NEW YORK, NY and LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Mar 31, 2014) - Stylus Media Group today announced the acquisition of Decoded Fashion, a New York-based company focused on creating global events that accelerate innovation at the intersection of fashion and retail. Financial terms were not disclosed. Decoded Fashion will continue to be lead by founder Liz Bacelar. Hearst Corporation owns a 20 percent stake in Stylus.
Decoded Fashion connects fashion leaders with the best new and established technology and fosters creative partnerships between startups, designers, retailers and media professionals. The company is responsible for staging the World's First Fashion Hackathon, summits and startup showcases in 12 countries. Under Stylus, Decoded Fashion will accelerate the expansion of its event series in the U.S., Europe, Asia and South America, connecting thousands of decision makers and fueling dozens of collaborations between brands and tech companies.
Commenting on the acquisition, Stylus CEO and Founder Marc Worth said, "Decoded Fashion has quickly become the catalyst for must-attend events and regularly secures guests from the highest ranks of the worlds of fashion, retail and design. Decoded Fashion has a well-earned credibility amongst the fashion industry for staging events that matter. Stylus Media Group is expected to be an all-seeing source of consumer behavior, design trends, innovation breakthroughs and business understanding. The synergy between these two companies is clear."
"We are the only ones bringing together innovative startup founders at all stages with fashion and retail executives from around the globe," Bacelar said. "Our rapid growth is a result of creative events with top decision-makers, built around the most relevant content to the industry. Working with Stylus will support our goals to bring valuable insider content on technologies that are changing the face of the fashion industry."
Worth was the co-founder of WGSN, which he sold to EMAP for £150m in 2005. "We know designers need to seek out ideas to inspire their creativity," Worth said. "They need face-to-face events, networking, trend analysis and advisory, and a window into a world of inspiration. Decoded Fashion quickly became recognized as a platform for much needed innovation in the industry."
The first Decoded Fashion Summit was produced in New York on April 2012, with the support of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. Eight months later, the event launched in London with The Fashion Pitch competition, offering $50,000 in investment for the best fashion startup.
In 2013, Decoded Fashion produced the World's First Fashion Hackathon -- a 24-hour competition in which 600 participants created B2B fashion apps with the goal of winning $10,000. Winners were selected during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, a week later. The summit was the first and only tech event ever held in the tents. Last October, Decoded Fashion launched in Milan with the support of ePitti and Pitti Imagine, showcasing an expo with top startups from around the globe and launching a Mentorship Hub, where brand executives had the chance to mentor a select group of tech founders.
Aside from summits in New York, London and Milan, Decoded Fashion also produces a networking series, DF Meetups, currently hosted in 12 countries. Hosting cities include Paris, Toronto, Sydney, Berlin, Dublin, Sao Paulo and Singapore.
As well as providing online access to information consultancy services, research and analysis to creative professionals from over 350 of the world's leading brands, Stylus hosts regular seminars and industry roundtable discussions. Decoded Fashion, as part of the Stylus Media Group, will help expand Stylus' offering, building on its current schedule of activities in London, Paris, New York and Milan to deliver regular fashion industry events.
About Stylus Media Group
Stylus provides business intelligence to consumer companies in order to inspire new ideas and improve profitability. An online business resource, Stylus (Stylus.com) is used by more than 350 leading companies in the automotive, fashion & beauty, electronics, home & industrial design, media & technology, hospitality, architecture and advertising industries. Users across 50 countries rely on the Stylus editorial content to learn about consumer behavior, global industry events and new ideas for product design and consumer services. Stylus is headquartered in London and has offices in New York and Los Angeles.
About Decoded Fashion
Decoded Fashion is the top global event series on connecting emerging technologies and decision-makers in Fashion, Beauty and Retail. Its summits include hackathons and startup competitions in New York, London & Milan. These events are produced with top industry partners including the CFDA, British Fashion Council, IMG and Pitti Imagine. Decoded Fashion also hosts a global networking series -- DF Meetups -- in 12 countries, including France, Canada, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Brazil and Singapore. Decoded Fashion is headquartered in New York, and has offices in London and Milan.
Images:
NEW YORK - World's First Fashion Hackathon at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week
http://www.flickr.com/photos/decodedfashion/8477402610/sizes/l
Designer Zac Posen and model Coco Rocha at Decoded Fashion hackathon https://www.flickr.com/photos/decodedfashion/8478080181/sizes/l
Designer Zac Posen judging Decoded Fashion hackathon finalists
https://www.flickr.com/photos/decodedfashion/8479179662/sizes/l
MILAN - Decoded Fashion Milan with ePitti
https://www.flickr.com/photos/decodedfashion/10397173385/sizes/l
Renzo Rosso was keynote at Decoded Fashion Milan in 2013
https://www.flickr.com/photos/decodedfashion/10397162565/sizes/l
Contact Information:
Contacts:
For Stylus Media Group:
Paul Luthringer
paul@hearst.com
212-649-2540
For Decoded Fashion
Kuma Midil
press@decodedfashion.com
