Elle Magazine to sell Elle-branded cell phone

SAN DIEGO—Can a magazine brand help sell mobile phones and, presumably, vice versa?

That question could be answered soon as the Elle Magazine partnership with Alcatel to produce the GlamPhone Elle—a dual-band GSM phone with features designed to appeal to the magazine’s readership of 4.8 million—gets rolling Sept. 1.

The effort got a boost today when the two companies announced that InfoSonics Corp. would provide customization and distribution services for the handset in the United States.

The unlocked phone will be sold via a GlamPhone Web site.

Advertising for the phone, which sells for $180—a price that includes a one-year subscription to the magazine—suggests that purchasers can choose between “screen or preen,” i.e., the screen also acts as a mirror, presumably for touching up one’s appearance. And it can be used to “accessorize” by hanging the three-ounce device from one’s neck, using an Elle-branded necklace.