Condé Nast
Style.com
Senior front‑end development for Condé Nast's Style.com, a fashion and technology‑led e‑commerce marketplace integrated with its wider print and web portfolio.
In Detail
I joined Style.com during its early R&D phase, working on a prototype that transformed data from a Hybris e‑commerce engine. As the product became viable, the work expanded into two distinct streams: a UI team responsible for the front end, where I became a senior member, and an API team using HapiJS and Node.js to transform product and stock data from Hybris and vendor e‑commerce platforms.
That architecture allowed Style.com to operate as a marketplace, displaying and selling stock directly from partner brands while still presenting the experience as a curated Condé Nast product. The challenge was not only to build a polished fashion and technology‑led e‑commerce marketplace, but to connect editorial content, product discovery, vendor data, and commerce flows into one platform.
As the project grew, the team moved from its early working space into new premises in Camden and began hiring developers, editors, and data specialists from across Condé Nast and beyond.
On the front end, we chose not to keep building the final product on top of the prototype. Instead, the team moved to a standalone isomorphic web application built with Clojure and ClojureScript, using HTML5 and CSS animation to create a high‑quality interface suited to the brand and its expected audience.
Alongside the marketplace, my team also produced a single‑file JavaScript plugin, written in ClojureScript, for Condé Nast's online publications. It used a bespoke AI engine to identify editorial context and display relevant Style.com products directly within publication content.
Less than a year after launch, Condé Nast and Farfetch forged a partnership that saw the trademarks, platform and website acquired by Farfetch. Much of the original work we did at Style.com remains in use on the Farfetch website today.
Homepage
The homepage was designed to feel curated and editorial rather than purely transactional. It combined introductory video, selected products, and editorial content, with page content, media, and layout controlled through the Hybris content management system.
Product Listing Page
The product listing page prioritised product imagery and browsing clarity. Sidebar navigation could fold away when not in use, allowing the products to take visual priority, while categorised navigation and filters helped users refine by product type, size, colour, and materials.
Product Details Page
Product detail pages needed to support different product categories, including fashion, beauty, and technology. The layouts placed strong emphasis on carefully selected imagery, with purchasing options anchored to the right‑hand side on desktop.
Mobile behaviour was critical. Analytics showed that more than 75% of visitors were using devices under 600px wide, so the shopping experience had to work as carefully on smaller touch‑screen devices as it did on desktop.
