Now Hachette Publications, Elle’s French parent corporation, is hoping that the readers who made Wile a hit are ready for a new creative arena–the home. With the debut of Elle Decor in March, Hachette entered the increasingly crowded home-design magazine field. This time Hachette’s guns are aimed not at Vogue and Glamour but at such well-established publications as Architectural Digest and Metropolitan Home. Despite this heavyweight competition, the people who run Elle Decor think they have a built-in audience. Editor in chief Louis Oliver Gropp, who ran Conde Nast’s House & Garden before it became the flashier HG, describes his new magazine as a guide for “the years beyond clothes.” Young women, he says, “initially vent their design interest on their wardrobe.” But after a while even a devoted clothe should needs more. As the thirty-something generation–Elle Decor’s target readership–enters its nesting period. Gropp thinks they will be more interested in a room that will last years than an outfit that may be passe in an evening.
Elle Decor’s design approach is distinctly akin to Elle’s take on fashion. The covers reinforce the connection, with well-known models like Cheryl Tiegs posing amid furniture. Founding editor Barbara L. Dixon, who has moved on to be a consultant for Hachette, says using models was a deliberate decision: “We felt it was important to show that fashion crossed over into home furnishings and lifestyle.” Gropp describes Wile Decor’s approach as “eclectic.” The June/July issue showcases two very different renovations: a gracious antebellum mansion in Mississippi and a former Dallas power station that has been transformed into a home. The photo layouts also depart from the traditional. A piece on electrical appliances features glossy close-ups of such utilitarian equipment as irons and vacuum cleaners against a stark black background.
Some industry observers think the approach may be a little too avant garde for the average reader. “It’s an art director’s book,” sniffs a rival editor, who did not want to be named. “It has no focus.” Indeed, some of the biggest recent success stories in this field, such as Country Living, have focused on a traditional look. “If I wanted to put my money on anything, I would put it on traditional design,” says James Autry, president of the magazine group at Meredith Corp., which publishes Better Homes and Gardens, Country Home and Metropolitan Home, among others. “Comfort is a great watchword around here.”
Personal style: Even so, many publications have been moving toward more idiosyncratic design. Metropolitan Home, probably Elle Decor’s closest competitor, has been devoting lots of space to layouts that show a range of motifs in a single room. “The mix of a little bit of this, a little bit of that is really what our readers are hankering after,” says editor in chief Dorothy Kalins. At Better Homes and Gardens, the circulation leader with 8 million readers, executive interior-design editor Denise Caringer agrees that a sense of personal style is becoming more important. “People want to do it their way, " Caringer says. In the ’80s, she says, homeowners turned out perfect replicas of Williamsburg or Victorian designs. Now that they’ve learned the basics, they’re ready to improvise. “I liken it to learning classical before you play jazz,” says Caringer. “We’re going to play jazz in the ‘9Os.”
Elle Decor enters the market at a tough time. Many magazines are hurting in a soft advertising climate. Home-design magazines are doing a little better than average, but they’re not immune. In this atmosphere, a spinoff like Elle Decor, with the backing of a giant like Hachette and the name recognition of Elle, has an edge over the typical new publication. Elle Decor’s editors claim a relatively modest circulation of 200,000 so far. But Elle itself has more than 800,000 readers–and they all need a place to call home.
PHOTO (COLOR): Creating a guide for “the years beyond clothes’: Gropp
Elle Decor (four months old, 200,000 circulation) is the flashy new contender among home-design magazines. Its competitors have bigger circulations and longer traditions. MAGAZINE DATE CIRCULATION FOUNDED Architectural 1920 628,000 Digest Better Homes 1922 8 million and Gardens Country Home 1979 970,000 Country Living 1978 1.8 million HG 1901 612,000 Metropolitan 1981 700,000 Home
