Memo Pad: A New Real-ity?...

A NEW REAL-ITY?: Real Simple has a few openings on the masthead, due to the departures of health and beauty director Elizabeth Graves (who left for Martha Stewart Weddings) and fashion director Karen Kozlowski. The magazine is looking for replacements for both positions — but insiders insist Real Simple also could be seeking someone even more high-powered to come onboard and help shake things up a bit, working alongside managing editor Kristin van Ogtrop. A spokeswoman didn’t exactly deny the speculation, saying the magazine is constantly trying to keep things fresh and current, but adding “we do not have definitive plans to shake things up and change the magazine.” (Presumably, that would be for the new hire to figure out?) Not that Real Simple is being hit by publishing’s tough times: On the newsstand, the title was up 6.2 percent to 411,705 during the second half of 2009. — Amy Wicks



COVER BOY: Fashion matters in France. How else to explain the number of magazine covers granted to Ralph Lauren, who last week opened his largest store in Europe on the Boulevard Saint-Germain? The designer looks tanned and relaxed beaming from the cover of business weekly Challenges and La Tribune & Moi, a glossy supplement to the business daily. He should. Both titles used archival portraits by Bruce Weber from 1996. Men’s lifestyle monthly L’Optimum also used an archival shot by Weber, circa 1992. Another men’s monthly, Monsieur, used an illustration by Jean-Claude Floch of the designer with the headline, “An American in Paris.” Figaro Madame, meanwhile, hired Carter Berg to photograph Lauren with French actress Melanie Laurent. It’s due to hit newsstands on May 29. — Natasha Montrose



TRONG GOES GOLDEN: Gilt Groupe continues its hiring tear, tapping Stephanie Trong as its first editorial director. Trong comes to Gilt Groupe from Nylon magazine, where she served as executive editor. Previously, she held the same position at the now-defunct Jane magazine. — A.W.



BEAUTY OFFERS HOPE: Beauty advertising has been big for fashion magazines as of late, and the category has also become a significant driver of Web traffic for self.com. During the magazine’s annual healthy beauty awards event on Tuesday at A Voce, editor in chief Lucy Danziger reported that total monthly visitors to self.com/beauty have generated 1.5 million page views. The site has nearly doubled beauty traffic and uniques, thanks to blogs and blog videos. One reader recently posted a video of getting a haircut, which garnered nearly 17,000 views alone. It must have been some haircut. — A.W.