blueorchid
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Elle France No. 1, November 21, 1945
gallica.bnf.fr
gallica.bnf.fr
Elle was founded in Paris as an immediate aftermath of World War II and first sold as a supplement to France-Soir, edited at the time by Pierre Lazareff. Hélène Gordon-Lazareff, Elle's pioneering founder, returned to Paris from New York City to create a unique publication that grappled with the many forces shaping the lives of women in France in 1945. Women won the right to vote in 1944, and Elle dove immediately into long-form "newspaper-like" features on women's role in national politics and the growing feminist movement. In the Elle articles featuring rising fashion designers, the magazine would provide free patterns of some of their fashion pieces. This allowed the general public to experience haute couture as the glamor of the fashion world was becoming accessible to the common working class.
Its 100th issue, published on 14 October 1947, featured the work of Christian Dior just eight months after his debut show. Likewise, Brigitte Bardot had her first Elle cover at age 17, on 7 January 1952, months before her screen debut in Manina, the Girl in the Bikini. By the 1960s, Elle had a readership of 800,000 across France and was said to "not so much reflect fashion as decree it." This dominance was reflected in the famous slogan: "Si elle lit, elle lit Elle" 'If she reads, she reads Elle'.
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