Britt Aboutaleb
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Vox Media’s fashion-centric site Racked has poached Yahoo Style’s managing editor Britt Aboutaleb.
Aboutaleb will serve as the Racked’s editor in chief, following the departure of founding editor Leslie Price last month. Aboutaleb will start her new gig on Feb. 1.
According to Vox vice president and editorial director Lockhart Steele, Aboutaleb’s hire is about “taking Racked to the next level.”
“The job of an editor in chief of a Vox Media brand is all-encompassing,” said Steele, who oversees the company’s titles including Eater, SB Nation, Curbed and others.
“We think of all of our brands with at least two vectors: audience size and influence,” he offered.
For her part, Aboutaleb said: “I’ve always been a fan of Racked from day one. I think there’s amazing talent on the team.”
Although Aboutaleb is cautious to unveil her plans for the site, she did note that she wants to establish Racked as a “big player in the fashion industry.”
According to ComScore, Racked pulled in 5.2 million unique views in November, up 43 percent over the same period in 2014. Google Analytics was more generous, putting the site’s November uniques at about 7 million.
In order to grow the site further, Aboutaleb said she hopes to pump up social media, video and breaking news, among other areas without straying from Racked’s core, which includes sample-sale coverage and shopping-related news.
Aboutaleb, whose last day at Yahoo was Friday, worked closely with Yahoo Style editor in chief Joe Zee. She joined Yahoo in 2014 as Yahoo Beauty’s managing editor working under the vertical’s editor Bobbi Brown.
Prior to Yahoo, Aboutaleb had a short 3-month stint at Allure where she worked as multimedia director. Before that she served as editorial director of beauty site Byrdie.com and worked as fashion news editor at Elle.com, as well as an editor at Fashionista.com.
A representative from Yahoo said Zee is in the process of searching for Aboutaleb’s replacement. Yahoo’s digital magazines are currently getting a closer look under recently hired global editor in chief Martha Nelson, who is working with embattled ceo Marissa Mayer to execute on the company’s latest strategy.
