Lui

This article is about the French magazine. For people with the surname, seeLui (surname).For other uses, seeLui (disambiguation).

Lui

Cover of the August 1983 issue ofLui,featuringValérie Kaprisky
Categories	Men's magazines
Frequency	Monthly
Publisher	Filipacchi
Founded	1963
First issue	November 1963
Final issue	March 2020
Country	France
Based in	Paris,France
Language	French, others
Website	www.luimagazine.fr

Lui(French:[lɥi];lit. 'Him') is a Frenchadult-entertainmentmagazinecreated in November 1963 byDaniel Filipacchi,a fashion photographer turned publisher,Jacques Lanzmann,ajack of all tradesturnednovelist,andFrank Ténot,a press agent,pataphysicianandjazzcritic.

The objective was to bring some charm "à la française" to the market ofmen's magazines,following the success ofPlayboyin the United States, launched just a decade before.

France, indeed, in the first half of 20th century had an outstanding reputation for erotic publications, feeding also foreign market and inspiring also ersatz French-flavoured magazines abroad, when, for example, US publishers used French-sounding titles likeChèreandDreaméor placed tricolour flags on the covers, attempting to attract the casual buyer.It was anyway a semi-clandestine circulating material, not allowed to be freely displayed or openly bought. In this sensePlayboychanged the way 'soft pornography' (become more respectfully 'adult entertainment'), can be publicly circulated.

This magazine was particularly successful from its origins to the early 1980s, but afterwards it began a long decline. It was published regularly until November 1987 (the final issue of this first series was the number 285). After 1987 there was a further attempt to relaunch the title but the publication ceased again in 1994. Passed into the hands of the media group of Michel Birnbaum, after a transient stimulus, it became apornographic magazinewith episodic dissemination. It was published every three months.

After the purchase of the title by Jean-Yves Le Fur,Luiwas relaunched on 5 September 2013 as a high-end magazine withFrédéric Beigbederat its helm.

Luipublished by Filipacchi group (1963–1994)

First series (1963–1987)

This magazine successful recipe was combining content with depth articles and beautiful naked women, featuring many B-List but also celebrities, often prominent French actresses, such asBrigitte Bardot,Mireille Darc,Jane BirkinorMarlène Jobert.

It featured a monthly pin-up byAslan.The first girl to pose on the cover was Valérie Lagrange (the number 1 appeared on 11 January 1963) photographed byFrancis Giacobetti,future director of the soft-core movieEmmanuelle 2.

The magazine hosted also a cartoon by Lauzier:Les Sextraordinaires Aventures de Zizi et Peter Panpan.Among the first collaborators are Jean-Louis Bory, René Chateau, Philippe Labro, Francis Dumoulin, Francis Giacobetti, Siné, Michel Mardore, Gilles Sandier and many others.

The magazine motto wasLui, le magazine de l'homme moderne(The Magazine of the Modern Man). In the beginning, it had also a mascot, a cat's head, similarly to the magazinePlayboy Bunny,but it disappeared in the early 1970s.

Second series (1987–1994)

The second series was published by theFilipacchi groupfrom 1987 to 1994. It has been published 69 numbers. Its editor was Stéphane de Rosnay in 1989, Brice Couturier 1990 to 1992.

Initially, its specificity (compared to the first series) was that it was published in a two separate books, but from number 27, "" Lui "" returned to be a single book magazine with the new slogan "Le magazine de l'homme civilisé" (The Magazine of civilized man).

The circulation that was in early 1980 of 350,000 copies dropped to 70,000 copies in 1993. In early 1993, the magazine abandoned the monthly release and became bimonthly. The Filipacchi group stopped publication in June 1994.

Luipublished by Michel Birnbaum (1995–2010)

Le Nouveau Lui(1995–1997)

The title was used again from 1995 to 1997 (14 issues) and namedLe Nouveau Luiby Michel Birnbaum, a radiotherapist physician turned publisher as founder and owner of the holding company Altinea, specializing in magazines aboutvintage cars.The goal was to return to the roots (and success) of the original publication, intending a more glamour-oriented publication. The coverage of the first issue was dedicated to Miss Agnes. The magazine was again released as a monthly issue and the design of the title was upgraded. For the first time, the cover picture was devoted to one man alone, without an accompanying female model. This attempt to revive the magazine failed, with the final issue published in February 1997 withEva Herzigováas the cover girl.

Luipornographic magazine (2001–2010)

The magazine published quarterly from 2001 to 2010 had a pornographic nature. Its slogan was "L'officiel de la photo de charme" or (as on the online edition) "Le charme des filles d'aujourd hui." It was published by the company 1633, whose president and sole shareholder was Michel Birnbaum. Patrick Guérinet was the managing editor until July 2010, when he was succeeded by Francis Guillebon.

Luipublished by Jean-Yves Le Fur (2013–2020)

The magazine was relaunched in 2013 withLéa Seydouxas its first cover girl. Its editor-in-chief was Frédéric Beigbeder. In March 2017, the magazine went from monthly to quarterly andFrédéric Taddeïsucceeded Frédéric Beigbeder as its editor-in-chief. Covergirls since the first issue have (as of January 2016) includedRihanna,Gisele Bundchen,Rita Ora,Monica Bellucci,Alessandra Ambrosio,Virginie Ledoyen,Naomi Campbell,Kate Moss,Jourdan Dunn,Carolyn Murphy,Joan Smalls,and others. With the exception of Bellucci who appeared semi-clothed, all have appeared topless or fully naked inside their issues.

National editions

• French edition (1963–2020)
• German edition (1977–1992)
• Italian edition (1970–1986?)
• Spanish edition (1977–1978?)
• Brazilian edition (1976–?)
• American edition (1972–2007) asOui

See also

• List of Lui magazine cover models

External links

• Official websiteArchived23 October 2013 atarchive.today