As Alexandra Shulman Departs, Who's Next at British Vogue? New York Times

Coming so soon after the death of Vogue Italy's editor Franca Sozzani in late December, 2016, the fashion industry was jolted to learn that Alexandra Shulman will be stepping down as British Vogue's editor this summer. These prestigious jobs come open perhaps every 25 years.

The New York Times take a look at contenders for leading British Vogue:

Katie Grand, editor in chief of another Condé Nast title, Love magazine, and a consultant to a raft of big name brands such Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton, was widely touted early on, though many have highlighted that the job would bring inevitable conflicts of interest with her lucrative commercial relationships. The British Vogue deputy editor, Emily Sheffield, may have a fighting chance to succeed her longstanding boss, especially because she is also the magazine’s associate digital director, a handy title to have at a time when technological upheaval is rattling the foundations of the magazine business. Also in the mix are two contenders from the American branch of Condé Nast: Sally Singer, creative digital director at Vogue, and Edward Enninful, fashion and style director of W magazine. Meanwhile, Jo Ellison, the Financial Times fashion editor and a Vogue alumna, apparently has several fans among the newer faces in the Condé Nast boardroom. That could count for a lot, given the shake-ups underway in the international division.

Vogue Italia

Over at Vogue Italia, editor-in-chief Emanuele Farneti, previously at GQ, announced the appointment of Giovanni Bianco as the new brand creative director. Bianco will continue to run his creative agency GB65 while assuming his new role at Vogue Italia. Farneti wrote:

“We are glad to welcome Giovanni in the team of Vogue Italia. His internationally recognised talent and vision, based on solid Italian roots, will write the new chapter of the image of the magazine that has made the history of the world-wide publishing”

Sources say that Condé Nast is looking for a new fashion director with an international profile for Vogue Italia, to work closely with Farneti.

Other recent changes at Condé Nast International include Eugenia de la Torriente being made the new editor-in-chief of Vogue Spain. The promotion of Daniela Falcão to managing director of Edições Globo Condé Nast saw Silvia Rogar succeed her as Vogue Brazil’s editor-in-chief. In June last year, Karla Martinez was appointed editor-in-chief of Vogue’s Mexico and Latin America editions and, in July 2016, Deena Aljuhani Abdulazizwas tapped as launch editor of Vogue Arabia.

From left: Deena Aljuhani Abdulaziz, Emanuele Farneti, Silvia Rogar, Karla Martinez and Eugenia de la Torriente | Sources: Courtesty, Instagram

A Rocky Digital Terrain

This newest set of changes comes at a time when print glossies are reeling from major technological disruptions and a decline in print sales with its accompanying impact on advertising revenues. Meanwhile, e-commerce sites, now offering their own rich content and editorial agendas of their own, are replacing fashion magazines as a hands-on shopping experience.

Condé Nast Entertainment,

Don't jump to conclusions, however. In the midst of the huge turndown in print advertising, changes in the Condé Nast strategy are bearing financial fruit. Condé Nast Entertainment, run by Dawn Ostroff, finished 2016 with at least a $1 million profit, an Oscar nomination and more traffic to its digital content than ESPN or BuzzFeed, reports the New York Post.

ComScore ranks CNE the No. 21 most-popular digital media property — ahead of ESPN, Pinterest, BuzzFeed and Vice — as of Dec. 16.

“Go out to where the consumer is, as opposed to expecting the consumer to come to you,” Ostroff cites, as if it’s her mantra.

Since its founding in 2011, CNÉ has 27 active film projects with two films released in 2016, one film that recently wrapped production, and one film going into production in January 2017. Additionally, CNÉ currently has five unscripted and one scripted television/long-form series in production and on the air, and multiple pilots sold to various television networks. For those not familiar with CNE:

CNÉ’s digital video network was launched in 2013 to bring Conde Nast’s renowned storytelling expertise and creativity to every format and platform. CNÉ’s digital network is distributed to over 50 platforms including web, mobile and OTT. CNÉ content delivered more than 2.8 billion video views in the past year, won its first Emmy Award in 2015, and received multiple Academy Award nominations for its short-form film digital content. Additionally, CNÉ operates The Scene, the first platform dedicated to premium digital video, as a mobile-first, video social platform with a new mobile app currently available in the iTunes App store. In just three years, in addition to the aforementioned Emmy, CNÉ’s digital video content has been awarded a Television Academy Honor, a Producers Guild Award, nine Tellys, a Webby and has received multiple award nominations.

Conde Nast’s Co/Lab

Conde Nast’s Digital Strategies and Initiatives team is getting a reboot with a new name Co/Lab and a new focus of "building" rather than "fixing" the company's digital strategy across the company's digital, mobile and emerging platforms, according to a staff memo from chief digital officer, Fred Santarpia.

“Our new identity better reflects this team’s digital expertise, our optimism in our future, and our collaborative spirit, one that fosters creativity and connectivity among our brands, and enables transformative experiences for our consumers and business partners,” Santarpia wrote.