Condé Nast, the media house behind Vogue, GQ, and Vanity Fair, announced it will launch Vette—a next-generation creator shopping platform—targeting the $200 billion global creator economy and set to go live in early 2026. Vette empowers editors, influencers, and tastemakers to curate digital storefronts, enabling brands to drop-ship directly to consumers while Condé Nast handles checkout—offering a seamless alternative to high-friction affiliate links.
Creator Commerce Gets a Marketplace Makeover
Lisa Aiken, Condé Nast’s SVP of commerce and Vogue’s executive fashion director, spearheads Vette’s launch as a strategic pivot away from traditional affiliate programs and toward direct creator-powered retail. As she explains, affiliate is “high friction”; Vette aims to create “a new route to market” at a time when wholesale models are squeezed and direct-to-consumer (DTC) costs soar. Over the past 5 years, Condé Nast’s commerce revenues have grown about 200%, a testament to shifting consumer dynamics.
New Tools for Brands and Creators
Vette will offer AI-driven merchandising and marketing tools, built-in inventory feeds, and dashboards to streamline the backend for small creator teams. Brands benefit from alternative distribution channels while creators can run e-commerce boutiques without inventory or operations staff. “Our vision is to reshape how people shop by uniting trusted voices, top-tier global brands, and AI-powered creator tools into one seamless, content-driven marketplace platform,” says Lisa Aiken. “Vette is a new eco-system: creators owning their businesses, brands finding powerful new growth channels, and shoppers discovering products through the cultural voices they trust. I believe this is the future of commerce – where influence, distribution and community come together in one place.”
Industry Context and Competitive Edge
Vette’s launch is part of a broader trend: the creator economy is expected to surpass $200 billion globally with a 23 percent CAGR through 2033. Influencer-driven shopping isn’t new—platforms like LTK and ShopMy already facilitate affiliate storefronts for millions of consumers, generating $5 billion in annual sales and boasting 40 million monthly users. But while affiliate models redirect buyers to retailer sites, Vette, like Amazon’s Storefronts, processes transactions in-house, allowing creators to fully own the customer relationship and capture more revenue.
Changing How Shoppers Discover Products
The global movement toward creator commerce is underscored by the spike in paid newsletter subscriptions—fashion newsletters on Substack alone now generate over $10 million annually, having doubled in number and subscriptions year-over-year. Vette gives creators the ability to “own their audience, their voice, and their business,” using personalized digital boutiques rather than relying on social network algorithms.
Overseeing Vette’s strategic rollout, Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch stated, “Over the last five years we’ve made investments in our commerce capabilities and seen major growth every year as a result. Now, we’re building on that foundation with Vette, a model that helps creators thrive and brands grow stronger connections with consumers. It’s a step that sets a new standard for what the future of commerce can be.”
The Future of Influence, Commerce, and Community
Vette launches into a competitive landscape occupied by legacy e-commerce players and fast-scaling creator platforms, but its seamless checkout, AI-powered tools, and direct brand relationships aim to put it at the forefront of content-driven commerce. For brands seeking new growth as wholesale contracts shrink, and for creators looking to monetize their followings with autonomy, Vette could prove pivotal.
Whether Vette becomes the new gold standard for creator-led shopping or simply the latest experiment in digital retail, Condé Nast’s bold move signals a merging of cultural influence and commerce.
