Vestiaire Collective CEO Sébastien Fabre to pass the mantle to Maximilian Bittner

By

Anaïs Lerévérend

Published
Nov 14, 2018

In order to take its next big step, Vestiaire Collective is making a big change at the top. As it seeks to accelerate its international growth, the French company, which claims to be the market leader among sites dealing in "authenticated" second-hand fashion and luxury goods in Europe, has snapped up some prize talent in the e-commerce sphere. On Wednesday, the platform announced the imminent arrival of its new CEO: Maximilian Bittner, founder of Asian e-commerce giant Lazada, owned by Alibaba since 2017. 

Bittner will take the reins at Vestiaire Collective on 1 January 2019, having left Lazada last spring. Before founding this platform in 2012, which is now the leader in online sales in Southeast Asia, the graduate of University College London and Chicago's Kellogg School of Management, worked at Morgan Stanley, Mckinsey & Company and Rocket Internet.

"Having led Vestiaire Collective for almost ten years and confirmed the unique potential of both its model and the second-hand luxury market, with revenues multiplying by seven in the space of four years, the time has come for me to bring in new management which will allow our company to take the next step, meaning accelerated international growth, particularly in Asia, which is a key market for us," explained Sébastien Fabre. "I'm thrilled to pass the baton on to Maximilian Bittner, who will be able to bring his rich experience, as well as his detailed knowledge of Asian markets, to Vestiaire Collective. As a director, I will remain strongly involved with him and Vestiaire Collective." 

So it’s destination Asia for the company’s new CEO, who will nonetheless be supported in this new venture by Fabre. The executive, who was among the six cofounders of VestiairesDeCopines in 2009 (four of whom are still on the Board of the site which was renamed Vestiaire Collective in 2012), will therefore stay on as a director and will be “fully involved in in the definition of the company’s strategy,” explains a press release.


“I want to thank Sébastien Fabre who, alongside Vestiaire Collective’s teams, has made the company the incontestable market leader in Europe and one of the top names globally. I’m thrilled to be able to join this amazing adventure and to work towards accelerating this spectacular expansion. I can’t wait to work with the teams at Vestiaire Collective to go after the considerable growth opportunities offered by the second-hand luxury market, particularly in the United States and Asia, where the company recently made a successful debut,” stated the platform’s future CEO.
 
Vestiaire Collective does not publish its financial results, but when its revenues were last reported in 2016 they totalled 100 million euros, and Fabre’s assertion that they have multiplied by seven in the space of four years also serves as something of an indicator. The company’s last round of funding raised 58 million euros in 2017, and saw Vitruvian Partners take a part in Vestiaire Collective’s capital alongside long-time shareholders Eurazeo and Idinvest Partners. The company, which is currently present in 58 countries, is therefore now looking to 39-year-old Bittner and his extensive international experience to help it take the next step in its development and become a global force.