Glossed Over

Un-Lucky Break for Kim France: She's Out, Holley's In

It was announced this morning that Brandon Holley will replace Kim France as the editor-in-chief at Lucky. France is leaving Conde Nast altogether, according to a press release posted at Business Insider. Holley is currently editor of Yahoo!'s Shine and formerly was the top editor at Jane and ELLEgirl.

Jane's demise was attributed in part to its failure to attract high-end advertisers, a condition aggravated by the magazine's editorial focus on smaller designers and mass-market brands. As much as Lucky has veered toward pricey merchandise in recent years, it's still no Vogue.

Under its new leadership, will Lucky become even more inaccessible in order to meet this challenge? Why is France leaving? And can she take Jean Godfrey-June with her? Hey, internet, we need answers! (In the meantime, speculation is welcome.)

Know When to Fold ‘Em: Jane to Close

There’s no official announcement yet, but looks like we’ve seen the last of Jane.  Condé Nast is folding the magazine, which has reportedly struggled at the newsstand and with advertisers in recent months.  Fashion Week Daily says that editor-in-chief Brandon Holley and vice president/publisher Carlos LaMadrid will both leave the company.   

We’re unexpectedly saddened by this news.  We may have mocked Jane relentlessly, but we’ll miss it nonetheless.

For more:

Jane Magazine Folds (Fashion Week Daily)

Rumor: Jane Magazine Folds (Gawker)

Lady Down (Gawker)

Condé  Nast Folds Jane (Radar Online)

Edit: Radar Online has more, including the official press release announcing the closure.  And Mediabistro has a bit more about the affected staffers.

Elle Editors Jumping Ship

Could the spate of recent departures from Elle magazine (including Style Director Isabel Dupré’s exit Monday) have something to do with the regime of newly installed Creative Director Joe Zee?  Why, yes, says our anonymous tipster:

Along with the long slew of editors leaving Elle magazine…Fashion Director Nina Garcia may also be leaving the magazine, as all are, due to newcomer Joe Zee, as Garcia has been said to hate him, and even more she is on maternity leave.

Juicy!  What is Joe Zee doing there, anyway?  Editor-in-chief Roberta Myers may be the only one “thrilled to have him onboard”—and at this rate, she may soon be the only one left onboard.

Know more about this?  Email us.

The Week: February's W Gets Caught In Traffic

•  The publishers of Glamour and Vogue are the front runners in the race to be named the Condé Nast publisher of the year.  Those not nominated continue to act indifferent about this award. 

•  Elle brings Joe Zee on board as creative director.  First task: finding a way to cram even more words on the cover.

•  And a truck carrying copies of the February issue of W crashed in Ohio, spilling copies of the magazine across Interstate 71 and causing massive traffic jams.  Yeah, sometimes W brings us screeching to a halt, too.  (And if this had happened a month ago, at least there’d be a plausible reason why we have yet to receive our January subscription copy—though, considering it was a Sienna Miller cover, perhaps we should just be glad to have dodged that bullet.)

Goodbye and Good Riddance to Shop

We’re a little late on this, but we couldn’t not acknowledge that Hearst has decided to cease publication of Shop Etc. after the forthcoming October issue.

Of course, we can’t say we’re surprised. Why pay $3.49 an issue for a magazine whose design and photography pale in comparison to the free J. Crew catalog?

Still, we’re holding on to a tiny shred of hope that editor-in-chief Mandi Norwood will explain the meaning of “Etc.” in the last issue.  Please, Mandi, don’t leave us hanging.

News: Identifying with an Editor (For Once)

■ Cindi Leive, editor-in-chief of Glamour (you know, the only magazine that believes cooking chicken for a man will force him to propose) spoke to WWD about judging nominees for the National Magazine Award.

“After reading these top-notch magazines for two solid days, you come home with this huge laundry list of things you want to either change, burn, rip up or destroy about your own magazine.”

We often feel that way about Glamour, too, Cindi.

■ And Spanish Vogue’s March issue (seen here) is, at 1,006 pages and nearly six pounds, now the largest edition the international conglomerate has published, handily shattering American Vogue’s September 2004 record of 832 pages.

We’re eagerly awaiting the inevitable expansion of upcoming American issues of Vogue—that’s the competitive spirit we’ve come to expect from Anna Wintour—but only if they follow European tradition and include a free gift as an incentive. We’re thinking a wheelbarrow would be appropriate. 

News: A Whole Lot of Schadenfreude

■ Sheryl Crow, fresh off the Allure cover commemorating her breakup with Lance Armstrong, will pose for the September edition of Glamour.  Hopefully, the trend of putting recently single women on magazine covers will stop here.  We’ve already heard more than enough about Jennifer Aniston’s glamourous “new life”; we aren’t exactly on the edge of our seats waiting to hear all about another jilted woman’s newfound inner strength.

■ Later this spring, Cosmopolitan (along with a number of other publications) will run an ad from the Magazine Publishers of America encouraging companies to buy advertising space in the print media.  We aren’t marketing geniuses, so we’re not sure how buying ad space in order to promote the concept of buying ad space works, exactly.   But we’re sure the MPA ad will stand out—it’s bound to be the only page in that magazine without a shirtless guy or some mention of sex. Or both.

■ Kim France feels so threatened by the success of Shop Etc. that she spread a rumor about the rival shopping title.  Apparently, at Lucky magazine, it’s perfectly acceptable to act like you’re in seventh grade.

News: An Unnecessary New Magazine, A Recycled Idea, and A Breakup Foretold

■ Elle’s May issue, helmed by guest editor Laurie David, will focus on environmentally friendly fashion  and, in a departure from usual glossy-mag procedure, will be printed on recycled paper. We’re looking forward to this—for once, the green Elle’s pushing won’t be an unflattering shade of eyeshadow.

■ Sheryl Crow, current Allure cover girl, recently announced that she and Lance Armstrong have decided to end their relationship.  We should have known their love was doomed; not once in the spread did Sheryl sport a yellow rubber bracelet.

■ And a new fashion magazine is slated to go on sale this fall. Modus will cover clothing and lifestyle trends in Southern California for 18- to 24-year olds.  We’re not sure why that age group warrants a magazine—don’t they get everything they need to know from The O.C.?