The Business of Fashion
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Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Pierre A. M’Pelé, also known by his online alias Pam Boy, is GQ France’s new head of editorial content, succeeding former editor-in-chief Olivier Lalanne, who exited Condé Nast as it rolled out a new global consolidated structure in recent months.
M’Pelé will report to Adam Baidawi, GQ’s deputy global editorial editor and the head of editorial content for British GQ, the company said. As part of the new structure conceived by Condé Nast’s global chief content officer Anna Wintour, editorial teams across the company report into a few editors, mostly based in the US, with the intention of sharing more content and covers. GQ is led globally by American editor Will Welch, who is the magazine’s global editorial director.
The restructure saw the exit of many editors in chief across the company, especially in France where Lalanne joined Vogue Paris editor Emmanuelle Alt and Vanity Fair France editor Joseph Ghosn in exiting the publisher in recent months.
The appointment of M’Pelé, 28, signals Condé Nast’s interest in a new generation of diverse and digitally native leaders. He is known for publishing criticism and commentary on Instagram and Twitter, where he first found an audience by posting about the industry while studying fashion journalism at Central Saint Martins. He was most recently an associate editor at Katie Grand’s Perfect magazine and first worked for Grand as senior editor at Love before her exit from the Condé Nast publication in 2020. M’Pelé founded his own magazine, SCRNSHT, in 2018.
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The head of editorial content job involves overseeing the publication of GQ France’s print editions, as well as its content online and on social media, in line with Welch and Baidawi’s vision.
“I’m looking forward to building a strong community while fostering talent and creativity as well as telling bold stories with courage and sincerity,” said M’Pelé in a statement. “I’m also excited to bring personal values such as diversity, inclusion, kindness, and empathy with me in this new role.”
Editor’s Note: This article was updated on 10 November 2021. A previous version misstated that M’Pelé was once an editor at i-D.
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