Allure editor-in-chief Michelle Lee is stepping down to join Netflix.
Lee informed her staff of the move Monday afternoon and shared the news on her personal Instagram account shortly thereafter. As the streamer’s vp editorial and publishing, a newly reimagined position under chief marketing officer Bozoma Saint John, Lee will oversee the editorial and publishing group globally and relocate from New York to Los Angeles. She begins in late July.
After joining Allure in 2015, Lee led the brand’s progressive coverage of beauty, including featuring Muslim model Halima Aden, who wears a hijab, on the cover of its July 2017 issue with the coverline “This Is American Beauty” and banning the term “anti-aging” from its copy beginning in September 2017. She was previously CMO and editor-in-chief of Nylon Media, overseeing brands Nylon, Nylon Guys, nylon.com and launching Nylon Studio.
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Lee also has been a leader for diversity and inclusion in media, particularly for Asian American and Pacific Islander inclusion. She is a member of the Gold House and ColorComm boards and Act to Change’s advisory council, and previously served on Adweek‘s Advisory Council and Twitter’s Content Council. Her accolades include Adweek‘s 2017 Editor of the Year, Gold House’s A100, Digiday’s Glossy 50, Create & Cultivate’s Creative 100 and ColorComm’s 2019 Circle Award.
Lee isn’t the first Condé Nast journalist that Netflix has successfully recruited. In 2019, the streamer tapped Vanity Fair executive West Coast editor Krista Smith to serve as an ongoing consultant on content and awards strategy and talent relations.
“This is an exciting but bittersweet moment because I’ll miss everyone at Allure so much … I think we’ve truly shifted the way people look at and talk about beauty. We sparked change on topics like race and aging and sustainability and equality,” Lee wrote in her social media announcement. “But I’m beyond thrilled to join @netflix, working with the incredible @badassboz. I’ve long admired the game-changing work the team there has produced and I’m so excited about what we’ll create together.”
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