The Plagemann Year

Susan Plagemann
Since her arrival, Susan Plagemann has shuffled staff, reorganized divisions, and eliminated others, all in the name of focus. Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images/IMG Fashion
Lauren Sherman
May 9, 2024

When Silver Lake’s $13 billion take-private of Endeavor was announced a few weeks ago, the implications for WME Fashion seemed minimal—like an after-afterthought. If anything, I assumed there would be less pressure on the entertainment-and-representation-and-events holding company’s decade-old fashion division, which includes IMG Models (acquired in 2013), The Wall Group (which represents stylists, manicurists, and other beauty pros, and was acquired in 2015), Art + Commerce (image makers, part of the IMG deal), New York Fashion Week (same), etcetera. I’ve heard estimates pinning WME Fashion’s revenue at under $200 million a year—a nice sum, of course, but a fraction of the $6 billion that Endeavor made last year.