be headed up by Dimitri Vorontsov in the position of creative director/editor-in-chief, with Matthew Paroz as executive editor.
Stepping into the role of beauty editor is Katrina Lawrence. Due to start next week, we spoke to her about working on L’Officiel and what sets the magazine’s beauty content apart.
Are you excited to be working on the Australian edition of L'Officiel?
I’m like a pig in mud! Very posh body mud, of course. I’ve always loved L’Officiel and bought it when in France, and am so thrilled that Australia will have its own edition. L’Officiel celebrates quality and luxury, and there will always be a role to play in not only supporting this industry and the people who work within it, but giving readers an escape from the various stresses of everyday life.
What attracted you to the role?
The esteemed title, of course. The fact that it’s French, too … I’m a hopeless Francophile. And the ability to edit a solid beauty section. My brief is to really tell the story of beauty – the products, the people, the technology... We want it to be a very intelligent take on beauty. Without getting too serious... Beauty is, after all, a joy and indulgence and I want to share that passion with readers.”
How will the beauty content in L'Officiel differ to other magazines on the Australian market?
What we definitely don’t want to do is publish content you can easily find online. You know, the top ten lists, the dos and don’ts… So many women are experts in their own rights these days, thanks to the democratisation of so much information online - so a magazine has to work harder and give much more. As for other magazines, well each one is savvy enough to tailor to its own readers’ needs. We believe that our readers will really want to go into depth when it comes to our beauty coverage. We want them to take away interesting information – be that a nugget of beauty history trivia or a trend prediction from one of the world’s top noses. Access to and insight from global beauty influencers will be key. As will, of course, a well-edited coverage of the very best in beauty to buy each month.
