Zalando amps up content creation with Highsnobiety acquisition

The partnership will allow both businesses to benefit from each other’s expertise.

Zalando has bought a majority stake in the global brand Highsnobiety, which will act as a strategic and creative consultant to boost its storytelling and curation on-site.

This will help drive Zalando’s ambitions to become a “starting point for fashion”, with a focus on streetwear, luxury and fashion-forward younger shoppers.

Highsnobiety will gain access to Zalando’s wealth of expertise and resources to fuel its own ecommerce strategy.

The media brand will retain editorial independence, with agency work remaining autonomous and the management structure unchanged.

Highsnobiety chief executive and founder David Fischer will keep his minority stake in the business.

Fischer said: “Highsnobiety has mastered the art of turning stories into products and products into stories. I am very excited to bring our capabilities to Zalando’s commitment towards fashion inspiration and together reimagine the future of content and commerce.

“Equally, I am thrilled to tap into Zalando’s unrivalled expertise in scaling ecommerce platforms and bring my lifetime’s passion work to the next level.” 

Zalando founder and co-chief executive David Schneider added: “Both of our companies share a passion for building strong brand partnerships and enabling brands to inspire audiences with their products and stories.

“Partnering with Highsnobiety will allow us to execute much faster on our ambition to offer the most relevant and engaging – as well as convenient – shopping experience to our customers. I’m excited to see our joint vision materialise and to shape the future of fashion content in commerce together.”