What Happens When Big Companies Buy Cool Ones

This week, Zalando, one of Europe’s leading fashion e-commerce players, acquired a majority stake in Highsnobiety, the streetwear blog that has established itself as an agency of cool through content, commerce and brand consulting. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though it’s possible that Highsnobiety was valued between $180 million and $250 million.

It’s obvious why Highsnobiety wanted to sell: Zalando offered an…