Zalando founder and co-CEO David Schneider. Image: Zalando
The acquisition will enable the online retail giant to leverage Highsnobiety’s creative insights into the fashion world.
Berlin-headquartered fashion e-commerce company Zalando is snapping up Highsnobiety, a fashion and lifestyle media brand.
Financial details are not being disclosed. Zalando is taking a majority stake but Highsnobiety will retain full creative control under the terms of the deal.
Highsnobiety was founded in 2005 as a blog by David Fischer. It has since expanded to include a publishing arm, creative consultancy and a curated commerce platform, focusing on luxury fashion and lifestyle brands.
It is headquartered in Berlin with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Amsterdam, Sydney and Milan.
Fischer will retain a minority stake in the business, which will continue its operations independently.
Highsnobiety will provide strategic and creative consultancy services to Zalando. The e-commerce business will use Highsnobiety’s knowledge of the streetwear scene to fulfil its ambition to become a top destination for fashion-forward young customers.
Meanwhile, Highsnobiety will be able to use Zalando’s expertise to fulfil its own e-commerce ambitions.
“Both of our companies share a passion for building strong brand partnerships and enabling brands to inspire audiences with their products and stories,” said David Schneider, Zalando’s founder and co-CEO.
He added that he is looking forward to seeing their “joint vision materialise and to shape the future of fashion content in commerce together.”
Zalando is a growing fashion-focused business with bases around the world, including an expanding tech hub in Dublin that was set up in 2015.
Last year, SiliconRepublic.com headed down to Zalando’s new Dublin office on Windmill Lane to speak to some of its employees about their work. At this base, it employs software engineers, data scientists and other specialist tech workers.
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