Polyvore Shuts Down After Ssense Acquisition — and Users Aren’t Happy
Samantha McDonald
Business Editor
Polyvore users are outraged after luxury e-commerce company Ssense announced that it was acquiring the digital fashion platform from Verizon subsidiary Oath Inc. and promptly shutting down its online operations.
Taking to Twitter, the Montreal-based global e-tailer shocked the Polyvore community when it made public its deal with the social site.
The secret’s out—@polyvore is now SSENSE. We’re excited to share our directional collection of the most coveted labels in the world. Thanks for joining us. https://t.co/Ino02uT4Nm pic.twitter.com/yP53dWoqeu
— SSENSE (@SSENSE) April 5, 2018
Immediately upon the announcement, Polyvore withdrew support from its apps and discontinued operations on its website, redirecting users to the Ssense home page. Unless users choose to opt out, the online retailer will gain access to their usernames, email addresses and other data stored on Polyvore.
Impassioned “Polyfam” members are expressing their disapproval under the hashtag #BringBackPolyvore, urging Sense to reopen the website. An online petition has even been launched in which the poster, identified as Morven S., writes: “Myself and every other dedicated Polyvore user[s] are deeply saddened that our space has been stolen and deleted with little notice, leaving users shocked and even upset.” It has since gained 244 supporters out of a 1,000 goal.
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Users will be able to download their content on the site until May 15, when the service will no longer be available.
During its 11-year run, the digital fashion platform had established a loyal fanbase and following, with users creating and sharing their virtual “mood boards” curated from a database of clothing, accessories, beauty products and decor items across the web.
“We believe that Ssense is the right community for the Polyvore members, and we’re inspired by their commitment to offering a directional mix of the most coveted labels in the world,” a statement from Polyvore read.
Update
Multiple petitions under the name Bring Back Polyvore have been launched by different Polyfam members, including one from a Change.org user identified as Lauren Coates that has gained 11,356 out of 15,000 signatures as of April 9, 2018. “While the higher ups at Polyvore may be excited for this change, the hundreds of thousands of users who are left with no way to reconnect with friends and recover their stories…have effectively been shut out of a website they had once used for almost a decade,” the user wrote.
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