Rita Silvan steps down from Elle Canada

Rita Silvan will step down as editor-in-chief of Elle Canada. She will be replaced by the magazine’s current executive director Noreen Flanagan.

After a day of rumours, Transcontinental’s senior VP of consumer magazines Francine Tremblay released a notice confirming that Silvan would step down, which didn’t help abate speculation about why the long-time editor was leaving.

A Toronto Life blogger
says:

“It’s unclear if Silvan, one of the founding members of Elle Canada in
2001 and a judge on Project Runway Canada, quit on her own terms. But
the use of “economy” and “rethink our structure” seems to imply that she
was given a guiding foot.”

The Transcontinental memo from Tremblay read:

“I regret to inform you of the departure of Rita Silvan, Editor in Chief, Elle Canada.  I wish to thank Rita for her contributions to the Elle brand over the past years and wish her luck in her future endeavors.

“In light of this, the economy and the maturity of the product, I have taken this opportunity to rethink our structure. As part of this, it is with pleasure that I announce that Noreen Flanagan will be promoted to Editor in Chief, Elle Canada. Noreen has been part of the Elle Canada group since 2001, acting most recently as Executive Editor. In her capacity of Executive Editor, Noreen has been involved in all aspects of the magazine, including beauty, fashion, arts and entertainment.”

“I look forward to working with Noreen in her new role.”