Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

'Elle Girl' Magazine Billed as Beauty Magazine for 21st Century Teen

Aired September 05, 2001 - 11:51   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Teenage girls are a fast growing segment of the U.S. population. Just about every single one of them has to have the latest fashions, the latest 'N Sync CD, the latest hair, and all that goop they want to put in it. In other words, they spend lots of money -- $75 billion on clothes alone last year. "Elle" magazine knows a market when it sees one. Introducing "Elle Girl." It is billed as the new style and beauty magazine for the 21st century teen.

Brandon Holley is editor-in-chief of "Elle Girl," and she joins us from New York.

Hey, Brandon.

BRANDY HOLLEY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "ELLE GIRL": Hi, how are you.

MCEDWARDS: Great, thanks for being here. You know, "Elle" has been around for a long time as a magazine for adult women. Why decide to go ahead target teens?

HOLLEY: We looked at the market for a long time before we decided to launch this project. And what we did was look at existing magazines that were out there, and e decided there was really space for a magazine targeted to the stylish teenager, the older teen.

MCEDWARDS: What makes this magazine different from the other ones that are out there then?

HOLLEY: Well, a lot of them -- I've been talking with a lot of girl, basically how I got the information they built this magazine on. They feel the older teen, 14-year-old to 17-year-old feels there is no magazine for them. They're beyond the teeny bopper stuff, but they're reading the 18-34 demographic glossies, the fashion magazines. But while they say their is no magazine for them, because while love the fashion in the bigger magazines, they can't afford it. So we sort of thought that's a great place for us to be, and it totally fits with the "Elle" philosophy, which is about style, and independence and smarts, and so it was the perfect idea to translate to a younger girl.

MCEDWARDS: yes, that's a real tender age, too, that 14- to 17- year-old. I mean, these girls are under a lot of pressure, in terms of how they look, how thin they need to be, how pretty they need to be. HOLLEY: Right.

MCEDWARDS: How much thought is there here about getting away from some of that. I mean, it's a beautiful glossy magazine, of course, but what have you got in there that sends a different message to girls, or is that just not saleable?

HOLLEY: We encouraging girls to sort of dress differently, think differently, be independent, and we're seeing it starts with your wardrobe and goes from there. We also have a page of book reviews, we have fiction. What we are saying is it's OK to look good be and smart. It's really -- our motto is "smart girls rule." And I'm very, very sensitive, you know, to mini skirt lengths. You won't see microminis, I'm sensitive to what the teens want to where and what we think is appropriate for school and weekend wear.

MCEDWARDS: There is a piece in here, I was looking at, two dancers, two girls interested in ballet, on diet. One of them decides she's not going to worry about her weight anymore, and says she never felt better and never felt happier about her life.

HOLLEY: Right, and the other one decided she could take the pressure and continue, and we wanted to give both sides of that. What we don't remember often enough is that girls are very smart, and not only are they under a lot of pressure, they're also reading a lot and thinking a lot. And in my discussions with them, I find out, you know, they're really amazing young women. You know, they're on the threshold of adulthood, and what we want to do is give them a magazine that sort of tailored to their life at that point.

MCEDWARDS: Brandon Holley, best of luck with it, and thanks for your time today.

HOLLEY: Thank you so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com