Bradford Shane Shellhammer (born 1976) is an American entrepreneur and designer who co-founded the

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain mana ...

companies

Fab Fab or FAB may refer to: Commerce * Fab (brand), a frozen confectionery * Fab (website), an e-commerce design web site * The FAB Awards, a food and beverage award * FAB Link, a European electricity link * Flavoured alcoholic beverage or alcop ...

and Bezar. Shellhammer was an admissions counselor at

Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum The FIDM Museum & Library, Inc. was founded in 1978 to serve the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) and the community. Since January 1999, the museum's operations have been separate from the Library and School in order to offer mo ...

and part-time fashion and nightlife blogger. He was later a writer for ''JC Report'', '' A&F Quarterly'', and ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

''. Shellhammer is the founding editor of ''

Queerty ''Queerty'' is an online magazine and newspaper covering gay-oriented lifestyle and news, founded in 2005 by David Hauslaib. As of June 2015, the site had more than five million monthly unique visitors. History ''Queerty'' was founded by David ...

'' and worked as a freelancer at

Design Within Reach Herman Miller, officially MillerKnoll, Inc., is an American company that produces office furniture, equipment, and home furnishings, including the Aeron chair, Noguchi table, Marshmallow sofa, and the Eames Lounge Chair. Herman Miller is ...

. As of 2018, Shellhammer serves as

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became ...

's chief curation and merchandising officer.

Early life and education

Shellhammer was born in 1976 to Peg Kendall of

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

, and Richard L. Shellhamer of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He attended high school in

Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, wh ...

and went on to study at

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/ ...

Towson, Maryland Towson () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland, United States. The population was 55,197 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Baltimore County and the second-most populous unin ...

, where he earned a bachelor's in communications and media studies in 1998. Later, Shellhammer received an associate degree in fashion design from

Parsons School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

Early career

In 1999, Shellhammer met

Jason Goldberg Jason Goldberg (born 1972) is an American film and television producer. Goldberg is the producer of the films '' Guess Who'' and '' The Butterfly Effect'' and executive producer of the shows '' Beauty and the Geek'' and '' Punk'd''. He often w ...

, with whom he would later become business partners, at

Roxy NYC Roxy first opened in Dec. 1979 by Steven Bauman, Steven Greenberg and Richard Newhouse. Steve Haenel was the owner 1982-1985 The Roxy (sometimes Roxy NYC) was a popular nightclub located at 515 West 18th Street in New York City. Located in the ...

. Goldberg offered him the opportunity to be his assistant at his company in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Count ...

. The two traveled to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, where Goldberg was studying at the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business (also known as Stanford GSB) is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it ...

. Both were laid off four months later. Shellhammer remained in San Francisco and worked as an admissions counselor at the

Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) is a private college in downtown Los Angeles. It offers degree programs in majors including fashion, entertainment, beauty, interior design, and graphic design. The college was founded in ...

. Shellhammer also blogged about his experiences in fashion and nightlife. He wrote for an online magazine called ''JC Report'' where he observed and commented on fashion trends, as well as for '' A&F Quarterly'', and ''

.'' In August 2005, he assisted in the founding of ''

,'' an online magazine about trends and lifestyle within the

gay community The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and soci ...

. Shellhammer also worked part-time at

(DWR) as a freelancer. Between 2008 and 2009, he worked for several furniture and design stores in

SoHo, Manhattan SoHo, sometimes written Soho (South of Houston Street), is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, and has also been known for its varie ...

Involvement in Fab.com and subsequent projects

In 2010, Goldberg approached Shellhamer with the idea to launch Fabulis, a company that would serve as a social media network to provide travel advice and reviews to the young gay community. Shellhammer agreed to sign onto the project, and in February 2011, the company's name was shortened to

. During Shellhammer's tenure as chief design officer, Fab expanded rapidly and was valued at over $1 billion at its peak. By 2012, the site had over 10 million members and offered over seven million unique products. Shellhammer left the company in November 2013 and launched Shellhammer.co, a consulting company for business design, digital merchandising, and branding. He remains a stakeholder in and advisor to Fab. In 2014, Shellhammer became the chief design officer for the retailer Backcountry.com. In 2015, he founded Bezar and served as the company's chief executive officer. He later sold the company to AHAlife due to difficulty raising outside investment. In 2016, Shellhammer was brought onto the executive team at

to serve as chief curation and merchandising officer.

Personal life

In March 2013, Shellhammer married partner Georgi Dimitrov Balinov, an

investment banker Investment banking pertains to certain activities of a financial services company or a corporate division that consist in advisory-based financial transactions on behalf of individuals, corporations, and governments. Traditionally associated wit ...

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

and a graduate of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

. Actress and comedian

Sandra Bernhard Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, singer, comedian and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy, where she often critiqued celebrity culture and political figures. She is perhaps ...

led the ceremony at New York's

Russian Tea Room The Russian Tea Room is an Art Deco Russo-Continental restaurant, located at 150 West 57th Street (between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue), between Carnegie Hall Tower and Metropolitan Tower, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. ...

. Shellhammer maintained a home in

Sparrow Bush, New York Sparrow Bush is a hamlet (and census designated place) in the town of Deerpark, in Orange County, New York, United States. The population as of the 2020 census is 981. The community is located along state routes 42 and 97, northwest of Port Je ...

. He is a noted art collector and was reported to have a number of

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

and

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

pieces in his possession in 2017. Shellhammer's San Francisco home was featured in '' The Telegraph'' for its vibrant colors and "Warholian" interior design.

Awards and honors

''Fast Company'' magazine named Shellhammer one of the "100 Most Creative People in Business." He has had several profiles in the same publication under the same category. ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' called Shellhammer the "King of Quirk." In 2016, Goucher, Shellhammer's alma mater, recognized him as a distinguished alumnus.

References

External links

* *
2012 Interview
with ''

Lifehacker ''Lifehacker'' is a weblog about life hacks and software that launched on January 31, 2005. The site was originally launched by Gawker Media and is currently owned by G/O Media. The blog posts cover a wide range of topics including: Microsoft ...

''
2013 Interview
with ''

Dezeen ''Dezeen'' is an online architecture, interiors and design magazine based in London, with offices in Hoxton and also previously in New York City. History ''Dezeen'' was launched in London by Marcus Fairs at the end of November 2006. Its New ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Shellhammer, Bradford Living people Goucher College alumni Parsons School of Design alumni Fashion journalists American gay writers American LGBT businesspeople American retail chief executives American company founders 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male bloggers American bloggers American chief executives of fashion industry companies American magazine editors American online publication editors Businesspeople from Baltimore LGBT people from Maryland American interior designers 1976 births LGBT people from New York (state) Businesspeople from New York City Writers from Maryland Writers from Manhattan People from Anne Arundel County, Maryland LGBT fashion designers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century LGBT people