Farfetch

Last updated

Farfetch Limited
Farfetch logo 2020.svg
Type of business Subsidary
FoundedJune 2007;17 years ago (June 2007)
HeadquartersLondon, England
Owner
Founder(s) José Neves
Industry E-commerce
Products Clothes, shoes, accessories, jewellery, designer
Employees5,441 (2020)
URL farfetch.com

Farfetch is a British 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] In January 2024, the company was acquired by Coupang. [2]

Contents

History

Farfetch was founded in June 2007 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 connect 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 purchase 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 was 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 in December 2023 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] Despite challenges from a group of investors dubbed the 2027 Ad Hoc Group, who held over 50 percent of Farfetch’s convertible notes, the purchase was completed on 31 January 2024. [2] [34]

In February 2024, European luxury conglomerate Kering announced they would no longer work directly with Farfetch and were 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.” [35]

Current operations

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 [36] and ships to customers in almost 190 countries. [37]

See also

Related Research Articles

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gucci</span> Italian luxury fashion house

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LVMH</span> French multinational luxury goods conglomerate

LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, commonly known as LVMH, is a French multinational holding company 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergio Rossi</span> Italian shoe designer company

Sergio Rossi is an Italian fashion brand that focuses on footwear. The company was founded in 1951 by Sergio Rossi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kering</span> French multinational corporation

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shanghai Tang</span> Hong Kong luxury fashion brand intended to rejuvenate 1920s and 1930s Chinese fashion

Shanghai Tang is a Hong Kong luxury fashion house founded in 1994 by Hong Kong businessman David Tang. The brand is known for its luxury homeware collection and fine bone china. In 1998, Richemont acquired David Tang's controlling stake in the business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloé</span> Luxury fashion house

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eyewear</span> Items and accessories worn on or over the eyes

Eyewear is a term used to refer to all devices worn over both of a person's eyes, or occasionally a single eye, for one or more of a variety of purposes. Though historically used for vision improvement and correction, eyewear has also evolved into eye protection, for fashion and aesthetic purposes, and starting in the late 20th century, computers and virtual reality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damiani (jewelry company)</span> Italian luxury jewelry corporate group

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">François-Henri Pinault</span> French businessman (born 1962)

François-Henri Pinault is a French businessman, the son of billionaire François Pinault. François-Henri took the reins of his father's retail conglomerate Pinault-Printemps-Redoute in 2005, and turned it into the luxury group Kering in 2013. He has been president of the family-owned investment holding Groupe Artémis since 2003. He has been married to the film producer and actress Salma Hayek since 2009.

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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neiman Marcus</span> American department store chain

Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by the Neiman Marcus Group since 1987, and is a sister brand to luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman through this ownership.

Federico Marchetti is an Italian businessman who founded and, until July 2021, was chairman and CEO of YOOX NET-A-PORTER Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JD.com</span> Chinese e-commerce company

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, and is a major competitor to Alibaba-run Tmall. With revenues more than US152.8 billion in 2023, JD.com is China’s largest retailer by revenue, and ranks 52 on Fortune Global 500. JD.com’s portfolio spans across retail, technology, logistics, health care, industrials, property management, private label, insurance, and international business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Neves</span> Portuguese entrepreneur (born 1974)

José Manuel Ferreira Neves is a Portuguese entrepreneur and the founder of Farfetch, a global luxury fashion online platform.

Chalhoub Group is a privately held luxury goods retailer and distributor, headquartered in Dubai, UAE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coupang</span> South Korean e-commerce company

Coupang, Inc. is An American-Koreane-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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stadium Goods</span> American resell company

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.

Mytheresa is a luxury e-commerce platform founded as a boutique in 1987. Mytheresa launched online in 2006 and offers ready-to-wear, shoes, bags and accessories for womenswear, menswear, kidswear and lifestyle products. Its CEO is Michael Kliger and it ships to over 130 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SMCP Group</span> French fashion group

SMCP Group, commonly known as SMCP, is a French holding company specializing in accessible luxury ready-to-wear, headquartered in Paris. The company was formed in 2010 through the merger of Sandro, Maje, and Claudie Pierlot. SMCP operates over 1,600 points of sale, including boutiques, flagships, and within high-end department stores, in 43 countries. Isabelle Guichot has been the CEO of SMCP since August 2021.

References

  1. ↑ "Online fashion curator FarFetch, which links shops to customers, grows in China". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 Morris, Malique (31 January 2024). "South Korea's Coupang Completes Farfetch Acquisition". The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  3. ↑ "Farfetch Company Profile: Stock Performance & Earnings | PitchBook".
  4. ↑ "The Farfetch journey, 10 years from start-up to IPO". Medium. 9 October 2018.
  5. ↑ "FARFETCH UK LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  6. ↑ "Farfetch. 400 designer boutiques in one place, anywhere, anytime". Peter Fisk.
  7. ↑ Milligan, Lauren. "Farfetch Buys Browns". British Vogue. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  8. ↑ "FARFETCH ACQUIRES LONDON RETAILER BROWNS AS IT WORKS TO REINVENT LUXURY SHOPPING". Fashionista. 12 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Farfetch Buys Style.com, Forges Global Partnership With Condé Nast". WWD. 13 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "JD.com Pays $397 Million for Stake in Fashion Shop Farfetch". Bloomberg.com. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "FARFETCH LTD (FTCH) IPO". NASDAQ.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  12. ↑ White, Sarah. "Farfetch tops price range in IPO in boon to luxury market". Reuters.com. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  13. ↑ "José Neves Nets $1.2 Billion in Farfetch IPO". The Business of Fashion. 21 September 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  14. ↑ Elven, Marjorie van. "PETA buys Farfetch shares to push company to stop selling fur" . Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  15. ↑ "Farfetch acquires online sneaker platform, Stadium Goods, for $250m". The Hustle. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  16. ↑ "Farfetch to merge China sales platform with JD.com". Financial Times. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  17. ↑ Fernandez, Chantal (8 August 2019). "Why Farfetch Bought New Guards Group". Business of Fashion . Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  18. ↑ "Farfetch Stock Plunges After Acquiring Off-White Licensee in $675 Million New Guards Deal". WWD. 8 August 2019.
  19. ↑ "Farfetch opens the floodgates for smaller luxury brands to enter China". Glossy. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  20. ↑ China, Tech In (16 November 2020). "Alibaba and Richemont jointly invest in Farfetch". Medium.com. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
  21. ↑ Bateman, Kristen (19 October 2021). "Farfetch Is Launching Its Own Fashion Brand, Shop It Now". Vogue.
  22. ↑ "Online retailer Farfetch Discloses How Much It Paid for Violet Grey". Yahoo! News. 10 March 2023.
  23. ↑ "Farfetch Announces First Quarter 2022 Results". Bloomberg.com. 26 May 2022.
  24. ↑ "EX-99.1". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  25. ↑ "11 retailers at risk of bankruptcy in 2023". Retail Dive. 2 October 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  26. ↑ Rao, Priya (17 October 2023). "Farfetch to Sell Violet Grey". The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  27. ↑ Salamone, Lorenzo (6 November 2023). "Off-White: will Virgil Abloh's brand be bought by LVMH?". nss magazine. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  28. ↑ Conti, Samantha; Clark, Evan (13 December 2023). "The Clock Is Ticking at Farfetch". WWD. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  29. ↑ Jucca, Lisa (29 November 2023). "Richemont Digital Strategy Goes Back to Square One". Reuters. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  30. ↑ Coupang to Rescue Farfetch, Injecting $500 Million Into Troubled Firm Women's Wear Daily, SAMANTHA CONTI, EVAN CLARK, DECEMBER 18, 2023
  31. ↑ Farfetch Sold to South Korea’s Coupang Business of Fashion, MALIQUE MORRIS, 18 December 2023
  32. ↑ Farfetch Gets $500 Million Lifeline From Coupang New York Times, December 18, 2023
  33. ↑ Farfetch rescued in last-minute deal Draper's, EMMA FINAMORE, 18 DECEMBER 2023
  34. ↑ Schulz, Madeleine (26 January 2024). "Farfetch investors challenge 'poison pill' Coupang sale". Vogue Business. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  35. ↑ Conti, Samantha; Diderich, Joelle; Diderich, Joelle (8 February 2024). "Kering Pulls Brands Off Farfetch in Wake of Sale to Coupang". WWD. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  36. ↑ "Farfetch's Global Platform Play". The Business of Fashion. 5 April 2015. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  37. ↑ "UK leads world's ecommerce exports as fashion brands travel well" . Retrieved 9 February 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.