| Fairchild Media | |
| Type: | Subsidiary |
| Industry: | Media & Events |
| Founder: | Edmund Fairchild and Louis E. Fairchild |
| Location: | New York City (475 Fifth Ave 3rd Floor New York, NY 10017) |
| Products: | Websites, Magazines |
| Parent: | Capital Cities Communications (1968–1996) The Walt Disney Company (1996–1999) Advance Publications (1999–2014) Penske Media Corporation (2014–present) |
Fairchild Media is a publisher of digital media, journalism, photography and design, events and summits, video and studios, and fashion. Fairchild Media brands include Women’s Wear Daily, Footwear News (FN), Beauty Inc, M and Fairchild Summits. Fairchild Media is a division of Penske Media Corporation (PMC), and is the leading source of fashion news and analysis for industry leaders and the global fashion community.
Fairchild Publications was founded in 1892[1] when Edmund Fairchild, a peddler, took over the Daily Trade Record (later the Daily News Record and DNR), a failing newspaper that covered the men's clothing business. In June 1910, an insert called "Women's Wear" first appeared in the Record; a month later, Fairchild published it as a standalone publication, known today as Women's Wear Daily.[2] John Fairchild, grandson of Edmund Fairchild assumed management of Women’s Wear Daily in 1955 and transformed it from a trade journal to a leading fashion and cultural newspaper.[3]
In 1968, the company—then named Fairchild Publications—was purchased by Capital Cities Communications.[4] In 1996, The Walt Disney Company acquired Capital Cities/ABC. In 1997, Disney announced its intention to sell Fairchild, but it wasn't until 1999 that it sold Fairchild to Advance Publications, the parent company of Condé Nast Publications, for $650 million.[5]
In 2005, Advance Publications folded Fairchild into Condé Nast Publications and rebranded the division as the Fairchild Fashion Group.[6] In 2008, it folded DNR.[7]
In 2010, Fairchild launched Menswear[8] and took over the consumer-centric Style.com, previously part of Condé Nast Publications. In 2011, Fairchild Fashion Group was renamed Fairchild Fashion Media; in October of that year, FFM launched Style.com/Print, a print magazine extension of the brand.[9] In 2012, FFM sold its Fairchild Books division to Bloomsbury Publishing for $6.5 million.[10] The same year, it acquired Fashion Networks International, a blog network with contributors that included Anna Dello Russo, Bryanboy, Rumi Neely, and Derek Blasberg.[11]
In August 2014, Advance Publications announced that it would sell FFM, save for Style.com and NowManifest, to Penske Media Corp. for $100 million.[12]
Over the years, the company's portfolio has included the following publications: