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Type of business | Public |
---|---|
Traded as | NYSE: FTCH |
Founded | June 2007 |
Headquarters | London, England |
Owner |
|
Founder(s) | José Neves |
Key people |
|
Industry | E-commerce |
Products | Clothes, shoes, accessories, jewellery, designer |
Employees | 5,441 (2020) |
URL | farfetch |
Farfetch is an e-commerce company focused on luxury clothing and beauty products. It operates as a digital marketplace that sells products from several hundred brands, boutiques and department stores from around the world. [1]
On 31 January 2024 Coupang announced that it had completed the purchase of Farfetch Holdings plc. [2] Coupang (Korean : 쿠팡) is the largest online marketplace in South Korea.
Farfetch was founded in October 2008 by Portuguese businessman José Neves as a marketplace for high-end fashion. [3] The company was based in London and had a launch team of 5 people. [4] Initially registered as Far-fetch.com Ltd from 2007- 2010, then Farfetch.com Ltd from 2010 - 2013, [5] the company's idea was to small offline fashion boutiques with a global customer base using technology. [6]
In 2015, Farfetch announced its acquisition of one of the boutiques in its network, London high end retailer Browns. [7] According to Neves, the aim was a closer integration of online and offline shopping in a "seamless experience". [8]
In June 2017, Farfetch acquired fashion e-commerce website Style.com from Conde Nast, [9] the same month Chinese e-commerce company JD.com Inc. had bought a stake in Farfetch for $397 million. [10]
In September 2018, Farfetch (FTCH.N) listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). [11] The IPO raised $885 million after the issue of 33.6 million new shares and early investors sold up to 10.6 million shares. [12] It was reported that Neves will net $1.2 billion from the IPO. [13]
On 24 September 2018, animal rights activist organization PETA announced that they had purchased shares that would allow them to attend annual shareholder meetings and stop the company from selling fur products. [14]
In December 2018, Farfetch acquired sneaker reseller, Stadium Goods, for $250 million. [15] Three months later, it agreed to merge its Chinese business with JD.com. [16]
In August 2019, Farfetch acquired New Guards Group, the parent organisation of Off-White designer label for $675million. [17] Immediately following the purchase, Farfetch's shares plunged by over 40 percent. [18]
In November 2020, Farfetch entered into a joint partnership with Richemont and Alibaba. [19] Alibaba and Richemont jointly invested $600 million in Farfetch, taking a combined 25% stake in Farfetch’s Chinese ventures. [20]
In October 2021, Farfetch launched its in-house fashion brand, There Was One. [21] In January 2022, the firm acquired Los Angeles based beauty retailer Violet Grey for $55.7 million. [22]
In April 2022, Farfetch announced the acquisition of Wannaby Inc. [23] In August, it reached an agreement to purchsase a 47.5% stake in fashion e-commerce YNAP Group from Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont, turning Net-a-Porter into a neutral platform with no controlling shareholder. [24]
In October 2023, CreditRiskMonitor reported that Farfetch was nearing a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. [25] Meanwhile, after shutting down their own beauty department, it announced the sale of Violet Grey after less than 2 years of ownership. [26]
In November 2023, it was reported that luxury conglomerate LVMH is considering purchasing back the license for Off-White, or alternatively buying Farfetch outright. [27] The following month, Farfetch began seeking other offers to purchase the company including one from Carmen Busquets, a cofounding investor of Net-a-Porter; [28] the deal to purchase YNAP Group from Richemont fell through following the precipitous drop in Farfetch's market capitalization and continued losses. [29]
On 18 December 2023 it was announced the firm would be acquired by South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang in a deal that would give Farfetch access to $500 million of capital. [30] [31] [32] [33] The purchase was completed on 31 January 2024.
In February 2024, European luxury conglomerate Kering announced they would no longer work directly with Farfetch and are pulling their brands immediately. Going forward, Kering products will only be available on Farfetch via third party boutiques. In a statement to WWD, Deputy CEO Jean-Marc Duplaix said “Farfetch is not a strategic partner for us.” [34]
Farfetch currently operates marketplace websites and mobile apps in English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, German, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Italian, Danish, Swedish and Russian [35] and ships to customers in almost 190 countries. [36]
Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., commonly known as Richemont, is a Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert. Through its various subsidiaries, Richemont produces and sells jewellery, watches, leather goods, pens, firearms, clothing, and accessories. Richemont is publicly traded as CFR on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the JSE.
Guccio Gucci S.p.A., doing business as Gucci, is an Italian luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty for fragrance and cosmetics under the name Gucci Beauty.
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, commonly known as LVMH, is a French multinational holding and conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 1987 through the merger of fashion house Louis Vuitton with Moët Hennessy, which was established following the 1971 merger between the champagne producer Moët & Chandon and the cognac producer Hennessy. In April 2023, LVMH became the first European company to surpass a valuation of $500 billion. In 2023, the company was ranked 47th in the Forbes Global 2000.
Kering is a French-based multinational corporation specializing in luxury goods. It owns the brands Gucci, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Creed and Alexander McQueen.
Alibaba Group Holding Limited, branded as Alibaba, is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in e-commerce, retail, Internet, and technology. Founded on 28 June 1999 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, the company provides consumer-to-consumer (C2C), business-to-consumer (B2C), and business-to-business (B2B) sales services via Chinese and global marketplaces, as well as local consumer, digital media and entertainment, logistics and cloud computing services. It owns and operates a diverse portfolio of companies around the world in numerous business sectors.
Printemps is a French chain of department stores with a focus on beauty, lifestyle, fashion, accessories, and men's wear. Its flagship store, known in French as "le Printemps Haussmann", is located on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, along with other well-known department stores like the Galeries Lafayette. Since 2013, the company has been the property of a Luxembourg-based Qatari-backed investment fund, Divine Investments SA.
Chloé is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1952 by Gaby Aghion. During the next year of 1953 Aghion joined forces with Jacques Lenoir, formally managing the business side of the brand, allowing Aghion to purely pursue the creative growth of Chloé. Its headquarters are located in Paris. The house is owned by luxury brands holding company Richemont Group. Chloé has been worn by many celebrities, including Marion Cotillard, Sienna Miller, Madonna, January Jones, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Kirsten Dunst, Cameron Diaz, Emma Stone, Clémence Poésy and Katie Holmes. The brand is characterized by a youthful and bohemian aesthetic, and has produced several successful fragrances. As of October 2023, Chemena Kamali is its creative director.
Damiani S.p.A or Damiani Group, is an Italian luxury jewelry corporate group that designs, manufactures, distributes and sells jewelry and luxury watches. It was founded in Italy in 1924. The company uses celebrity endorsements to market its products. In the early 2000s the company had a dispute with Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston regarding the use of their names and wedding ring designs. The dispute was settled for $50 million and the couple helped Damiani create and market a line of products. Damiani expanded across Asia and the US. It went public in 2007 and its most well-known jewelry product brands are Calderoni, Salvini, Alfieri & St. John and Bliss.
Yves Saint Laurent SAS, also known as Saint Laurent and YSL, is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1962 by Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé. The company specializes in haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather accessories, and footwear. Its cosmetics line, YSL Beauty, is owned by L'Oréal.
Celine is a French luxury fashion house founded in 1945 by designer Céline Vipiana. The headquarters are located at 16 rue Vivienne in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris at the Hôtel Colbert de Torcy, which has French Historic Monument classification.
YOOX Net-a-Porter Group S.p.A. is an Italian online fashion retailer created on 5 October 2015 after the merger between Yoox Group and Net-a-porter Group (NAP).
Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. is an American integrated luxury retailer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, which owns Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow, and Last Call. Since September 2021, Neiman Marcus Group has been owned by a group of investment companies led by Davidson Kempner Capital Management, Sixth Street Partners and Pacific Investment Management.
Federico Marchetti is an Italian businessman who founded and, until July 2021, was chairman and CEO of YOOX NET-A-PORTER Group.
JD.com, Inc., also known as Jingdong, formerly called 360buy, is a Chinese e-commerce company headquartered in Beijing. It is one of the two massive B2C online retailers in China by transaction volume and revenue, a member of the Fortune Global 500 and a major competitor to Alibaba-run Tmall. When classified as a tech company, it is the largest in China by revenue, and 7th in the world in 2021.
José Manuel Ferreira Neves is a Portuguese entrepreneur and the founder of Farfetch, a global luxury fashion online platform.
Off-White is an Italian luxury fashion house founded by American designer Virgil Abloh. The company was incorporated in Milan in 2013.
Chalhoub Group is a privately held luxury goods retailer and distributor, headquartered in Dubai, UAE.
Coupang, Inc. is e-commerce company based in Seoul, South Korea and Seattle, WA and incorporated in Delaware, United States. Founded in 2010 by Bom Kim, the company expanded to become the largest online marketplace in South Korea. Its expansion led the company to video streaming distribution after the launch of Coupang Play service. Coupang is often referred to as the "Amazon of South Korea", due to its position and corporate size in the South Korean online market.
Stadium Goods is a retailer specialised in the resale of aftermarket sneakers. Based in New York City, it operates a shop and a drop-off center in SoHo, Manhattan as well as an online store. The store sells sneakers and streetwear, including rare and limited edition sneakers.
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