Marielle Bobo
Editorial Strategy/ Fashion + Beauty Direction / Brand Consulting
About
Marielle Bobo is an award-winning, publishing industry veteran and creative executive with twenty five years of fashion, beauty, and lifestyle media experience. Following its relaunch under new ownership, in 2021 Bobo was named Editor-in-Chief and Senior Vice President of Programming at EBONY Media. Charged with leading EBONY’s strategic expansion as a digital-first brand honoring the core elements of its 78-year legacy, Bobo ushered in an exciting new chapter for one of the industry’s most venerable giants.
During a history-making run, Bobo led a complete redesign of EBONY’s website and conceptualized and launched the brand’s acclaimed monthly digital cover experience, which garnered viral moments, attracted innovative brand partnerships, and gained recognition from the industry’s leading design competitions. Her reimagining of signature events and franchises helped revitalize the brand and bridge the gap between younger audiences and legacy readers while growing the business.
Previously, Bobo was the Founding Editorial Director of AC Brands—restauranteur, Food Network personality, and New York Times bestselling cookbook author—Ayesha Curry's lifestyle group. In the role she oversaw brand messaging and vision across all entities and led editorial direction and strategy for Sweet July—Curry's lifestyle magazine published by Meredith Corporation. Bobo also helmed the launch of Sweet July’s corresponding website, social channels, product line, e-commerce platform, and Oakland-based flagship store.
Prior to joining AC Brands, Bobo was the Fashion Director of Essence Magazine. Widely known as a masterful creative director and stylist, she was tapped to support an extensive, internationally focused expansion of the brand's fashion content across its print, digital, video, social, commerce and experiential properties. During her tenure, she spearheaded commerce opportunities though ShopESSENCE marketplace and debuted Banking on Style—a competition for Black designers. Bobo also launched the brand's Fashion House experiential series—a global platform for creatives of color. Bobo brought the unique mix of fashion shows, conversations and workshops to New York, New Orleans, and Lagos.
Marielle was also the Fashion and Beauty Director of EBONY Magazine and the Executive Director of Special Projects for iONE Digital. She was a founding member of the launch team for CASSIUS, the company’s men-focused lifestyle platform and worked with parent company Urban One’s award-winning branded content division to develop and execute sponsored initiatives across its digital properties.
Bobo began her career as an agent at Wilhelmina Models. She soon transitioned to Allure magazine as a market editor covering accessories and fashion. Later, Bobo joined the style department at Hearst Magazine’s CosmoGirl and would go on to lend her expertise in various fashion and beauty editorial roles with Women’s Wear Daily (WWD), OK Magazine, Vanity Fair, Self, Glamour and Harper’s Bazaar. Her extensive styling career spans over 100 magazine covers and countless editorials.
Marielle has appeared on a host of television outlets including Good Morning America, The Today Show and Entertainment Tonight. In 2023 she was featured in the acclaimed Vogue YouTube Originals documentary Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion, OWN’s Time of Essence—a five-part docuseries celebrating the 50th anniversary of Essence Magazine, and The Sound She Saw, a film which spotlights groundbreaking contemporary Black women photographers.
Named one of the 30 Most Powerful Black Women in Fashion by Hello Beautiful, Bobo remains a champion for Black creatives in fashion via her work with a range of initiatives including Michelle Obama's Reach Higher Fashion Education Workshop, the Fashion Institute of Technology Alumni Advisory Council, Harlem’s Fashion Row x Closing the Gap, and RAISEfashion.