From mid-December, Ensemble will revert back to the ownership of co-founders Zoe Walker Ahwa and Rebecca Wadey.
The fashion, beauty and culture website was launched in 2020 by Walker Ahwa, former associate editor of Viva and editor-in-chief of Fashion Quarterly, and brand strategist Wadey.
With the tagline “for intelligence and whimsy”, it has grown to be one of the most influential lifestyle platforms and communities in Aotearoa; known for its fresh and embracive approach to lifestyle media and the subsequent attraction of audiences from all ages (30% of the Ensemble audience is aged 25-34, while 94% identify as female).
“We’re grateful for the opportunity to buy the brand back from Stuff,” says editor Walker Ahwa. “We’ll continue to nurture and grow Ensemble in the truly independent spirit with which we started it, pivoting where needed to reach our audience where they are, uplifting and agitating and (most importantly) having fun along the way.”
“Our highly engaged, influential and affluent audience – 28% with a HHI of over $200k – combine extremely well with our editorial integrity and authority,” says partnerships director Wadey.
Ensemble was established in August 2020 with the support of key leaders in Aotearoa’s fashion industry, and content partnerships with The Spinoff and Viva, before being purchased by Stuff a year after launch in 2021.
“Zoe and Rebecca have built a beautiful, kaleidoscope community around Ensemble. They’ve created a unique space and platform that has fantastic energy for creative, young Aotearoa to be seen and heard,” says fashion designer Kate Sylvester.
Winner of best digital brand at the Magazine Publisher Association Awards in 2020 and 2021 (held in 2021 and 2022 respectively), Ensemble also won the 2021 Best Brand Event MPA for its The Ensemble Edit shoppable runway, held to support local industry after the cancellation of NZ Fashion Week due to Covid restrictions.
This same event also secured a silver placement at the INMA awards in New York, in the category of best event to build a news brand.
“Zoe and Rebecca have pioneered what is today one of New Zealand’s leading lifestyle publications. Ensemble’s gravitas is a testament to the team’s formidable force in capturing and storytelling our local industry and beyond,” says Emma Lewisham, of skincare company
Signature Ensemble content over the past 12 months include fashion shoots celebrating recycling and commuting, a review of Lorde and Charli xcx’s collaboration, expert wellbeing tips from some of the country’s top experts, a uniquely Ensemble take on travel and weddings and the popular and influential shoppable column Nice Things We Spent Our Own Money On.
Alongside Ensemble, Walker Ahwa has been the style editor of Stuff’s masthead magazines, and Wadey has been working in a commercial role in the Stuff Harakeke integration team. They will be leaving those positions in mid December to concentrate on Ensemble.
“Ensemble is fashion’s voice of authority in Aotearoa, celebrating our unique creativity and diversity. Zoe and Rebecca bring an unparalleled level of experience, understanding and connection to our industry and I admire and respect the intelligence, inquisitiveness, and that little bit of controversy that they bring to conversations around our lifestyle and fashion landscape,” says fashion designer Juliette Hogan.
