Apparel Sale :: GQ Will Soon Launch in France

Speaking of CondéNet, CondéNast will be launching their GQ magazine in France soon; February 2008 to be exact.  Almost unbelievably, it has taken GQ 50 years to come to France - it seems quite strange to me.  They've had international editions for a long time, holding their own in the UK since 1988 and in Italy since 1997….they've even been in Russia since 2000!

Obviously, France is a great country for fashion magazines and many of them began here such as Elle and Marie-Claire….but most of them that have successfully launched have been women's magazines.  For whatever reason, men's magazines originating in France have been complete disasters!

I have seen many companies try and crack in to this market and to be honest, I'm not sure why it hasn't been working out for them.  Maybe the French already feel as though they have enough fashion tips available to them through newspapers and magazines that are presently sold; maybe they don't feel as though they need a fashion magazine too.  Even Men's Health tried to make a go of it here and they pulled out after just 3 years!

I think another reason may be the high distribution cost over here.  It is incredibly high in France due to a quasi-monopoly inherited from post-war laws….aah politics! They touch everything, don't they?

All I can say to GQ is "Good Luck." I wish them success in their new venture, but history has a funny way of repeating itself.

Well, anyway, if you want to check out the new GQ France that will be launching soon, head over to their website.  The whole thing is in French (naturally) so if you don't read it, you may not get much out of it.  But for those of you that do read French, check it out! Oh, and you'll need a code to get in: Mass37497