L'Officiel, full name L'Officiel de la couture et de la mode de Paris, is a French monthly fashion magazine. It has been published in Paris since 1921 and targets upper-income, educated women aged from 25 to 49. A men's edition called L'Officiel Hommes is also published, as are many foreign editions of the magazine. In 2022, it was acquired by AMTD a Hong Kong based company.

History 

L'Officiel was first published in 1921. It was the official publication of the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, a trade body representing all Paris couturiers, and took over the role of Les Elégances Parisiennes, a joint publication of a group of about twenty-five couturiers which became defunct in 1922. When launched in 1921, L'Officiel was originally a professional trade magazine, directed principally at international buyers of high fashion, both corporate and individual, and at those working in the fashion industry.

Georges Jalou joined the magazine as artistic director in 1932. Within a short time, the magazine had helped to start the careers of designers such as Pierre Balmain, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, and Yves St. Laurent, and came to be known as "the Bible of fashion and of high society". Jalou became general director of the publication, and later bought it. He transferred it to his three children in 1986: Laurent Jalou became the president of Éditions Jalou, Marie-José Susskind-Jalou directed its editorial content, and Maxime Jalou was responsible for publication. After the death of Laurent Jalou in 2003, his daughter Marie-José Susskind-Jalou became president of the company, and restructured the content of the magazine to target a younger market than in its early years.

L'Officiel Hommes was first launched in 1976 as a male alternative to L'Officiel, but in 1996 due to publishing rights, it was rebranded to L'Optimum. However, in 2005, the publishing rights to the name were acquired again and L'Officiel Hommes was relaunched (L'Optimum still operated as a separate publication).

For the September issue in 2013 Karl Lagerfeld shot the cover photo and editorial.

The cryptocurrency Taste Token was launched in 2018 the venture was headed by Benjamin Eymère L'Officiel CEO and was developed to compensate readers for their time on the website and for brands to figure out what readers like.

In January 2021, a group of freelancers working for the magazine took legal action in France, claiming that they had not been paid.

For its 100th anniversary in 2021, L'Officiel opened its archive for academic study to students at the Parsons Paris. They also launched L'Officiel House of Dreams a website set up as a virtual museum documenting the magazines history.

In April 2022, AMTD International (now AMTD IDEA Group) a Hong Kong based subsidiary of the AMTD Group acquired L'Officiel Inc. SAS and Éditions Jalou. With the purchase, AMTD announced that it intended to expand and establish L'Officiel's presence in Hong Kong, Macau, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

At the World Economic Forum in January 2023, the L'Officiel Coffee pop up was launched in Davos, and AMTD announced plans to expand the store to different cities worldwide throughout 2023.

L'Officiel Singapore and L'Officiel Malaysia were relaunched in March 2023, now directly owned and managed and no longer under a franchising ownership model. In August 2023, L'Officiel Philippines was brought under direct ownership also.

Editions 
The magazine has over 30 different international editions. Other titles published by the group include L'Officiel Hommes and L'Officiel Art (launched in 2012). Other titles of the magazine that are no longer published include L'Officiel 1000 Modèles (launched in 1996), L'Officiel Medecine et Chirugie Esthétique (Medicine & Plastic Surgery/Plastic Surgery) (launched in 1996), L'Officiel Voyage (launched in 2005), L'Officiel Shopping/L'Officiel Paris Guide (launched in 2012), L'Officiel 1000 Modèles Collection, L'Officiel Modèles Design, L'Officiel 1,000 Modèles Joaillerie, L'Officiel Beauté & L'Officiel Intérieur. The 1000 Modèles issues were usually published seasonally. 

The magazines first supplement was launched in the 1920s and known as L'Industrie Française du Vêtement Féminine. Other once published supplements include L'Officiel Enfants and L'Officiel Style et Tendances.

L'Officiel editions in Brazil, Italy and Arabia all had original print runs in the 1970s, these editions were closed down but later relaunched.

L'Officiel USA 
L'Officiel USA was originally launched in 1976 as one of the first international editions of the magazine, but was later shuttered in 1980. In 2017 L'Officiel USA launched online headed by Joseph Akel with funding from Global Emerging Markets, with the first print edition in February 2018. The Magazine is based in New York City. In December 2021, the City of New York brought an action against L'Officiel USA Inc. under the Freelance Isn't Free Act, claiming that the magazine had failed to pay freelance contributors. A settlement was reached in July 2023 with L'Officiel agreeing to pay 41 freelancers $275,000 USD.

L'Officiel Italia 
L'Officiel Italia originally had a short run in the 1970s. In 2009 L'Officiel Hommes launched an Italian edition and in September 2012 L'Officiel Italia was relaunched with Carlo Mazzoni as Editor-in-Chief.

时装 L'Officiel China 
In 1980 时装 (Fashion) was founded and by the mid-1980s had almost reached a circulation of 300,000. From late 2003 the magazine was rebranded to 时装 L'Officiel after an agreement was made with Éditions Jalou (publishers of L'Officiel at the time) with this the magazine became distributed in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Editors 

Other International editions
 Hong Kong (launching soon)
 Portugal (Defunct)
 Angola (Defunct)

Notes

References

External links
 L'Officiel French website
 L'Officiel USA American website
 L'Officiel House of Dreams Virtual museum

1921 establishments in France
Women's fashion magazines
French-language magazines
Monthly magazines published in France
Magazines established in 1921
Magazines published in Paris
Women's magazines published in France
2022 mergers and acquisitions
Magazines published in Thailand
Multilingual magazines