Condé Nast has pulled the plug on Style.com and folded it into the e-commerce platform Farfetch. All of the brand’s assets, including its trademark, inventory of merchandise and customer database, now belong to Farfetch, according to a memo from Jonathan Newhouse, chairman and chief executive of Condé Nast International, sent to staff.
In the memo, Newhouse notes that, for some of the Style.com staff, there may be opportunities at Condé Nast. He also writes that Farfetch has some vacancies, but the company has essentially laid off an undisclosed number of employees without any reassignment plans.
Farfetch, which already has business connections with CN through its parent company Advance, is a tech, e-commerce and logistics platform that was founded in 2007 by José Neves.
“We have long felt that inspirational content is a natural part of any luxury shopping experience,” says Neves in a release. “In the same way as we empower the fashion industry and connect consumers with the world’s best brands and boutiques, we want to connect them with outstanding content.”
He goes on to say that, what both companies are labeling as a partnership, will significantly change the retail experience for Farfetch’s customers, and he views it as a natural step in Farfetch’s approach “to commerce and our strategic vision to connect those who create fashion, curate fashion and develop fashion content.”
Style.com has already shuttered and the URL redirects to Farfetch. Condé Nast has also revealed in a release that there will be an ongoing business collaboration with Farfetch, which will include a technology connection to enable product integration into Condé Nast’s content, shopping guides created by its publications that’ll highlight products from Farfetch, as well as distribution of shoppable content across Condé Nast digital and social platforms.
In his memo, Newhouse says that three and a half years ago Condé Nast started Style.com with the aim of creating a worldwide e-commerce business. The site attracted over 300 brands, despite operating in a very competitive marketplace. Sadly, the results of the business fell far short of where Newhouse had hoped they would be and the decision to move on from Style.com was made after exploring “all other alternatives.”
