The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
LONDON, United Kingdom — Last year, the online fashion community in London was abuzz when Leon Bailey Green and London's Independent newspaper co-published the 'Online Fashion 100,' a list of the most "Inspirational, Interesting, and Influential people in the Online Fashion Industry."
Today, BoF has the exclusive scoop on a few of the names that will appear on this year's list, due to be published on Monday alongside expert commentary from Hilary Alexander of The Daily Telegraph and Brent Hoberman of Lastminute.com fame.
So without further ado, here's a sneak peek at the Online Fashion 100 for 2010.
It should be of no surprise that James Bilefield & Dylan Jones of Conde Nast Digital and GQ, Nick Knight of SHOWstudio, Nish Kukadia of SecretSales.com, and Simon Cowell & Sir Philip Green of Arcadia and Sony, have all made the cut.
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One notable addition to the list this year is Johann Rupert, Chairman and principal shareholder of Richemont, who is on the list alongside our next BoF Fashion Pioneer, Natalie Massenet. She sold Net-a-Porter to the Swiss luxury goods group earlier this year for £350m. Indeed, investors like Mr. Rupert are included on the list for the first time, acknowledging the essential support that their capital provides to the development of the online fashion ecosystem.
That said, the Online Fashion 100 is more of an art than a science due to the subjective basis upon which it is created, a fact which Green says is a necessity.
"I really believe in keeping the list diverse and inclusive," he explains. "The only way to maintain that is to keep it subjective with my choices, some of which were whittled down if unchosen by judges. These are people who I have watched — directly or indirectly— through their work over the past year, or have come to my attention after being mentioned by industry professionals I respect."
The complete Online Fashion 100 will be published on Monday, 21 June 2010 on Leon Bailey Green and The Online Fashion Agency.
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