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Elle Decor is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month and in honor of the milestone, Curbed looked back at some of the magazine's biggest moments through the eyes of those who knew it best, from its founding editor, Barbara Dixon, to the current editor-in-chief, Michael Boodro.
The magazine is largely known as the go-to resource for style-centric interior design. It has taken readers inside the homes of some of fashion's most famous faces, from Giorgio Armani to Donatella Versace, and it placed a great emphasis on style and accessibility in its pages, proving to many that home decor magazines don't have to be stuffy.
When Dixon was tasked with getting Elle Decor up and running, she wanted the magazine to set itself apart by showcasing personality and accessibility in each spread. "When we shot our interiors, we wanted the feeling that someone had just gotten up and left the room," Dixon told Curbed. "We wanted there to be an unmade bed."
The accessibility in design and staying current is still one of its defining features. However, current EIC Michael Boodro acknowledged that the movement isn't quite as groundbreaking as it once was. "[But] one of the things that happens when you're a young upstart like Elle Decor is eventually the world catches up with you," Boodro told Curbed. "I don't think that we're the outsider in the way that we used to be."
Regardless, he has high hopes for the future of the magazine. "Maybe I'm naive in this way, but I do think print is not dying," Boodro said. "I think there will be a magazine 25 years from now. I do think magazines are becoming more luxury objects, so I think it will be a little more expensive. Hopefully it will be printed on better paper. I think it'll be not a rarified object, but something that really passionate people get."
· From 'Stripes With Plaids' to 'Unmade Beds': Major Players Talk 25 Years of Elle Decor [Curbed]
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· For Fall, H&M's Home Goods Line is Trending 'Opulent' [Racked]