Grazia USA to Relaunch Under Purview of Reworld Media Italia
The fate of Grazia USA has come into focus. The American outpost of the Italian fashion perennial will relaunch under the purview of Reworld Media Italia, a subsidy of French conglomerate Reworld Media, which publishes more than 20 other international versions of Grazia.
Reworld will establish a new subsidy — Reworld Media U.S. Inc. — to be based in New York under the purview of Reworld Media Italia. The U.S. iteration will be produced by Grazia’s staff in Milan with contributions from the Paris team. There are plans for a small New York footprint, said Stéphane Haitaian, managing director at Reworld Media, in an email interview with WWD.
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“We want to be as close as possible to our customers to meet their expectations as best we can,” said Haitaian. “Reworld Media is a strong digital player in both France and Europe: this is an opportunity to demonstrate our expertise on the important U.S. market.”
Reworld Media in January completed its acquisition of Grazia, creating subsidiary Reworld Media Italia. chief executive officer Daniela Sola (who came over from previous Grazia publisher Mondadori Group) has been managing the brands and will add Grazia USA to her purview.
The new iteration will be published at existing digital destination graziamagazine.com. Joseph Errico, who was appointed Grazia USA’s top editor in early 2022, replacing David Thielebeule, will remain as editor and chief creative officer. Maria Eliason also remains as executive vice president of advertising.
In addition to New York, the company is exploring the possibility of establishing additional offices in America.
“Grazia has always been a cutting-edge brand, which has become a true icon and point of reference for Made in Italy fashion and style in the world”, Sola said in a statement to WWD. “With our international knowledge in publishing, both print and digital, and our local team on the ground, we intend to strengthen the hybrid and digital first business model, thus creating a 360° experience of style, glamour and inspiration. This will enable us to oversee the brand in the United States, a strategic market that is a priority for us globally.”
There will be multiple annual print editions, though Haitaian did not specify exactly how many.
“Paper continues to be a wonderful medium for our creative and inspirational editorial content,” Haitaian said. “We plan on providing a lavish magazine bringing together all of our expertise in fashion, art, culture, beauty, design, entertainment, travel, keeping abreast of events and trends in the country and using a truly contemporary and original approach. And, of course, with that Italian flair that will make it one of a kind!”
Grazia USA bowed in the U.S. in 2021 under a licensing agreement with Dylan Howard’s Pantheon Media Group. Reworld Media has terminated that pact and last month, Howard told the Grazia staff that the magazine was shuttering immediately. A representative from Grazia Media Italia declined to comment on PMG.
Howard, of course, is the scandal-plagued former American Media Inc. executive and editor of the National Enquirer known for helping powerful men (including Harvey Weinstein and Donald Trump) suppress reporting about their crimes and misdeeds. He helmed the supermarket tabloid from 2014 until 2020 and emerged from the ashes of AMI (after cooperating with federal authorities investigating Trump’s hush money payments to women during the 2016 presidential campaign) with a new company, Empire Media Group, and later PMG. Grazia USA was something of a departure in tone from his other more tabloid magazines and its launch in the U.S. was seen as an effort at image rehabilitation.
But Grazia USA was wobbly from the start. The title cycled through top editors and at least one restructuring (in early 2022) which resulted in layoffs, while publishing a handful of hefty print editions (more than 300 pages each) and some smaller location-specific issues (The Hamptons, Los Angeles).
Brining the American iteration of the brand into the fold should confer operational continuity as Reworld Media aims to grow the title’s multichannel and premium publications.
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