Published
Jan 8, 2020
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Stefano Tonchi joins L'Officiel

Published
Jan 8, 2020

After close to a decade at the head of W Magazine, Stefano Tonchi will be joining L'Officiel on 10 January. The former editor-in-chief of the American fashion publication was dismissed from his role last June, following the magazine's sale by Condé Nast to Future Media Group. He comes to L'Officiel, which is owned by French media company Jalou, as chief creative officer, a role in which he will be tasked with coordinating all 31 international editions of the magazine founded in Paris in 1921.


Stefano Tonchi - © L'Officiel


Tonchi is therefore joining a title that is still based in the French capital and which will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its foundation next year. Created especially for him, his new post should allow the Italian-born journalist to concentrate his efforts on harmonising the international editions of L'Officiel, developing the magazine's digital presence and implementing a new strategy at the group, whose business has been decelerating for a few years now.

"L'Officiel has built an incredibly rich and historic heritage," explained Tonchi. "There is enormous potential for the magazine to grow and innovate as a multi-platform brand." Taking a global view of all of L'Officiel's versions, Tonchi will be faced with the challenge of structuring a total of 31 international editions, only six of which are operated directly by the parent company: France, Italy, the Netherlands, the U.S., Switzerland and Brazil. The remaining editions are operated via licensing agreements.

Having gone into receivership in 2015, the Jalou group, run by Benjamin Eymère, has been following a 10-year continuation plan since March 2016. These financial difficulties have not, however, curbed the company's ambitions to launch a version of L'Officiel in Japan within the next two years, followed by editions in the United Kingdom, Australia and Nigeria. 

As for Tonchi, he has not quite finished with W. Having been removed from his position by Condé Nast during its sale of the magazine, he turned against his former employer, alleging breach of contract without compensation and demanding just over $1 million in damages from the media group. Condé Nast snapped back with its own lawsuit, accusing the journalist of interfering during W Magazine's sale process for personal gain. The next chapter in the saga will therefore play out in the U.S. courts over the coming months.

Be that as it may, L'Officiel is counting on Tonchi's support to help turn things around, as well as on Gem Investments founder Christopher Brown, whose fund injected between $5 million and 10 million dollars in the company to develop L'Officiel's American edition in 2017. Recently, Gem has reportedly made a further investment of several million dollars in Jalou, although the exact sum has not been disclosed. 

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