LONDON, United Kingdom — Alexander Fury is set to become fashion editor of The Independent, where he will be responsible for fashion content across The Independent, The Independent on Sunday and i — the company's concise, new-format paper — leaving his position at Condé Nast International's Love magazine after just over a year at the publication.

The move is a coup for the British daily newspaper, which has been seeking a new voice in fashion since the departure of its previous fashion editor Susannah Frankel, who is now fashion director at Grazia UK. Fury will also oversee the publications' overall fashion direction.

"In my new role, I hope to be able to uphold the incredible standards set by both Susannah Frankel and Gemma Hayward, and bring my own voice to the paper. It's a publication for which I have already written for a long period of time, and I'm delighted to join the staff," said Fury.

Amidst a precarious landscape for print media, The Independent has the lowest circulation of the major British newspapers, with an average daily readership of approximately 80,000, and has been struggling financially since being acquired by Alexander Lebedev in 2010 for £1 plus "all future trading liabilities and obligations." Since then, the newspaper has been innnovating with new formats, notably the concise 20p paper i, which attracts about 300,000 readers per day.

"i was also the only paper to buck the trend and increase circulation year-on-year for 2013. Frankly, it feels exciting to be working with such a dynamic new publication, as well as a newspaper with such a storied history as The Independent. It feels like the perfect match and I'm absolutely thrilled."

Prior to Love, Fury was the fashion director of Nick Knight's pioneering fashion website SHOWstudio, where he penned lively, culturally informed, sometimes incendiary runway reviews. Known for his honesty and wit, Fury, who is something of a living fashion encyclopedia, peppered his prose with references to art and history ("you recognise something of the Van Eyck in the drape of a cape, or a Da Vinci heroine in a high-bound collar") and zingers ("he's the London King of Cling") with equal confidence. While widely respected on SHOWstudio, his reviews stand to reach a much wider audience at The Independent.

"The seduction of writing for a newspaper for any journalist is the ability to report honestly, with your own voice and opinion. It's something I value enormously," said Fury.

Fury holds a degree in fashion history from Central Saint Martins and is a regular contributor to publications including Style.com and Vogue Japan. Fury also sits on the selection committee of the British Fashion Council's NewGen program, a scheme to support emerging fashion designers.