LONDON, United Kingdom — Yoox is hiring designers for everything from women's and men's ready-to-wear to shoes and bags, indicating the online fashion retailer is one step closer to launching a private label business.

The postings went live five days ago on Yoox Net-a-Porter Group's website, seeking applicants who could design "pieces appropriate for the Yoox consumer." Yoox, an Italy-based discount fashion e-tailer and e-commerce services company that sells past-season Céline and Valentino, makes up 38 percent of the group's revenue (along with The Outnet), making its private-label business the group's most ambitious effort in this arena too date.

Chief executive Federico Marchetti first spoke publicly about plans for a Yoox private label at the company's annual shareholder meeting in March 2017, at the time citing the fourth-quarter of 2017 as a release date. The group also outlined a plan that included growing private label brands to account for about 10 percent of off-season net revenues by 2020.

The group launched the Mr P label on Mr Porter, its men’s site, last year. Positioned alongside the e-tailer’s other contemporary brands, the company has said it is one of the “most successful brand launches” in Mr Porter's history. Off-price channel The Outnet carries its own Iris & Ink label of affordable basics, and plans to stock shoes and accessories on Yoox. Competitor MatchesFashion, with data-driven label Raey, has also jumped into the private label business.

Private-label brands can offer higher margins than the luxury labels that e-tailers stock, and e-commerce sites can use the millions of data-points collected about their customers' tastes to inform design decisions. They also have a platform to build brand awareness and respond faster to customer demand. Raey has monthly collections that arrive on the site each week, while Mr P has five capsule collections per year, and in September 2018 added footwear to its assortment.

The launch of Yoox’s private label comes after the group reported 2017 revenue rose 17 percent to €2.1 billion ($2.5 billion), with off-season business lines (including Yoox and The Outnet) growing revenue by 15 percent to €789.6 million ($930 million).

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