Sephora, Condé Nast announce new creator-led storefronts

Sephora and Vogue publisher Condé Nast are looking to cash in on the power of influencers, both unveiling new creator-led marketplaces to compete with affiliate marketing leaders like LTK and ShopMy.

Speaking at the Fast Company Innovation Festival on Tuesday, Sephora President and CEO Artemis Patrick announced the launch of My Sephora storefront, which allows creators and influencers to curate their own shoppable Sephora.com storefront. Patrick said the retailer was inspired to create the platform after receiving 14,000 applications this past year for its content creation program, Sephora Squad, which can only accept 50 annually. The platform, currently in alpha, is set to debut next month, she said.

Condé Nast’s new offering, Vette, also announced this week, allows influencers to operate their own online storefronts filled with products they picked. The platform will use “AI-powered merchandising and marketing tools,” the company said in a statement, which includes recommendations for inventory creators can add to their storefronts, per Vogue Business. Vette, set to launch in early 2026, will use a revenue share model with creators and brands.

The new platforms are both efforts to get in on the nearly $16 billion affiliate marketing space, competing with major players like LTK—used by 40 million monthly shoppers and bringing in $5 billion in annual consumer sales, according to the company—and ShopMy, which scored $77.5 million in funding this year led by investors that previously backed Shopify and Rent the Runway.

Both Condé Nast and Sephora emphasized their new platforms differ from those affiliate marketing competitors because consumers can check out through the platforms themselves, rather than being redirected to the brands’ or retailers’ sites. Patrick said My Sephora is integrated into the retailer’s site on the app, desktop, or mobile devices, creating a “seamless experience,” while Vogue Business reported customers can shop and check out directly via Vette. The platforms more closely align with Amazon’s Storefront, which allows shoppers to convert sales directly though Amazon.

Lisa Aiken, Vogue’s executive fashion director and Condé Nast’s SVP of commerce, said in a statement that Vette will serve as a destination “where influence, distribution, and community come together in one place,” while Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch said it “sets a new standard for what the future of commerce can be.”