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.
The venture capital firm, led by the Net-a-Porter founder and investor Nick Brown, has raised another fund to back early-stage concepts including textured-hair care line Bread, plant-based “chicken” nuggets brand Nuggs and used clothing service Goodfair.
Massenet and Brown — known for his investments in first-gen, direct-to-consumer brands including Everlane — announced the launch of Imaginary Ventures in 2018 with a $75 million fund, taking stakes in a range of startups including Glossier, Skims and Daily Harvest. While both founders have roots in fashion, the firm’s investment philosophy has less to do with category and more with finding potentially innovative business models that solve consumer problems.
Imaginary Ventures’ own backers include a mix of high-net-worth individuals, strategic groups in luxury, beauty and retail as well as endowments, fund of funds and pensions.
As recession looms and retailers pull back, finding the balance between creativity and commerciality, growth and caution is existential for young brands.
Virtual fashion brand RTFKT rocketed from launch to Nike acquisition in less than two years. The man on the joystick isn’t a Silicon Valley geek but a French provocateur with a radical business vision and a warning for the fashion industry: ‘A lot of brands are going to die.’
The Bettencourt-Meyers family office is taking a minority stake in the Paris-based fashion label, whose sales have skyrocketed in recent years.
In a 2019 conversation with BoF’s Imran Amed, the tennis champion, who announced her retirement this week, reveals how the mental toughness she has built on the court prepared her for life as an entrepreneur.