Laurent Jalou Dies Suddenly
By Godfrey Deeny FWD

Laurent Jalou, the energetic head of the French magazine publishing family, died Saturday morning in his Paris home of a heart attack.

Jalou was the self-assured president of Les Editions Jalou, the Paris-based company that owns such titles as L'Officiel, Optimum and Jalouse. Founded in 1921, L'Officiel boasts seven international editions, including China, India, Greece and Russia.

Jalou had an impressive recent track record in launching titles in France. In 1996 he debuted Optimum, which has since become the dominant high-end men's monthly, occupying the place once held by Conde Nast's Vogue Homme. Spotting an opening in the hip, young things end of the women's market, the publisher launched Jalouse the following year, turning it into a prestigious title with a 100,000 monthly circulation, the magic profit-making readership figure in France.

Jalou also controls L'Officiel 1,000 Models, a six times a year photo survey of major collections, Revue des Montres watch magazine and Muteen, a new teenager title.

Courageously for a modest-sized family firm operating out of small offices in the Marais, Jalou launched Jalouse in the U.S. as a bi-monthly in New York. A radically revamped U.S. version ultimately failed to find its audience though and was closed in 2001.

On Wednesday, Jalou, 48, was in a lively mood at the Arcat SIDA (the French AIDS charity) dinner that ended the haute couture season. Chatting with FWD, he shrugged off the setback in New York. "We lost a lot of money, but it was the year of September 11. We'll re-launch Jalouse again in the U.S. America is too exciting a place not to want to try again."

He is survived by his sister, Marie-Jose Susskind, the company's editorial director, and Maxime Jalou, his parents Georges and Ully Jalou, and his wife and two children.