1910
Women’s Wear makes its first appearance on May 21 as a page in the Saturday edition of the Daily Trade Record (DNR). Although originally slated as a quarterly for 50 cents a year, on July 13, 1910, Women’s Wear bows as a daily afternoon paper at 1 cent an issue.
1911
Fairchild Publications publishes the first edition of the Women’s Wear Directory, providing a listing of millinery and accessories makers. Founders Edmund W. Fairchild and Louis E. Fairchild establishes a Paris bureau, providing up-to-the-minute news from the fashion capital.
1916
WWD introduces the first of its kind Dictionary of Fashion specifically for the trade. The dictionary, an A to Z guide to the global fashion and textiles trade, changes the language of fashion.
1919
WWD’s London bureau is established.
1920s
Louis E. Fairchild’s son Edgar W.B. Fairchild joins the firm.
Women’s Wear magazine debuts as a twice a month magazine for retailers and department stores. Covering the East (New York) and the West (Chicago).
Women’s Wear changes its name to Women’s Wear Daily and trademarks the headline “They Are Wearing,” a commentary that began in the daily in 1916.
They Are Wearing, WWD, December 8, 1923. Fairchild Archive
1930s
Women’s Wear Daily adds its first market supplement to the daily covering the ready-to-wear market.
1940s
Louis B. Fairchild is named president of the company, succeeding his uncle Louis E. Fairchild.
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Women’s Wear Daily’s page one breaks the news of Christian Dior’s couture debut. Dior’s post-war “New Look” silhouette reignites the couture and reinvigorates the fashion press.
1950s
Innovation leads to faster output in printing and steps that cuts printing time in half. By the end of the decade, the paper is publishing up to 5,000 pages of news a year.
The Fairchild Publications opens the first full-time permanent bureau in Yokohama, Japan, for Fairchild in the Far East.
John B. Fairchild, son of Louis W. Fairchild, joins Fairchild Publications and is running WWD’s Paris bureau.
John B. Fairchild and Yves Saint Laurent, Paris, 1965. Fairchild Archive
WWD closes the decade with a network of 40 foreign correspondents, expanding its global footprint. There are Fairchild bureaus in London, Paris, Milan, Yokohama, Montreal and Frankfurt, joining a string of domestic bureaus that stretches from Boston to Los Angeles and includes Indianapolis, Ind., Dallas, and Chicago.
1960s
John B. Fairchild moves back to New York as publisher and takes over the helm of Women’s Wear Daily. He makes significant changes to the paper’s focus, broadening its scope, sharpening its tone and adding new visual appeal. The paper begins covering the women who wear the designer clothes as much as the industry.
1965
With unlimited access to designer collections, WWD introduces its supplement “Best of New York,” providing buyers with advance capture of the designer collections before they hit the runway.
“Best of New York” WWD, May 23, 1960. Fairchild Archive
1970s
Women’s Wear Daily launches the biweekly W as a large format color offshoot of WWD, repackaging fashion and features from the daily for a consumer audience.
WWD’s team of illustrators now led by Kenneth Paul Block enhance the daily’s coverage and the art of fashion illustration.
Kenneth Paul Block illustration, WWD, November 28, 1983. Fairchild Archive
WWD launches WWD Japan as a biweekly issue. The issue grew out of a meeting between legendary Japanese designer Hanai Mori and John B. Fairchild, after which the Mori family gained the license to publish WWD in Japan. Now a once weekly publication in its 40th year, it is distributed under license by INFAS Publications Inc.
1980s
WWD redesigns: Instead of multiple elements from now on, page ones are dominated by one large photograph.
WWD reporters and editors release their typewriters — some reluctantly — and enter the computer age. Fairchild parent Capital Cities acquires the American Broadcasting Co. WWD’s single-copy price hits $1.
1990s
Fairchild Publications moves to a new home at 7 West 34 Street, once the site of Ohrbach’s department store. The Suzy column, written by Aileen Mehle, makes its first appearance in WWD.
The Walt Disney Co. completes its acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC Inc., making WWD a part of its multimedia empire.
John B. Fairchild retires as chairman on his 70th birthday. He will continue to write a column in W under his nom de chic, Louis J. Esterhazy.
Louis Esterhazy (article here)
“Louise Goes to Tokyo”, WWD, November 28, 1983. Fairchild Archive
Advance Publications Inc., the publishing empire owned by the Newhouse family that owns Condé Nast, acquires Fairchild Publications. It’s a new day for the daily.
Fairchild debuts its first annual Women’s Wear Daily CEO Summit held in Carefree, Ariz. The annual event brings together the most important voices leading the fashion industry into the future.
WWD holds its first annual Beauty CEO Summit in Carefree, focused on pressing issues of the American beauty and fragrance industry. A year later it holds the second edition embracing the global beauty industry.
WWD CEO Summit, WWD, June 9, 1997. Fairchild Archive
WWD launches WWD.com, offering all the content in the daily printed paper and more.
2000s
WWD debuts The Magazine, a twice yearly publication providing exhaustive coverage of the runway shows from New York to Europe aimed at a general audience in response to growing public interest in fashion.
2015
Penske Media Corp. acquires Fairchild Fashion Media from Condé Nast, in a deal that includes WWD, its archive, Footwear News, M Magazine and the Fairchild Summits and events business.
WWD focuses on the digital age, marking a significant shift with the ending of its daily print newspaper version, managing to “break” Twitter on its first platforming. In 2015 WWD’s final print edition is published. The daily is now fully digital.
2016
WWD launches The WWD Honors during its annual Apparel & Retail CEO Summit. The event honors achievement across industry sectors. The cornerstone of the event is the presentation of the John B. Fairchild Honor, given to an individual for a career of influence and distinction and named for WWD’s late chairman and editorial director. Past recipients include Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld, Leonard Lauder, Miuccia Prada, Tommy Hilfiger, Maria Grazia Chiuri and Brunello Cucinelli.
Brunello Cucinelli at the 2024 WWD, Cipriani South Street, New York. Katie Jones/WWD
WWD via Getty Images
2019
In an ongoing international push that is future forward, expands its global reach in both China and South Korea to capture both countries’ dynamic and influential fashion and beauty markets. WWD China and WWD Korea are produced under the WWD parent company Penske Media Group.
2022
WWD introduces WWD Weekend, a luxury lifestyle magazine aimed at consumers available in print and digitally.
2024
WWD publishes its first book “WWD Black in Fashion: 100 Years of Style, Culture and Influence,” a comprehensive look at the contribution of Black designers, models, scene-makers and stylists to fashion history, documented exclusively from “the bible of fashion” outstanding coverage of the fashion industry.
WWD expands its red carpet coverage with its WWD “Eye on the Red Carpet” featuring livestream and in-depth reporting on fashion and beyond from the Golden Globes to the Grammy’s to the Oscars.
2025
Fairchild Media Group reaches 8.9 million monthly unique visitors, expanding its authority across fashion and beauty media.
WWD inaugurates its first Style Awards celebrating the tastemakers, muses, legends and luminaries whose creativity, craft and style ignite the magic of the red carpet.
Tracee Ellis Ross, 2025 WWD Style Awards, Golden Globes dinner in Los Angeles. Stefanie Keenan/WWD
Stefanie Keenan
Fairchild Media Group launches WWD Thailand in partnership with Digizen Co. Ltd., bringing authoritative coverage of the global fashion, beauty and related industries and personalities to audiences across Thailand.
WWD celebrates its 115th anniversary as one of the fashion and beauty industry’s most trusted media sources.
