Last week we reported that Fairchild’s nutty CEO Richard Beckman was jumping ship to head up a group of less-pretty trade magazines, including Billboard and MediaWeek.
Now shopping guide Lucky publisher Gina Sanders will herself move to less pretty environs as she slides over to Condé Nast sibling Women’s Wear Daily.
Sources inside the company were shocked by Beckman’s departure. We even suggested that the Fairchild Fashion Group might be done away with altogether–by either becoming a part of Condé Nast’s Magazine Group or Beckman’s new company, e5 Global Media.
Looks like we were wrong. Sanders has been appointed CEO and president of the group, which includes WWD, Fairchild Books and Footwear News. (While Beckman had “thoughts” on W since it is an offshoot of WWD, he wasn’t technically reigning over it, so neither will Sanders, according to a Condé Nast spokesperson.)
Before Lucky, Sanders was the founding publisher of Teen Vogue. She has worked for the company for over 20 years.
Of course, now we’ve got new questions. Who is taking over at Lucky? And what does this mean for the title? Sanders made it her priority over the last few months to increase the struggling magazine’s relevance online through e-commerce initiatives. And does experience running a shopping mag and a teen glossy lend itself to leading a trade targeted to industry insiders? Watch this space as the story continues to develop.