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.
Designer Carly Mark sparked conversation about what it takes to make it as an emerging designer in New York when she announced she was shutting her ready-to-wear line and moving to London. On Thursday she held her last sample sale.
To stabilise their businesses brands are honing in on what their particular consumer wants to buy, introducing new categories and starting conversations.
That’s the promise of Zellerfeld, a 3D-printing partner to Louis Vuitton and Moncler that’s becoming a platform for emerging designers to easily make and sell footwear of their own.
With a new heavyweight backer in Italian firm Style Capital — which helped Zimmermann secure a billion dollar valuation — the French contemporary womenswear brand has ambitions to go global. But it sits in a competitive and hard-to-crack category.