Bradford Shane Shellhammer (born 1976) is an American entrepreneur, designer , and tech executive who co-founded the e-commerce companies Fab and Bezar and the blog Queerty. Shellhammer was an admissions counselor at Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising Museum and part-time fashion and nightlife blogger who became a writer for JC Report, A&F Quarterly, and Gay.com before becoming the founding editor of Queerty. In 2016 Shellhammer served as eBay's Chief Curator and later went one to become Vice President of Buyer Experience. Since 2022, Shellhammer has served as the Chief Product Officer of Reverb.com, a subsidiary of Etsy.
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 The Baltimore Sun.[5][6] In August 2005, he assisted in the founding of Queerty, an online magazine about trends and lifestyle within the gay community.[7][8] Shellhammer also worked part-time at Design Within Reach (DWR) as a freelancer.[8] Between 2008 and 2009, he worked for several furniture and design stores in SoHo, Manhattan.[6]
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 Fab.[4] During Shellhammer's tenure as chief design officer, Fab expanded rapidly and was valued at over $1 billion at its peak.[9] By 2012, the site had over 10 million members and offered over seven million unique products.[10]
Shellhammer left the company in November 2013 and launched Shellhammer.co, a consulting company for business design, digital merchandising, and branding.[11] He remains a stakeholder in and advisor to Fab.[12] In 2014, Shellhammer became the chief design officer for the retailer Backcountry.com.[13] In 2015, he founded Bezar and served as the company's chief executive officer.[14][15] He later sold the company to AHAlife due to difficulty raising outside investment.[16] In 2016, Shellhammer was brought onto the executive team at eBay to serve as chief curation and merchandising officer.[17]
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 called Shellhammer the "King of Quirk."[20] In 2016, Goucher, Shellhammer's alma mater, recognized him as a distinguished alumnus.[21]
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