Paolo De Cesare Talks Frieze, London, and His Plans for Matchesfashion
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LONDON — He’s been in the top job at Matchesfashion for less than six months, but Paolo De Cesare has already understood much about the British capital. “In London, if you don’t have a spark, you die,” said De Cesare, who joined the retailer in the fall, and who was most recently chief executive officer of Printemps.
Since then, he’s been letting creative — and business — sparks fly, putting an end to the “discounting game”; a larger focus on creativity and the British-ness of the offer, and ensuring that Matchesfashion’s curation and point of view shine through on the virtual, and physical, shop floors.
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So far his strategy appears to be working. Full-price revenues in the fourth quarter of 2021 were up 25 percent compared with 2020, and 41 percent versus 2019. In the U.S., full-price sales were particularly robust, rising 40 percent in the three months to Dec. 31.
Overall growth in the U.S. has been in the high double-digits versus 2020.
Raey, a brand created and designed by the Matchesfashion team, tripled its year-over-year revenue in the three-month period and is consistently one of the top five bestselling brands at the store.
Sales of occasion wear were up 45 percent in the fourth quarter, with strong sell-throughs on high-priced items, such as Prada’s crystal kitten heels, which retail for 1,080 pounds.
The fizzy performance contrasts with the latest set of results that Matchesfashion published on Companies House last November, for the year ended Jan. 31, 2021, well before De Cesare arrived.
As reported, the company saw a 9 percent decline in revenues to 392.1 million pounds for the year ended Jan. 31, 2021. Losses widened to 36.6 million pounds from 5.9 million pounds.
The company blamed the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2020 for a downturn in demand for formal, evening, wedding and vacation wear, which usually account for a large chunk of business. It was a difficult year as Matchesfashion also waved an early goodbye to former CEO Ajay Kavan, who made a surprise exit from the company after just 12 months on the job.
With physical stores fully reopened, COVID-19 restrictions lifting and high-profile events back on the agenda, De Cesare is brimming with optimism. He said he feels “euphoric” being back in a physical office, engaging with colleagues, having conversations with brands and “building a physical relationship with the customer once again.”
Matchesfashion is back in travel and social mode, and will return to Los Angeles for Frieze, which runs from Feb. 17 to 20. It will be hosting a weeklong series of events at its pop-up Beverly Hills Residency, and an installation at the art fair called “New History Makers.”
As part of the residency, the retailer is hosting a cocktail with Alexander McQueen that will feature a live performance by the French artist Soko; a luncheon to mark Black History Month co-hosted by Lehmann Maupin, and a “Voices From Frieze” podcast focusing on the newness in the L.A. art scene.
Matches’ Los Angeles residency runs from Feb. 12-18.
The retailer’s installation at the fair is a gallery space filled with vessels by 12 contemporary and emerging artists. The space has been created in collaboration with Alexander May, founder and creative director of the design and art platform Sized.
Matchesfashion was in Doha last year for the Fashion Trust Arabia event, which it has supported since its founding, and also plans to host events on home turf during London Fashion Week later this month. The store is bringing in Silo, the zero-waste restaurant that serves eco-friendly food.
During an interview from his corner office at The Shard in London, De Cesare said his vision for the retailer is clear.
He wants Matchesfashion to “own the creative luxury segment,” and be “more fashion, more sexy” and confident in its curation and buying. He also wants it to be a full-price destination with “fewer, better customers,” and to encourage them to shop “for quality and not for promotional offers.”
De Cesare noted that the retailer’s top customers spend around 20,000 pounds a year, and account for 20 to 30 percent of the business.
De Cesare sees Matchesfashion as a destination for a broad range of brands, from the multibillion-euro names such as Gucci, to homegrown “creative luxury” ones such as Roksanda, Erdem and the Vampire’s Wife.
Matchesfashion’s buy has also been changing. The CEO said he’d like the retailer to stock between 500 and 700 brands, and to buy deeper.
“In the past we were buying too ‘thin’ and were limited in what we were offering,” he said, adding that the company will look to offer a fuller picture from a brand with a more significant offer.
Asked about Brexit’s impact, De Cesare said the challenges were ongoing, expensive and time-consuming. The company moves stock from Europe (where the bulk of the collections are produced) to the U.K., and then out to customers internationally.
He said Matchesfashion is working on ways to smooth the kinks caused by Britain’s exit from the European Union last year.
De Cesare, who spent much of his career at Procter & Gamble, is probably best known for overseeing extensive, multiyear renovations of Printemps’ Boulevard Haussmann flagship.
Asked about his own move, from physical retail at Printemps to the omnichannel Matchesfashion, De Cesare said he finds online refreshing.
“There is so much more potential and energy in the digital world. It doesn’t have the constraints of a physical store, where you are limited with your geographic reach and the speed with which you can bring a brand on board. In a store it takes time to create a physical space for a brand, while online it takes just six weeks,” he said.
De Cesare added that the opportunity to get to know the customer is unmatched. “We get to know them and their journey so well and we can personalize and curate so much.” He said the dialogue works both ways.
“We are very lucky. We are in London, and we have a customer who pushes us, who forces us to be creative, unexpected — and exuberant. All the new creators come from here,” he said.
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