Chuck Townsend

>> Conde Nast announced today that all editorial and business operations for W magazine will be moved out of the Fairchild Fashion Group, which currently includes WWD, WWD.com, and Footwear News among its purveyance. The senior editorial staff currently shared by W and WWD now exclusively work for WWD, and Patrick McCarthy, chairman of the Fairchild Fashion Group, will continue in his role through the end of the year.

Conde Nast CEO Chuck Townsend noted of the restructuring: “This formally establishes a structure for W consistent with our other consumer magazine titles, and allows FFG the autonomy to focus on their core business-to-business publications and related businesses.” Thomas J. Wallace, editorial director of Conde Nast, will name an editor-in-chief of W in the coming months. Fashionista suggests that internal options for the job include W's executive editor Bridget Foley or deputy editor Julie Belcove, who currently writes the editor's letter, but it's also a strong possibly that with the sharp decrease in advertising sales the magazine experienced last year (down 45.8 percent), a new face may be brought on.

>> Could Elle Be Joining the Conde Nast Portfolio? —Some are speculating that Conde Nast's across-the-board 25 percent cutbacks are not just for the sake of downsizing budgets, but also to prepare for a bigger move.  In his company-wide memo sent out Monday, CEO Chuck Townsend stated: "The [McKinsey] review has led us to a number of decisions designed to navigate the company through the economic downturn and to position us to take advantage of coming opportunities."  Rumors abounded earlier this year that Elle was on the block, with Bazaar publisher Hearst interested, but now "industry insiders are buzzing about Conde Nast possibly acquiring Elle in its quest to fill their lineup with broader offerings," reports Fashion Week Daily. [FWD]

>> McKinsey is in its second-to-last week of its three-month examination of the workings of Conde Nast, and the New York Observer reports that in the last few days, Conde executives, under the direction of McKinsey, asked a number of magazines — of which Teen Vogue is believed to be among — to cut their budget next year by roughly 25 percent.  It's unclear if Vogue or W will be similarly instructed.

According to sources, top brass is not being specific about how the cuts should be made, but potential options could be diminishing expenses, doing away with freelance, reducing magazine frequency, or layoffs. Conde CEO Chuck Townsend told the Observer a few weeks ago: “I can boil what I say to editors and publishers down to the simplest statement in the world and that is: You, not me, you have a responsibility to run this business in a responsible way. It’s your responsibility. I want to see your proposal of how you’re going to do it.”

Is folding a possibility? »