Over the weekend I got sent a link to this article on Transworld Business which detailed a takeover in the works at Comune. According to some reports, an investor in the brand, Komex International Inc., was forcing changes to the sales team and a shift in direction for the brand which caused ten key employees to leave. The news came to light through an open letter from Julie Shumaker, the former VP of Marketing. In her letter, Shumaker said, “COMUNE was NEVER designed to be a mass market brand nor did we want to make a quick buck. Our vision was long term sustainable growth and this was ripped away from us. With all of these elements involved we could not longer support the direction COMUNE was going or keep our names attached to it in anyway.” No word on what art director Corey Smith is going to do as yet – according to YoBeat he is currently in Oregon. I will update when we have more news and you can peep a few styles from the Spring 2011 range in the gallery above.