Fashion and beauty magazines Elle and Harper’s Bazaar on the verge of closing, reports say
Two major fashion magazines appear to be about to join the long list of Australian glossy titles to close in recent years.
Prestigious fashion magazines Elle and Harper’s Bazaar are reportedly on the chopping block and appear to be about to join a long list of iconic local publications to cease operations.
The Australian reported today that the publisher of the two mastheads, Bauer Media, was considering pulling the pin on them.
It comes amid the confirmation that Elle’s licensing agreement with French media giant Lagardere is ending.
It‘s also believed the US-based owner of Harper’s Bazaar, Hearst Magazines, has been underwhelmed by the performance of the title in Australia.
The closures would be the latest publications to join a scrap heap at Bauer Media after the termination of Cleo magazine in 2016 and Cosmopolitan last year, as the company struggles with falling print sales in the digital era.
When announcing the end of Cosmopolitan in October, the Australian chief executive of the media conglomerate Paul Dykzeul said the “commercial viability of the magazine in Australia is no longer sustainable”.
“Magazine closures are never easy, desirable or done without careful consideration for all of those involved,” he said.
“We have to ensure that we are continually reshaping and defining the business so that our readers of today, and those of tomorrow, remain engaged with the content we publish and the platforms upon which we deliver.
The then interim CEO of Bauer Media Andreas Schoo gave similar reasons for the demise of Cleo magazine.
“It is never an easy decision to close a magazine and we have certainly considered the options before coming to this conclusion, however in its current format, Cleo was no longer sustainable for the longer term,” he said.
In 2016, Dolly magazine went exclusively online as yet another victim to the deteriorating industry.
Its institutional Dolly Doctor section became famous for offering teen girls factual, judgment-free advice about sex and bodies.
In the same month Cosmopolitan was dropped last year, editors-in-chief of Elle and Harper’s Bazaar resigned as the company revealed the teams from both magazines would be dissolved into each other.
According to data from Enhanced Media Metrics Australia, Harper’s Bazaar had an average readership of 210,000 in the 12 months to June, while Elle attracted 133,000 readers.
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