L’Officiel Creates Editorial Committee, Gets New Italy Editor From Esquire

L’Officiel is one publisher that seems to have no qualms about making changes in an effort to fit into an increasingly digital media world.

Over the last couple of months, the French publisher, operated by Jalou Media, has created a virtual currency to drive shopping and a new hub for content around charitable causes, both aimed at bringing more to the table for advertisers. Now comes its first global editorial committee to oversee the content and digital direction of all 30 editions of L’Officiel, which have a combined circulation of about three million.

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“The fashion world has become as interconnected as any other industry, and we can no longer wait for style to move from city to city, but instead we want our teams and content working in a newly connected manner,” chief executive officer Benjamin Eymere said.

He said trends and events observed by editors in Paris, for example, will be shared weekly with editors in Italy “and vice versa,” leading to digital and social content that will offer more of a crossover between the countries. Eymere resisted defining this as merely content sharing, which nearly all fashion and lifestyle publications with multiple editions do these days, particularly when it comes to cover subjects. Regardless, a recent L’Officiel shoot and profile of Zoe Kravitz, for instance, has so far showed up in editions in France, Italy, the U.S. and Malaysia.

As for the committee, it includes Jennifer Eymere, who serves as creative director for all of L’Officiel and is Benjamin Eymere’s sister; Joseph Akel, editor in chief of American L’Officiel; and Giampietro Baudo, the just named editor in chief of L’Officiel Italia. He’s replacing Gianluca Cantaro, who spent four years with L’Officiel but last month became editor of Nowfashion.com.

Baudo joins the magazine after a stint as editor of Italian Esquire, which Hearst Magazines launched in 2017 as a digital outlet. Eymere characterized Baudo as “one of the most influential voices in Italian style” but that his influence will now reach a global audience under the publisher’s “new strategy.”

For his part, Baudo sees L’Officiel as having “the potential to redefine its position as a unique voice worldwide” as well as the Italian market.

“The L’Officiel philosophy has pioneered the global approach to luxury fashion and style and my aim is to reinforce and invigorate this longstanding tradition with a new and modern approach — working between digital and print, events and experiences, defining a unique vision,” Baudo added.

In his new role, Baudo will oversee the quarterly print publication of L’Officiel Italia as well as the biannual L’Officiel Hommes and digital operations. As for his role on the new global committee, Baudo will be meeting with the other members weekly, as well as some other international editors, “to discuss global, national and local influences” for print and digital content, with a priority on sharing trends in a market globally, as well as content. These changes are expected to hit print and digital pages by September.

“The editorial mandate is bring an international influence to each title while also finding unique opportunities to create content that is very country-specific,” Eymere said. “The goal is to build on the legacy that L’Officiel has built over 100 years by creating a new era of fashion where we do not wait for trends to make their way from one region to another, but rather share these trends in real-time with the audience, so the audience will have a more global understanding international fashion influences.”

Events are part of the committee’s mandate, as well. L’Officiel is set to have its first “summit” this year, an invite-only affair that will not be ticketed. Given how many media companies and magazines have launched their own events in recent months and years, it seems L’Officiel is aiming to keep its own to a “close-knit community of tastemakers,” at least for now.

“The goal of the global editorial committee and the corresponding summit is to share ideas, creativity and influence,” Eymere said. “At the summit, L’Officiel’s committee chairs will welcome the ideas and suggestions of the biggest names in fashion, culture, entertainment, tech and philanthropy, giving these tastemakers the opportunity to directly participate and influence editorial.”

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