Refinery 29 – Best Entertainment and Lifestyle

New York is not just the Big Apple; It’s a big city, too. Keeping your finger on the pulse of city life in a metropolis the size and diversity of New York is a job not meant for the faint of heart.

Justin Stefano, Philippe von Borries, Piera Gelardi, and Christene Barberich co-founded Refinery29 in 2005 and originally intended the site to be a well-rounded fashion and style guide. Refinery 29 soon grew into one of the most trendy lifestyle blogs, but also one of the most visited blogs, with local versions of the site in the US, the UK, France, Canada, Germany, and Australia. 

The site began as a fashion blog, later expanding to include articles and recommendations for a makeup blog category. As reader demand increased, so did the Refinery 29 focus and niche topics. Today, the site offers readers access to the best fashion and beauty tips, home and decor inspiration, the best travel and wedding write-ups, as well as career advice, personal finance, music journalism, and tech portals.

In 2019, Vice Media (which is partly owned by the Walt Disney Company) acquired Refinery 29 in a deal worth an incredible $400 million! However, the company was plagued by rampant suggestions of pay disparity, racial discrimination, and a toxic working environment, which led to a restructuring of top management and a new way of working that began in 2020.

Refinery 29 was listed on Crain’s “Fast 50” for 3 consecutive years, and are the winners of 7 Clio Awards, and 7 Webby Awards. They are also credited with creating 29 Rooms, an annual pop-up exhibition, hailed as the world’s first selfie museum.