The Price of Fashion

On my way home from Italy I stocked up on Italian Fashion Magazines including Elle and Vanity Fair. What struck me was that not only were the magazines, most notably Elle, twice the size but also a fraction of the price. Italian Elle was a bargain at €3.00 for a whopping 754 pages, compared with 370 pages in the UK version, and Vanity Fair was an unbelievable €1.80 which is unheard of in the UK. Why is it that these magazines can be sold for this price on the continent and not in the UK? Here are some photos comparing this month's UK Elle, with cover-model Lily Allen, and Italian Elle for size.