by Endeavor has tapped a fashion insider to lead its fashion portfolio, WME Fashion.
Susan Plagemann has been named president of WME Fashion leading Art + Commerce, IMG Fashion Events and Properties, IMG Models and The Wall Group. Essentially, she oversees a portfolio that spans elements including imaging, exposure, endorsements, cross-promotions and more.
Most recently, Plagemann was business manager in Condé Nast’s style department. Before that, she was the publisher of American Vogue. Last September during New York Fashion Week, she left the company after more than a decade-long run.
Plagemann was not available Friday to discuss her plans, according to a WME spokesperson.
She will be based in New York when she begins her new post later this month. Increasing synergies across Endeavor’s fashion, sports and entertainment businesses will be a priority. Given the merging of all these areas and the eagerness of models, athletes, creatives and other influencers to expand their business activities, there are many crossover opportunities for WME Fashion’s new hires. In addition, WME’s fashion portfolio covers a range of services, including talent representation, event ownership and production, consulting and original content.
In a statement regarding the new hire, Lloyd Braun, Chairman of WME and President of Endeavor Client Group, said, “We look forward to working with Susan to continue to invest in and develop our fashion portfolio at a time when the intersection of fashion, sport and entertainment.”
News of her appointment comes days after Endeavor, which also owns the UFC in addition to WME and IMG, posted strong second-quarter results driven by sports, live events and talent representation, as reported by Variety on Aug. 11. Year-over-year revenues achieved by its key units. Strong demand for sports and events helped Endeavor post net income of $42.2 million on revenue of $1.3 billion, which was a gain of about 18 percent compared to a year ago.
Plagemann first joined Condé Nast in January 2010 as vice president and publisher of Vogue. In 2018, she was elevated to the position of Chief Business Officer in the style division. In that capacity, she oversaw fashion, beauty, luxury and retail for all of Condé Nast. The executive also managed the commercial pages of Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, Allure and Glamour. She left Condé Nast during one of the publisher’s corporate reorganizations aimed at cutting costs as it seeks to make the business less dependent on print revenue and expand its digital operations.
Earlier in his career, Plagemann worked at Hearst Magazines. At various points in her career there, she served as vice president and publisher of Marie Claire, vice president and publisher of Lifetime, publisher of Cosmopolitan and associate publisher, advertising at Esquire.
Plagemann had a brush with controversy in December 2020. At the time, The New York Times reported that Plagemann, who is white, was critical of Vanity Fair’s covers under editor-in-chief Radhika Jones, with two people claiming she had said the magazine should feature “more people who look like us”. However, a spokesperson for the company denied this to The Times.
