Daily Front Row

2012 February 3

Elle China Becomes Biweekly

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Elle China's first March issue, out Sunday
Courtesy Hearst View Gallery

(NEW YORK) As many a fashion glossy are reducing its frequency (and sometimes trim size in tandem), ELLE China will be hitting newsstands twice a month, on the 5th and 20th, starting with their March issue, part une, this Sunday. The twice-a-month read's price has subsequently been slashed in half, from 20 yuans ($3.17) to 10 yuans ($1.59) per issue. It will be reducing its heft accordingly, dialing down each issue's thickness from 500 to 800 pages down to 280 to 400 pages apiece. Launched in 1988 as China's first international fashion title, ELLE China currently boasts of 20 to 40 percent more ad pages than its direct competitors. 

The decision to produce a skinnier mag more often stemmed from the title's desire to "provide stylish Chinese women with the pleasure of a glamorous and fashionable reading experience twice as often as before," said Mier Ai, managing director of Hearst Magazines China, in a statement. Hearst's global higher-ups seem enthused about the glossy's new game plan, too. “ELLE China has had much success with both readers and advertisers and we are pleased to be increasing its publishing scheduled to twice a month," said Duncan Edwards, CEO of Hearst Magazines International, in a statement. 

The first biweekly edition features Patricia Field, Jean Paul Gaultier, and makeup maven, Linda Cantello. To ratchet up the mag's presence and perhaps reel in new readers with the latest changes, ELLE China will be available at special "ELLE Only Newsstands" located in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou. Also on the marketing docket: the debut of China Fashion Night on March 6 in Paris, peppering the PFW schedule with a bit of Far East flair. Expect an ELLE China retrospective and a cadre of Chinese celebs, joined by a global array of fashion folks.
ALEXANDRA ILYASHOV