Media giant Hearst recently acquired a stake in King & Partners, a New York-based design and branding agency.
The details of the deal remain unclear at this time.
King & Partners, which specializes in fashion brands, was founded in 2010 by Tony King, founder and CCO of similarly runway-minded createthe group who also worked as a designer and art director at Gucci and agency.com, among other businesses.
He also founded e-commerce system Sellect and is an investor in CA Creative, a New York-based digital agency that also focuses on fashion and lifestyle brands.
In a 2012 interview with WWD, King said “We consider our clients as our partners. Our work is completely bespoke for each brand. Nothing looks the same.” Those clients include both fashion brands like Carolina Herrera and various hospitality brands.
Neither Hearst nor King & Partners have responded to multiple requests for comment on the deal.
A press release from this week, however, focuses on the Sellect e-commerce portion of the company and its partnership with Hearst’s media agency Tower Digital, noting that Tower will offer the service to advertising partners.
Hearst’s best-known marketing investment was its 2010 acquisition of iCrossing for an estimated $300 million-plus. Since then, the resulting company has bought up other businesses like data management platform Red Aril and content marketing agency Mediablaze.