InStyle UK's digital pivot was working — the new owner killed it anyway

InStyle UK had run for 15 years when Time Inc announced, on October 19, 2016, that December's issue would be the last in print. Circulation had fallen nearly 18% in the first half of the year, to 121,000. The promise was digital-first: 24-hour access, a doubled online audience, the brand's authority moved onto the web. Editor Charlotte Moore said the fashion world was 'changing dramatically' and they had to change with it.

The pivot, by its own metrics, worked. Relaunched in March 2017, the site grew 48% in six months to 950,000 unique users. Then the ownership carousel turned: Meredith bought Time Inc in January 2018 and flipped the UK business to private equity firm Epiris the next month. The new owner looked at the licence and decided it did not want it.

On May 21, 2018 the InStyle UK website shut and began redirecting to the US instyle.com; the last tweet had gone out ten days earlier, to 239,000 followers. A brand whose digital transition had just delivered its growth targets was erased by a portfolio decision made in February. InStyle's American edition lived on; the British one became a redirect.