Mark Sebba, ex-CEO of Neta-Porter, to head London office.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BANGALORE: Myntra, the Bangalore-based online fashion retailer is opening its first overseas office in London and plans to set up another in New York by the end of this year.
Mukesh Bansal, the chief executive officer and founder of Myntra, said in an official statement that “the London office will lead our partnerships with brands in UK and Europe, liaison with European design studios, spot global fashion trends and generate fashion content.”
Myntra was acquired by another Bangalore based online retail giant, Flipkart, earlier this year for a whopping $370 million.
Myntra’s London office will be headed by Mark Sebba, the ex-CEO of Neta-Porter, an online fashion group based in UK. Sebba is acclaimed for successfully turning a magazine-style fashion e-trailer start-up company, Richemont, into an $850 million firm.
Gautam Kotamraju, vice president of fashion brands at Myntra said: “We, as a market, still look to the West for our fashion inspirations. London is a fashion Mecca and building expertise there will help us be a credible fashion destination for consumers.”
Fashion and Lifestyle are currently trending in the online retail business in India. Online fashion retailers are mushrooming in every Indian metro, aiming to become the future Myntra or Jabong (a Delhi based online fashion store).
Online fashion stores have recently moved away from stocking products in their warehouse. They now prefer to join hands with designers who have inventories and other reputed brands to attract more customers.
According to the report of Technopak, a retail consultancy, 25% of the total online retail sales in India accounts to fashion. They say this figure might well reach the 30% mark by 2019. Another report of Gartner says the online retail market of India will touch the magic figure of $6 billion by 2015.
Myntra had partnered with the Italian designer Vanni Lenci, bringing the Roadster brand of fashion apparels to India. It has already sealed deals with UK based women fashion brands like Paper Dolls, Little Mistresses and Girls on Film. Their products are expected to be listed on the site in the coming days.
Myntra has successfully tied up with many global brands, adding to the fifth of the company’s revenues. The fiscal revenue of Myntra for the year 2013-2014 was Rs 800 crore. The company expects to reach Rs. 2000 crore by the end of next fiscal year.