After being tested on the local market in the early 1950s, Bernie Leser was appointed to launch the Australian version of the legendary Vogue magazine in 1959.In an interview Leser said this of the launch:
"Quality was absolutely vital. We were much more interested in the quality of human relations and the quality of the product than money. The money came after that. We made a good profit but our shareholders were never greedy. We could have made more money had we approached it more in a Murdoch fashion, but the Newhouse family was different in its priorities."
Bernie was born in Germany and raised in New Zealand. He and his business partners purchased Vogue from Conde Nast in 1972 although in 1990 Conde Nast bought back the publication from Leser who had turned it into a money spinner.
Bernie went on to become the vice president of Conde Nast Europe and Conde Nast USA . In 1987 he moved to New York after being appointed president of Conde Nast USA before returning to Australia as chairman of Conde Nast Asia Pacific. He finally retired in 2000 and was a popular figure on the Sydney and Melbourne social circuit. His artists daughter Deborah Leser announced the death of her father on Facebook this morning.
