Date of Premiere Issue : March 2001
Editor-in-Chief : Stephen Todd
Creative Director : Dipresh Pandya
Publisher : Laurent Jalou
Dimensions : n/a
Frequency : 5 issues a year
Country of Origin : United States
Website : n/a
Contributed by : Tangelia B
Statement
Paris-New York...A mutual admiration society has long existed between these two cultural capitals. One salivates over la Grosse Pomme. The other goes all gooey at the mere mention of 'The City of Light.' Throughout this century, artists, writers, musicians and assorted fashionistas have all slid back and forth along the glamor axis that is the Atlantic divide. So, when the time came to launch Jalouse - a three year old French title - on American soil, the move seemed logical, even natural.
Sure, there were the "If you can make it there..." bouts of aspiration. Then came the cattle run of JFK, the endless sirens on Broadway, the apartment search,the chilling winds, the stolen wallet, the leaking ceiling...but then the strangely comforting 'Left Bank' interior of SoHo's Balthazar. France, it seems, is never that far away from New York.
But Jalouse USA is not a French magazine. It's a new American magazine that carries a liberal dose of Euro DNA in its genetic makeup. Three genes, in particular. The gene for admiration of creativity, in all its forms. The gene for heightened fashion sensibility (we can't help it, we just love la mode). And the gene for openness, for exchange. Exchange between Europe and the United States, bien sur but also 'exchange' in a more organic sense, as a way of looking at the world. Like in 'Hotline' (pp 60-67), where we eavesdrop on six gals chatting casually about their transatlantic antics. Or in 'Dish' (pp 84-87), where we invite a mixed-bag of adopted New Yorkers over for a potluck dinner in the East Village. Or when Casey Affleck sheds intimate light on a subject close to his heart, his actress girlfriend Summer Phoenix (pp 170-75).
In fashion, of course, cultural exchange has long been rife: what modern girl isn't fluent in sartorial Italian, French, English, Belgian and Japanese? Or stylistically conversant in attitudes ranging from pretty punk, to party girl, to river nymph romance? (pp 101-161) Visually, we're running the gamut, convinced that from the frisson of differing visions a new aesthetic will arise. The magic, after all, is in the mix. Welcome - and bienvenue - to Jalouse.
Stephen Todd