While it's never a great time to be told "We're shutting down your magazine and laying everybody off," Condé Nast's timing in folding Jane was particularly inopportune.
For one thing, editor in chief Brandon Holley was set to depart later today for Uganda in the company of actress Natalie Portman. The combination cover shoot/consciousness-raising mission has, obviously, been scrapped.
The shutdown also puts a fat question mark over The Fashionista Diaries, the new reality show being filmed this summer for SoapNet (trailer above). The series follows fashion industry interns, two of whom were working at Jane. Shooting had been scheduled to continue through the summer, culminating at New York Fashion Week. An employee of the production company, Go Go Luckey Productions, hadn't heard about the closure.
Meanwhile, Jane staffers have been told they're to be out of the office by the end of the day, according to sources. Employees will receive a minimum one month's pay in severance, with extra for longer service. Condé Nast CEO Chuck Townsend just released the official announcement of the closure. Full memo after the jump ...