She’s dominated runways and billboards, turned her attention to everything from cookies to coding, and now she’s eying up the newsstands—and we don’t mean as a cover girl. Karlie Kloss has acquired i-D magazine from Vice Media. While it was rumored for a while, it’s not exactly out of left field either: the longtime angel investor was instrumental in forming a consortium that bought W in 2020, supported by Bustle Digital Group. As part of this purchase, Kloss has also cemented this new chapter of her career with the formation of Bedford Media. Here’s what we know!
Kloss will become CEO of the cult-status British fashion bible, while current editor in chief Alastair McKimm will act as chief creative office and global editor in chief. Details of the sale—namely, the price of the magazine which was founded by Terry Jones back in 1980—were not disclosed. Vice Media Group itself was acquired for $350 million recently, after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year. It had bought the bi-monthly publication directly from Jones in 2012.
Mom-of-two Kloss, who’s married to venture capitalist Joshua Kushner, boasts a diverse investment portfolio of forward-thinking tech companies, both fashion-related and otherwise, including online marketplace StockX, renewable biomaterial ULUU, AI sizing tool Bods, and e-commerce platform Wishi.
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The Hollywood Reporter obtained the memo sent to staffers from Vice chiefs Bruce Dixon and Hozefa Lokhandwala.
Team,
Today, as part of our ongoing strategy to streamline and focus VMG on our core business, we have reached an agreement to sell i-D magazine to Karlie Kloss and her newly formed company Bedford Media.
Karlie has deep roots in the fashion industry and has established herself as an entrepreneur who has a vision for the future of i-D and the industry at large, and as part of the sale, she will become i-D’s CEO.
i-D has been part of the VMG portfolio since 2012, expanding our reach into digital fashion and carving out a wider role for us as a leading source of fashion inspiration and influence.
Following the sale of i-D, VMG is well positioned to continue to cover fashion, beauty and personal style across our other channels, including through VICE.com, R29 and our other brands and we expect to continue to be a strong partner for creative talent and brands in the fashion, beauty and personal style space.
We’re proud of the amazing work the i-D team has accomplished as part of VMG. Over the last few years it’s expanded its digital offering to become a leading video and social-driven platform, documenting fashion, music and contemporary culture and building relationships with leading talent from around the globe.
We’ve gotten to know Karlie and her team through this process. She has a deep passion for technology and the intersection of fashion, media, and culture on a global basis, and we believe that the brand is in great hands to continue to build on its important position in the fashion world and to continue the growth trajectory we see for the business.
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