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.
It’s a newly created role for the global buying director and is the latest in a series of C-suite appointments made by MatchesFashion’s new chief executive Ajay Kavan. Von der Goltz spent 14 years at Neiman Marcus Group-owned Bergdorf Goodman before moving to London to join Net-a-Porter in 2017.
“Elizabeth has a breadth of experience and commercial acumen that will help us continue to drive growth by inspiring our customers,” Kavan said in a statement.
Other recent appointments include Sean Glithero, who was named chief financial officer in September, and Amazon exec Jason Weston, who was named chief operating officer a month later.
Kavan, a longtime Amazon exec himself, has been tasked with cementing and scaling MatchesFashion’s position in the fast-growing, but volatile, luxury e-commerce space. In the year ending January 31, 2019, the company’s sales grew 27 percent to £372 million, but profits sunk 89 percent to £2.4 million, due to investments in infrastructure and marketing.
The group’s flagship Prada brand grew more slowly but remained resilient in the face of a sector-wide slowdown, with retail sales up 7 percent.
The guidance was issued as the French group released first-quarter sales that confirmed forecasts for a slowdown. Weak demand in China and poor performance at flagship Gucci are weighing on the group.
Consumers face less, not more, choice if handbag brands can't scale up to compete with LVMH, argues Andrea Felsted.
As the French luxury group attempts to get back on track, investors, former insiders and industry observers say the group needs a far more drastic overhaul than it has planned, reports Bloomberg.