Willa Bennett Named Editor in chief of Highsnobiety
Willa Bennett has been named editor in chief of Highsnobiety, the culture and fashion media company in which German e-commerce giant Zalando recently acquired a majority stake.
Bennett, 27, comes to Highsnobiety from GQ, where she led the magazine’s social media strategy and penned culture pieces. She will oversee editorial operations from Highsnobiety’s New York City offices. She starts July 25 and reports to founder and chief executive officer David Fischer. Bennett succeeds Thom Bettridge, who left to join Montreal-based multibrand e-tailer Ssense.
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“Highsnobiety is such an important voice in fashion and culture, and I am thrilled to usher the brand into a new, exciting era,” said Bennett in a statement. She will head an editorial team in New York, Highsnobiety’s headquarters in Berlin and in Amsterdam, London, Milan, Los Angeles and Sydney.
Prior to GQ Bennett held roles at Seventeen Magazine, and at Bustle Digital Group.
Her appointment comes several weeks after Zalando bought a majority stake, an alliance designed to bring “together Highsnobiety’s cultural relevance and insight, fashion authority and storytelling expertise with Zalando’s fashion network, e-commerce know-how and operational capabilities,” the companies said in a statement revealing the deal.
Fischer, who founded the brand as a Berlin-based blog in 2005, has retained a minority stake in the business. The company continues to be led by Fischer and Jürgen Hopfgartner. Zalando said at the time of the acquisition that Highsnobiety would retain its editorial independence. The deal was seen as enabling the German e-tailer to grow further in the hot category of streetwear. According to data provided by Similarweb, the U.S., the U.K., Canada and Australia are four of Highsnobiety’s biggest markets, representing around 60 percent of visitors. WebsiteIQ revealed that Highsnobiety has on average 1.48 million unique visitors a month.
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