She may not be ‘famous’ outside the industry, but the current ELLE US editor Robbie Myers has spent 15 years in the role. She has navigated the tumultuous media sphere, and that makes her more adept than many to comment on the relevance of women’s publications in the world. Talking to WWD recently, Myers argues there will always be a place (and a thirst) for female-friendly publications.
According to Myers, as long as stories remain relevant, so too will magazines. The editor is unimpressed by the fact that ‘women’s’ magazines are deemed as publications that explore female-only problems. She elaborates: “But women’s magazines have been covering things like sexual health and reproductive rights and violence against women for a long time. It’s always interesting to me that there’s the ‘media’ and ‘women’s media’... What are the issues? They are human issues.”
She says of the ‘women’s’ category: “We’re all lumped into the same category, but my reading is not the same as Good Housekeeping’s millions and millions of readers. It’s a different woman. Women are not all the same - even in our little slice of fashion. I think they [women’s magazines] are here for a while. I think fashion magazines have been shown to have longevity.”
Myers believes print and digital are two completely different worlds, and that there is room for both. In discussing ELLE.com, over which she has no editorial control, she comments: “They are responding to the news. We don’t respond to the news in a monthly magazine, we interpret it. I know ELLE UK is completely integrated. There is no such thing as a print editor and a digital editor.”
In order for the magazine to flourish, however, Myers says embracing technology and its innovations is essential. She explains: “I think that ELLE should be in any medium that it can be, so long as it is an active expression of the brand. What is the best expression of what ELLE stands for and does in each medium? ELLE was the first fashion magazine to have its own website. That’s technology.”
