ELLE Afrique: The Publication for the African Woman
- Clearly Invincible
- 12 hours ago
- 4 min read
ELLE Côte d’Ivoire expands into ELLE Afrique to mark a new phase for francophone African fashion media. Building on ELLE Côte d'Ivoire (7 years of editorial excellence), this edition covers all of francophone Africa, 23 countries, making it the largest geographical territory in the ELLE International network with the Pan-African ambition to launch an English-language version to cover the entire continent and reach the markets of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa by late 2026. One brand, two languages, an entire continent.
ELLE, Founded in Paris in 1945 by Hélène Lazareff, ELLE has carried a constant mission for nearly 80 years: to inspire women, support them and keep them informed.
Frédérique Nanan, CEO and Publisher of ELLE Afrique, shared via video:
“ELLE Afrique was conceived as an extension of Côte d’Ivoire media. Today, we address all women — first in French and in time across the continent building a platform that documents African talent, empowers women, and connects creative ecosystems naturally.”
This reflects more than a regional footprint and further highlights the conversation about how African fashion media defines its identity, strengthens infrastructure across the continent, and documents its history.
In turn, a visible transition, ELLE Côte d’Ivoire’s Instagram handle has been updated to ELLE Afrique Francophone, to show the uniformity and continental reach of the brand.
The publication also prioritises ecological responsibility by using PEFC-certified paper, women’s empowerment by contributing to ‘Think Tank Nanan’ & the Health Dignity Fund and contributing to Sustainable Development Goals 3, 5, and 8.
The inaugural cover features Naomi Campbell, whose global recognition brings scale to the launch. This edition is also sponsored by CHANEL, the luxury French house founded in Paris, France in 1910. However, CHANEL’s connection to francophone West Africa is a subtle, yet powerful one, supporting women farmers in Mali and Senegal through the myAgro initiative - a platform founded by Anushka Ratnayake in 2011. Of course, Chanel’s 2022/23 Métiers d'art show on December 8 2022 in Dakar was also a notable cultural moment for the french house. Naomi can be seen wearing a yellow signature tweed jacket from Look 44 of CHANEL’s Spring Summer 2026 Pre-Collection.
Putting Naomi on the cover of our first edition is a statement of lineage. She opened doors. ELLE Afrique walks through them and builds new ones.
Sovereignty is central to this vision. In Nanan’s articulation, sovereignty means African women defining standards of beauty, success, and cultural authority from within the continent.
In an exclusive interview with Frédérique Nanan, we asked:
Clearly Invincible: As African media strengthens and reclaims its voice & stories in modern times, what were the deciding factors in choosing the personality, Naomi Campbell, for the cover of the first edition and what narrative in sovereignty does ELLE intend to communicate to its potential audience of 200 million African women?
Frédérique Nanan: Why Naomi Campbell? Because she is the living embodiment of a sovereignty that was never given, it was taken. For over three decades, Naomi walked into rooms that were not designed for her and made them hers. She challenged an industry that systematically excluded Black women from its highest stages, and she won, not by conforming but by insisting on her own terms. She is deeply connected to Africa, not performatively, but personally and consistently.
Putting Naomi on the cover of our first edition is a statement of lineage. She opened doors. ELLE Afrique walks through them and builds new ones. She represents the bridge between the global and the continental, between legacy and future. She is not our cover because she is famous. She is our cover because her story rhymes with the story we are telling”
While the inaugural cover features the global icon who is an undoubtedly powerful force within the global fashion industry, the choice still raises the question of the media's role in turning the African woman's gaze towards external figures who are not directly rooted in her lived and nuanced experiences.
In this same edition, through initiatives like ELLE La Liste, the publication will champion 24 African women who are shaping the continent in fashion, culture, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
As Nanan described, the cover star also functions as an ambassador with the continent at heart, opening doors while the platform consolidates a homegrown narrative with an editorial team that spans across Africa, bringing specific regional perspectives to the publication.
Ultimately, this moment reveals that the African fashion industry is transitioning. ELLE Afrique represents necessary institutional structure (with international support), continental printing and relevant expansion plans which include English-language markets across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa.
The measure of success will not rest on a single cover but on the trajectory of how and if African women, creatives, and institutions become the reference points within ELLE Afrique. Or will sovereignty coexist within the inherited frameworks of Western defined luxury standards and reliance on global validation?
What is clear is that ELLE Afrique has constructed a credible framework and articulated a vision that blends continental ambition with measurable impact.
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