After less than a year in operation, Style.com is no more.
Launched in 2000, Style.com was one of the first fashion sites for reporting industry news and carried an extensive catalogue of catwalk imagery. In 2016 the site was relaunched as a luxury shopping platform fusing together editorial content and commerce.
However just 9 months after the UK launch (the site never reached its US launch date), Condé Nast have decided to pull the project.
If you type in Style.com into your browser you will now be automatically redirected to Farfetch. The publishing giant have formed a strategic partnership with the ever-growing e-commerce site and Farfetch has aquired Style.com's trademark, intellectual property and customer database. The partnership does not come as much of a surprise considering Condé Nast was one of Farfetch's original investors.
'As an early investor in Farfetch, this partnership is the next step in our evolving business relationship. It further unites two leaders in their respective sectors, combining best-in-class content with the world’s leading online luxury shopping destination,' said Jonathan Newhouse, chairman and chief executive of Condé Nast International, who is joining the board of Farfetch.
The fate of Style.com's 75 employees including fashion director Yasmin Sewell are not known at this stage.
'Condé Nast and Farfetch will partner to create a best-in-class content-to-commerce shopping experience, which will include a seamless technology connection to easily enable Farfetch product integration into Condé Nast's content; shopping guides created by Condé Nast publications, highlighting products from Farfetch; and distribution of shoppable content across Condé Nast digital and social platforms,' the press release explained.
Natalie Massenet, founder of Net-a-Porter and now co-chairman of Farfetch, stated: 'We are thrilled to be partnering with Condé Nast. Since 1999 I have believed in the importance of combining content and commerce in order to elevate the digital shopping experience... It will be thrilling to develop the next evolution of content and commerce with Anna Wintour and all the brilliant talented minds at Condé Nast.'
Watch this space...
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