The Guardian Fashion

L'Officiel is a French fashion magazine. It has been published in Paris since 1921 and targets upper-income, educated women aged 25 to 49. As of 2006, it had a circulation of 101,719. A men's edition of L'Officiel and eleven foreign editions (as of March 2008) are also published.L'Officiel was first published by Andrée Castaniée in 1921. George Jalou joined the magazine as artistic director in 1932. Soon after, L'Officiel launched the careers of designers including Pierre Balmain, Cristobal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, and Yves St. Laurent, and the magazine became "the Bible of fashion and of high society". Jalou later became the magazine's general director, and ultimately purchased the publication. He transferred ownership of L'Officiel to his three children in 1986. Laurent became the president of Editions Jalou, Marie-José directed its editorial content, and Maxime was responsible for publication. After Laurent died of a heart attack in January 2003, Marie-José Susskind-Jalou became the company's president. In recent years, the publication has taken a more youthful, energetic approach to fashion.

Beginning in 1996, L'Officiel began licensing its brand for use by publishers outside of France. Foreign editions of L'Officiel are now published in Russia, Japan, India, China, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Greece, Latvia, the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Serbia. L'Officiel India is India's "premiere fashion and luxury magazine"; in 2007, its publishers announced that they would also publish L'Officiel India in the United Kingdom to target overseas Indians there.

A men's edition of L'Officiel, called L'Officiel Homme, is also published.