In a wide-ranging interview with Gulf Business, the founder, co-chairman and CEO of multibillion-dollar luxury e-retailer Farfetch, José Neves, reveals how the online giant is setting new rules for the sector, and why its next step is to break out of the digital realm.
“One is the need to belong, and the other is to be unique. We want to be accepted by the community we live in, but then we also want to have those cool sneakers or handbag that will make us stand out. Fashion, therefore, is a part of human culture itself,” he explains.
And fashion is something the Portuguese national and British resident knows a thing or two about. Having started Farfetch in 2008, Neves has grown the online fashion platform to astronomic heights – boasting figures of 40 million unique visitors and 1.5 million active consumers across 150 countries.
The popularity and success of the website was put into stark relief when he listed the company on the New York Stock Exchange last year, selling 44.2 million shares, raising $885m, and enjoying a value of around $5.8bn – rising to $6.4bn when including employee share options. When the IPO took place in September, shares in Farfech surged by 53 per cent.
Neves’ positioning of fashion not as superfluous consumerism but something far more inextricable as a part of human culture itself, is clearly an idea that is winning.
Where it all began
Neves was born in Porto, Portugal, in 1974, and started programming computers when he was eight years old. The early 80s, as he explains, saw the rise of personal computers, and the epic battles between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates made a huge impression on him. He was certain he wanted to build his own tech business, but just what that tech business would entail wouldn’t become clear until much later.
This story is from the May 2019 edition of Gulf Business.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the May 2019 edition of Gulf Business.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Green lights
It hasn’t even been a full year that Stellantis, one of the world’s biggest auto companies, has been in existence. Still, its wheels are spinning furiously. Here’s what it has in store for the region
Purpose through corporate responsibility
Every organisation must deeply reflect about whether they are leaving behind a legacy or a liability, says Abdulaziz AlSowailim, EY MENA chairman and CEO
Analysing the layers of a coconut
When we have a sense of clarity as to our purpose in life, then we institute the correct practices and habits around us, and set realistic and achievable results
DUNES TO DOMINION
FOR A COUNTRY RICH IN TRADITION AND DRIVEN BY AMBITION, THE UAE’S JOURNEY DURING THE PAST 50 YEARS HAS BEEN UNPRECEDENTED. WHAT’S IN STORE FOR THE NEXT 50?
Building strong
International investors are boosting Dubai’s residential property market, which has rebounded strongly from the Covid crisis, writes Aarti Nagraj
CHASING THE AMERCIAN DREAM
FOR SHAI ZAMANIAN, THE US IS A LAND OF LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES, AN AVENUE HE AIMS TO OPEN FOR FAMILIES WORLDWIDE VIA IMMIGRATION. HERE’S HOW HE IS BRINGING HIS GOAL TO FRUITION
OBITUARY: JOCELYN HENDERSON (1921-2021)
THE GRANDE DAME OF ABU DHABI – THE WIFE OF A FORMER DIPLOMAT – PASSED AWAY IN THE UAE CAPITAL AGED 100
THE DIGITAL DISRUPTORS
IN THE COMING YEARS, THE GCC IS EXPECTED TO PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN SECTORS SUCH AS HEALTHCARE, MANUFACTURING, EDUCATION AND RETAIL, WHICH WILL HELP BOOST THE GROWTH OF ITS NON-OIL ECONOMY
Signed, sealed, delivered
Nicolas Baretzki, CEO of Montblanc, partnered with one of the world’s most recognisable luxury brands, Ferrari, earlier this year. Here’s where the partnership, and the German company as well, is headed next
UP, UP AND AWAY
AS THE FIRST IN-PERSON AIRSHOW TO TAKE PLACE SINCE THE OUTBREAK OF THE PANDEMIC, THE EVENT SAW SEVERAL DEALS ANNOUNCED
