Lagardère currently describes the brand as having 50 Elle editions and 25 Elle Decoration editions, alongside other spin-offs and licensed activities. Its non-media licensing programme operates with partners in around 80 countries.

Foundation: 1945

Elle was launched in France on 21 November 1945, shortly after the end of the Second World War. Its founder, Hélène Gordon-Lazareff, envisioned a magazine that would address women as modern individuals rather than simply as consumers of traditional domestic advice.

The founding concept combined fashion and practical lifestyle coverage with broader social and cultural subjects. Lagardère’s historical account describes the original Elle as deliberately modern in both its editorial approach and tone.3

Lazareff’s philosophy became strongly associated with the magazine: serious subjects could be discussed in an accessible and stylish publication, while fashion and beauty could be treated as culturally meaningful rather than merely frivolous.

Post-war growth

During the following decades, Elle became an influential part of French popular culture. It covered:

• Fashion and haute couture
• Beauty
• Relationships and family
• Work
• Sexuality
• Politics and society
• Culture and entertainment
• Women’s rights and changing social roles

This mixture was central to the magazine’s identity. Rather than separating “women’s interests” from politics and society, Elle increasingly treated them as interconnected.

Lagardère’s retrospective history characterises the magazine as a reflection of major transformations in French society, particularly the changing position and expectations of women.4

Elle’s most significant transformation occurred when the French magazine concept was exported internationally.

Instead of publishing every edition directly from France, the brand developed a licensing model. Local publishers could create national versions of Elle while adhering to the overall brand identity and editorial framework.

This allowed Elle to combine global identity with local interpretation. For example, an Elle edition in France, Japan, the United States, Thailand or Brazil can cover the same broad themes—fashion, beauty, culture and women’s lives—while featuring local designers, celebrities, cultural issues and consumer preferences.

Lagardère’s international advertising division describes this as a central principle of Elle’s global success: its core pillars are maintained while content is adapted to individual markets.4

The international network expanded dramatically during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. By the 2010s, Elle had become one of the world’s most widely distributed fashion-media brands. In 2013, for example, the launch of Elle Australia was announced as the brand’s 44th edition worldwide.5

The corporate history of Elle is more complex than a single company publishing every magazine under the masthead.

Lagardère

The Lagardère Group owns the Elle and Elle Decoration trademarks internationally. Within Lagardère, dedicated organisations manage the international development, licensing and commercial extensions of the brand.6

The group’s Elle activities broadly include:

1. Media and publishing
2. International licensing
3. Advertising
4. Brand management
5. Content syndication
6. Fashion and accessories
7. Beauty
8. Home and decoration
9. Services and hospitality

Hearst and other publishing partners

National editions may be operated by other publishing companies.

A particularly important relationship is with Hearst, which operates Elle editions in several major markets. Historically, Lagardère licensed the Elle trademark to Hearst in a number of countries when Lagardère sold its international magazine business.7

This explains why an Elle magazine in one country can have a different corporate publisher from Elle in another country, even though they belong to the same international brand family.

Elle’s editorial identity is generally built around four major areas:

Fashion

Fashion remains the heart of the brand. Elle covers:

• Designer collections
• Fashion weeks
• Emerging designers
• Celebrity style
• Street style
• Shopping
• Accessories
• Styling
• Trends
• Fashion photography

The brand positions itself between high fashion and accessible personal style. It can feature major luxury houses while also discussing how ordinary readers can interpret trends in their own wardrobes.

Beauty

Beauty is another major pillar. Coverage commonly includes:

• Skincare
• Makeup
• Hair
• Fragrance
• Wellness
• Beauty trends
• Product launches
• Celebrity beauty
• Professional beauty advice

Culture and lifestyle

Modern Elle extends considerably beyond fashion. Its editorial universe includes:

• Film
• Television
• Music
• Books
• Art
• Travel
• Food
• Relationships
• Careers
• Technology
• Popular culture

Women’s issues and empowerment

Elle has historically addressed changing ideas about women’s lives and social position. This can include discussions of:

• Equality
• Work and careers
• Relationships
• Sexuality
• Identity
• Representation
• Politics
• Social change

The international brand currently explicitly presents women’s empowerment as one of its core pillars.8

Traditionally, Elle has been positioned towards women interested in fashion, beauty and contemporary culture, but its audience has broadened considerably as the brand has expanded digitally.

The typical Elle consumer can be described as fashion-conscious, culturally curious, independent and interested in contemporary lifestyles.

Importantly, Elle does not position its reader exclusively as a luxury consumer. The editorial proposition combines aspiration with practicality: readers can encounter haute couture alongside styling advice, beauty recommendations, career stories and everyday lifestyle content.

Hearst describes the Elle audience as the “original thinker”—someone who explores culture, develops an independent perspective and is interested in both style and ideas.9

Elle has one of the most recognisable names and wordmarks in international fashion publishing.

The brand name is simply Elle. The word is French for “she” or “her”, making the name particularly appropriate for a publication historically centred on women.

Its visual identity has generally emphasised:

• Elegant typography
• Strong editorial photography
• Fashion-forward layouts
• Prominent cover portraits
• Sophisticated colour palettes
• A combination of luxury and modernity

The simplicity of the name is also a major advantage internationally: it is short, memorable and strongly associated with women’s fashion media.

Elle’s covers are an important part of its cultural influence.

Over the decades, the magazine has photographed and featured major figures from:

• Fashion
• Film
• Television
• Music
• Art
• Politics
• Business
• Popular culture

The cover functions not merely as a product advertisement but as a statement about who represents contemporary culture and femininity. This has helped make Elle covers collectible and culturally recognisable.

Elle has evolved from a traditional print magazine into a multi-platform media network.

Its content now appears through:

• Websites
• Social media
• Video
• Digital magazines
• Newsletters
• Mobile experiences
• Branded content
• Events
• E-commerce-related content

Lagardère reports that the Elle network includes dozens of digital platforms and reaches a large global audience through websites and social media.10

This transformation is significant because Elle is no longer simply competing with other magazines. It competes with fashion websites, influencers, TikTok and Instagram creators, YouTube, online retailers, streaming culture, celebrity media and independent fashion publications.

Consequently, modern Elle operates more like a global media brand than a conventional magazine.

One of Elle’s defining characteristics is the enormous expansion of the brand beyond the original magazine.

Elle Decoration

Elle Decoration is the major home and interior-design extension. It covers:

• Interior design
• Architecture
• Furniture
• Home decoration
• Lifestyle
• Design trends

It has its own international network of editions and operates under the broader Elle brand architecture.11

Elle à Table

Elle à Table extends the brand into food and cooking. Its content includes:

• Recipes
• Restaurants
• Food trends
• Cooking
• Entertaining
• Gastronomy

Elle Men

Elle Men extends the Elle concept towards male fashion and lifestyle audiences.

Elle Girl

Elle Girl has been used for younger audiences, particularly around youth fashion, beauty and culture.

These extensions demonstrate that Elle’s underlying proposition is broader than women’s fashion alone: it is essentially a lifestyle ecosystem.12

Elle has also been used as a commercial trademark for consumer products.

Its licensing activities have included areas such as:

• Clothing
• Accessories
• Footwear
• Handbags
• Beauty
• Home furnishings
• Decoration
• Services

Historically, Elle created Elle Creation, a fashion and accessories label that expanded the magazine’s identity into ready-to-wear and related products.13

The modern licensing strategy is much broader, with Lagardère describing partnerships covering fashion, beauty, home, services and other categories.14

The brand has also entered the hospitality sector.

In 2022, Elle announced Elle Hospitality, including concepts such as Maison Elle and Elle Hotel. The initiative represents a shift from selling media and licensed products towards offering a complete branded lifestyle experience.9

This is significant from a branding perspective: a reader can potentially encounter Elle not just on a magazine cover or website, but in a hotel, café, beauty service or other physical environment.

Elle is now a genuinely international brand.

Lagardère’s current figures describe a network encompassing:

• 50 Elle editions
• 25 Elle Decoration editions
• Additional spin-offs
• More than 60 digital platforms
• Licensing partnerships across approximately 80 countries
• Around 200 non-media licensing partners15

The international brand’s own website similarly describes Elle as being present in 80 countries, with 45 Elle editions in its particular media-network accounting. The difference in figures reflects different definitions of editions, licensed publications and the wider brand network rather than necessarily a contradiction.16

Singapore falls within Elle’s broader international network in Southeast Asia. While specific operational details for a standalone Singapore edition vary over time, the brand maintains a significant regional presence through neighbouring markets and digital platforms accessible to Singaporean audiences.

Elle’s global partner listings include markets across the region, such as Thailand and Malaysia.17 The launch of Elle Malaysia, for instance, was announced as the 45th edition worldwide, reinforcing the brand’s commitment to Southeast Asian markets.16

Like other national editions, regional versions typically combine the international Elle identity with local:

• Fashion designers
• Celebrities
• Beauty products
• Cultural trends
• Shopping habits
• Events
• Social issues

This localisation is fundamental to Elle’s international strategy, ensuring relevance for readers in diverse markets including Singapore.

Elle occupies an influential position between fashion journalism and the fashion business.

Its role includes discovering, interpreting, popularising and commercialising trends. For example, a designer collection may first appear on a runway. Fashion editors then interpret the collection, celebrities and influencers may popularise particular looks, and Elle can translate those trends into accessible editorial and shopping content.

This gives fashion magazines an important intermediary role between designers and consumers.

Elle’s significance goes beyond fashion.

Because it has existed since 1945, the magazine has documented changing ideas about women’s identities and social roles over several generations.

Its archive reflects transformations involving:

• Women’s employment
• Marriage and relationships
• Contraception
• Sexuality
• Family structures
• Beauty standards
• Fashion
• Popular culture
• Political participation
• Women’s rights

Lagardère has explicitly characterised the magazine as a record of women’s history and changing society.18

This makes Elle both a fashion institution and a cultural archive.

Elle’s modern business model is considerably more diversified than that of a traditional magazine.

Media

Revenue can come from:

• Print advertising
• Digital advertising
• Subscriptions and circulation
• Branded content
• Events
• Digital partnerships

Licensing

The Elle trademark is licensed to partners for products and services. Categories can include:

• Fashion
• Accessories
• Beauty
• Home
• Hospitality
• Services

International publishing

Local publishers operate editions under licence, allowing Elle to scale internationally without directly owning every national publication.

Brand experiences

The brand increasingly extends into physical experiences, including hospitality and other consumer-facing environments.19

Elle belongs to a group of globally influential fashion and lifestyle publications that includes brands such as:

• Vogue
• Harper’s Bazaar
• Marie Claire
• Cosmopolitan
• Glamour
• InStyle

Its particular positioning is a combination of fashion authority, accessible style, women’s culture and lifestyle journalism.

Compared with a purely luxury-fashion publication, Elle traditionally has a broader lifestyle orientation. At the same time, it retains enough fashion authority to operate within the luxury and designer ecosystem.

At its simplest, Elle can be understood through four interconnected ideas:

Fashion

Style, designers, trends and personal expression.

Beauty

Personal care, cosmetics, hair, skincare and wellness.

Lifestyle

Culture, relationships, travel, food, work and everyday life.

Empowerment

Women’s voices, independence, identity and social change.

These themes are explicitly reflected in the international brand’s stated editorial pillars.20

As of 2026, Elle is best understood not simply as a magazine but as a global fashion and lifestyle brand originating from French women’s publishing.

Its evolution can be summarised as:

• 1945: French women’s magazine
• 1950s–1980s: Major French cultural and fashion institution
• 1980s–2000s: International expansion
• 2000s–2010s: Global licensing and multimedia development
• 2010s–2020s: Digital and social transformation
• Today: Global fashion, beauty, lifestyle and experience brand

Lagardère currently describes Elle as a worldwide brand reaching hundreds of millions of people through its media and licensed activities, while its international operations span publishing, digital media, advertising, licensing and physical experiences.21

1. LES ANNEES ELLE 1945-2000, le livre album de toutes les femmes – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
2. ELLE International – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
3. ELLE 1945-2005 : une histoire des femmes – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
4. ELLE – International
5. Launch of ELLE AUSTRALIA: The 44th edition worldwide – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
6. Elle | Hearst Global Solutions
7. Home – Elle Around The World
8. ELLE CREATION : Making trends come alive – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
9. ELLE Announces the debut of “ELLE Hospitality”, a new global hotel venture | Hearst Global Solutions
10. Happy birthd’ELLE ! – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
11. ELLE INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATES
12. ELLE International launches an exclusive capsule collection to celebrate its 80th anniversary – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
13. Happy birthd’ELLE ! – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
14. Cette année, ELLE a 70 ans… – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
15. Novembre 2015, ELLE a 70 ans – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
16. Launch of ELLE Malaysia, the 45th Edition worldwide – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
17. Lancement de ELLE Malaisie la 45ème édition dans le monde – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
18. FAQs
19. ELLE International – Lagardère – Lagardere.com – Groupe
20. ELLE | Hearst
21. Om oss ELLE | ELLE