MatchesFashion poaches Amazon executive

Six months after the exitof its CEO Ulric Jerome, MatchesFashion announced it has appointed Ajay Kavato its top post.

Kavato, who oversaw global initiaves for the world’s largest online retailer, will be tasked with driving the fashion giant’s digital luxury fahion business, which is set to see increasing competition from pureplayers, including Net-a-Porter, MyTheresa, FarFetch, Ssense and even Amazon.

According to daily news briefing site Inews.co.uk, Kavato will need to give the fashion retailer its own strong identity with consumers. Last year it launched its first campaign featuring Christy Turlington, having found that storytelling increased the likelihood of customers making a purchase by 50 per cent. For more than a year it has also been running a physical space at 5 Carlos Place in London (pictured), which showcases its clothes and holds events.

“I am thrilled to be joining this very exciting and digitally innovative luxury lifestyle brand,” Kavan said in a statement. “I am looking forward to working with the talented team at Matchesfashion to continue to improve the business for our global customers, to help scale the business and make Matchesfashion a place in which we all feel proud to work.”

In its financial year ending January 2018, Matchesfashion reported a 44 per cent surge in annual revenue 293 million pounds according to the Retail Gazette, which was “driven by international expansion”.

Matchesfashion board member Gabriele Cipparrone said: “We are delighted to welcome Ajay to Matchesfashion as the new CEO. “Ajay’s extensive experience in ecommerce will be of great benefit to the business as it continues to innovate and expand in the luxury ecommerce space.”

Image via MatchesFashion website