Allure (magazine)

American women's magazine

Allure

March 2021 cover featuring Jennifer Lopez and highlighting the magazine's 30th anniversary

Editor in Chief| Jessica Cruel
Categories| Beauty
Frequency| Monthly
Publisher| Condé Nast
Total circulation
(2013)| 1,165,392[1]
Founded| 1991-2022 (print)
First issue| March 1991
Final issue| December 2022 (print)
Company| Advance Publications
Country| United States
Language| English
Website| www.allure.com
ISSN| 1054-7711

Allure (stylized in lowercase) is an American women's magazine focused on beauty, published monthly by Condé Nast in New York City. It was founded in 1991 by Linda Wells. Michelle Lee replaced Wells in 2015.[2] A signature of the magazine is its annual Best of Beauty awards—accolades given in the October issue to beauty products deemed the best by Allure's staff.

## History

[edit]

In 1990, S.I. Newhouse Jr., chairman of Condé Nast, and then editorial director Alexander Liberman approached Linda Wells to develop a concept they had for a beauty magazine. At the time, Wells was the beauty editor and the food editor at The New York Times Magazine.[3]

The magazine's prototype was shredded shortly before the scheduled launch date and, after overhauling everything (including the logo), Allure made its debut in March 1991[4][5] designed by Lucy Sisman. The magazine's original format was oversize, but this prevented it from fitting into slots at grocery-store checkouts and required advertisers to resize their ads or create new ones. After four issues, Allure changed to a standard-size glossy format.[3]

On August 29, 2022, Conde Nast announced the December 2022 issue will be the last print issue of the magazine before transitioning to digital-only. Allure employees unionized in 2022.[6] Conde states, "It's our mission to meet the audience where they are and with this in mind, after our December print issue, we are making Allure an exclusively digital brand."[7]

## Impact

[edit]

Allure focuses on beauty, fashion, and women's health. Allure was the first women's magazine to write about the health risks associated with silicone breast implants, and has reported on other controversial health issues. The influence that Allure magazine had on society was impactful. Using publication to show the new beauty brand and other health needs.

After Lee took the helm in late 2015, the brand was celebrated for promoting diversity and inclusivity.[clarification needed] In 2017, Adweek named Allure Magazine of the Year and awarded Lee as Editor of the Year.[8][9]

The magazine's circulation, initially 250,000 in 1991, is over 1 million as of 2011.

Many writers have contributed to Allure. Among them are Arthur Miller, John Updike, Jhumpa Lahiri, Michael Chabon, Kathryn Harrison, Frank McCourt, Isabel Allende, and Francine du Plessix Gray. Elizabeth Gilbert's essay "The Road to Rapture," published in Allure in 2003, was the precursor to her 2006 memoir, Eat, Pray, Love (Viking Adult). Photographers who have shot for Allure include Michael Thompson, Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier, Norman Jean Roy, Tina Barney, Marilyn Minter, Carter Smith, Steven Klein, Steven Meisel, and Helmut Newton. Cover subjects have included Demi Lovato, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Lopez, Helen Mirren, Zendaya, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Victoria Beckham, Beyoncé, Fergie, Britney Spears, Lupita Nyong'o, Jessica Simpson, Kate Hudson, Christina Aguilera, Ariana Grande, Rihanna, and Gwen Stefani. (See List of Allure cover models).

## Best of Beauty Awards

[edit]

Allure began its Best of Beauty awards program in the mid-1990s, at the initiative of Wells, to help readers choose among the vast array of makeup, skincare, and hair-care products on the market. In 2019, the magazine introduced the Allure Best of Beauty Clean Seal award to products that met the publication's "clean" standards.[10]

Allure has two sets of awards, one judged by the magazine's editors and the other by readers. A "winners' seal" logo, developed by Allure, appears on many of the winning products. To ensure that its judgments are neutral, Allure's ad department isn't involved in the selections.

In 2010, the magazine developed an iPhone app that highlights the winning products and tells users where they can buy them based on their location.[11]

## Controversy

[edit]

The magazine faced online criticism when it showed Marissa Neitling with an Afro haircut.[12][13]

Singer Halsey has announced she will no longer do press after Allure failed to use her preferred pronouns in its August [when?] cover story and promoted the interview by allegedly taking quotes out of context.[14]

## Awards (for Allure)

[edit]

* Magazine of the Year from Adweek (2017)[15]
* Bronze Clio Award for Allure Unbound augmented reality app (2017)
* The National Magazine Award for Design (1994)[16]
* The Editorial Excellence Award from Folio (2001)
* The Circulation Excellence Award from Circulation Management (2001)
* "Ring Leader", an essay by Natalie Kusz from the February 1996 issue of Allure, was selected for The Best American Essays 1997 (Houghton Mifflin).
* The magazine has been on Adweek’s Hot List in 1993, 1994, 1995, 2003, and 2007.
* Allure has received 29 awards from the American Academy of Dermatology, nine journalism awards from The Fragrance Foundation, and the Excellence in Media Award from the Skin Cancer Foundation.

## Awards (for Linda Wells)

[edit]

* The Achiever Award from Cosmetic Executive Women (2001)
* The Matrix Award for magazine leadership from New York Women in Communications, Inc. (2009)

## Awards (for Michelle Lee)

[edit]

* Editor of the Year from Adweek (2017)[17]
* Digiday's Glossy 50 (2017)
* A100 Most Influential Asians from Gold House (2018)
* Creative 100 from Create & Cultivate (2017)

## In the media

[edit]

Wells, along with Allure editors Michael Carl and Kelly Atterton, have appeared as judges on the Bravo TV series Shear Genius.

Allure editors have appeared as experts on television programs such as the Today show and 60 Minutes, and Allure stories frequently receive national attention.

Hilary Duff played an Allure intern in Cheaper by the Dozen 2.[18]

## See also

[edit]

* List of Allure cover models
* List of Allure Editor

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Alliance for Audited Media Snapshot Report". Alliance for Audited Media. June 30, 2013. Archived from the original on January 23, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
2. ^ Steigrad, Alexandra (November 12, 2015). "Linda Wells' 24-Year Run at Allure Comes to an End". WWD. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
3. ^ a b Smith, Stephanie D. (October 20, 2006). "Allure Survives Early Blemishes and Turns 15". Women's Wear Daily.
4. ^ "Top 100 U.S. Magazines by Circulation" (PDF). PSA Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 15, 2016. Retrieved February 6, 2016.
5. ^ Greg Allard (October 3, 2015). "The Top 20 Selling Fashion Magazines". Tune Groover. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
6. ^ Izadi, Elahe (September 9, 2022). "Condé Nast workers win recognition of company-wide union". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
7. ^ Brooke Frischer (August 30, 2022). "'Allure' to discontinue print edition". Fashionista. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
8. ^ "14 Magazines Shaking Up the Publishing Industry, One Reinvention at a Time". Adweek. October 29, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
9. ^ Bazilian, Emma (October 29, 2017). "With Michelle Lee at the Helm, Allure Is Blowing Up How Our Culture Defines Beauty". Adweek. Retrieved June 2, 2018.
10. ^ "About Allure". Allure. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
11. ^ iPhone Apps Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Allure.
12. ^ Adlman, Nicole (August 4, 2015). "Twitter Takes Down Allure for Telling White Women, 'You (Yes, You) Can Have an Afro, Even If You Have Straight Hair'". E! Online.
13. ^ Blay, Zeba (August 4, 2015). "It's A Slap In The Face When White Women Wear Black Hairstyles". Huffington Post.
14. ^ Bate, Ellie (21 July 2021). "Halsey Calls Out Magazine For Disrespecting Their Pronouns". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
15. ^ "Presenting the 2017 Readers' Choice Poll Winners". www.adweek.com. December 4, 2017. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
16. ^ Robinson, Gaile (December 8, 1994). "FASHION : The Allure of Allure : Why is the young magazine a winner? It might have something to do with Editor Linda Wells' beauty-biz-not-as-usual style". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
17. ^ Eldor, Karin (August 20, 2010). "To Allure Editor-In-Chief Michelle Lee, Diversity Is More Than A Buzzword". Forbes. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
18. ^ tvguide.com, Cheaper By the Dozen 2

## Further reading

[edit]

* Hilary Milnes, "Inside Allure's beauty box business", Glossy, May 14, 2018.
* Karen K. Ho, "In a rare move, Allure's cover features three Asian models", Columbia Journalism Review, May 21, 2018.
* Jamé Jackson, "Chatting with Michelle Lee, Editor in Chief of Allure", Ed 2010.
* Jason Fell, "Allure Floods Issue with 2-D Barcodes, Sees Subscription Bump", Folio, October 10, 2020.
* Jen Murphy, "Pedaling in Place on the Road to Fitness", The Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2010.
* 2017 Best of Beauty Awards Revealed on Today
* Ani Mandara, "Allure Mag Selects Affordable, Awesome Products", ABC News, October 4, 2010.
* "In Depth: 2009's Most Powerful Fashion Magazine Editors", Forbes, September 7, 2009.
* Linda Wells, "Inside Allure: Letter From the Editor", Allure, November 2010.

## External links

[edit]

* Allure – magazine profile at Fashion Model Directory

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