Lagardère Group has chosen Nissa Editions Group, a Tunis-based firm, as the local licensing partner for a new Elle magazine in Egypt.
The magazine’s online edition, with bilingual navigation in Arabic and English, has already launched, while the print edition is scheduled for a September release. François Coruzzi, CEO of Elle International Licenses, expressed confidence that Elle’s values, including fashion, beauty, culture, society, and lifestyle, unique point of view, will resonate with women in Egypt.
The new venture will also see Cairo-based fashion media veteran Susan Sabet appointed the managing director and editor-in-chief of the new title. Sabet is a pioneering figure in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) fashion media industry. She founded Pashion, a pan-Arab fashion and beauty magazine distributed across the area. She co-launched Egypt Fashion Week in 2023 as co-founder of the Egyptian Fashion & Design Council.
“After over 20 years in the fashion and lifestyle publishing business I am very proud and excited to take on this new venture in my career. Especially so, as finally a leading international publishing company has recognised and is honouring Egypt, its people and immense market potential to create an international platform to highlight and share our stories,” said Sabet.
Under Sabet’s direction, the title will publish a mixture of global, regional and local content. A snapshot of the latter has already been released on the Elle.eg site including features on Egyptian actresses Mona Zaki, Injy El Mokadem and Tara Emad as well as the country’s iconic female cultural figures from the last century like the singer Umm Kulthum and actress Youssra.
Nissa Editions, a Tunisian company led by chief executive Mouna Khalfallah, has a presence in Cairo where Elle Egypt is headquartered. The firm is active in media and event organisation in the MENA region, specialising in the fashion, beauty, jewellery and watches, cars, yachts, art and real estate industries.
The launch marks the 46th international edition of Elle magazine. In the region, Lagardère Group has published an Elle Arabia edition since 2006, currently in partnership with Dubai-based Patrimony Media for the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) markets comprising the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain. Turkey has had its own edition since 1999. Previously, Lagardère also had a title called Elle Oriental based in Lebanon, but that edition has since been amalgamated into Elle Arabia.
The new Egyptian edition of Elle is the first of its kind, dedicated to a single Arabic-speaking country in the Middle East. “The largest country in the Arabic-speaking world and North Africa is blessed with a history, culture and people that offer endless fascinating storytelling and a huge market demand for international and high-quality brands aimed specifically at women,” said Khalfallah.
