Farfetch buying director Candice Fragis exits for new opportunities

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Sep 20, 2018

Farfetch is rarely out of the news these days and on Thursday, as well as its link with The Modist for modest fashion, the company said that its buying and merchandising director Candice Fragis has left the company.

She had been with the company for three years and no replacement has been named with the e-tailer not confirming whether she will be directly replaced. It simply told Fashion Network she has moved on to pursue new opportunities, although we assume that she won’t take up a new post for some months as her contract is likely to have included a non-compete clause.

Fragis had been with the company since April 2015, occupying one of its most important roles during a period of fast growth that has culminated in the giant $5 billion-plus IPO in New York that concludes Friday. 

She had an enviable CV before that including being a senior buyer for six years at Net-a-Porter as well as time spent at Browns and as purchasing manager for Saks Fifth Avenue. She has also consulted for a number of major brands including Karl Lagerfeld, Noir, Armand Basi, and N Peal and is clearly one of the luxury fashion sector’s most in-demand leaders.

Although still loss-making, Farfetch has seen its revenues rising steadily in recent years as well as its customer numbers. Offering over 3,000 brands on the site, it boast almost a million active users with active user numbers rising as much as 40% year-on-year in the first half of 2018.

Despite its losses, it’s a coveted operation and it looks like its IPO could be a major success. The share offer had been expected to value it at up to $5 billion but it has increased the price range of the shares from the original range of $15 and $17 to a range of $17 to $19, potentially valuing it at up to $5.5 billion.