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  • Alibaba invests in China’s YCloset

    Alibaba invests in China’s YCloset

    Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has invested for a second time in fashion rental platform YCloset, injecting an undisclosed sum.

    The Beijing-based YCloset is set to use to funds plans to expand its current team, upgrade the recommended algorithm system and continue to build its warehouse and cleaning operation centre.

    The start-up will also cooperate with Alibaba’s used goods platform and social media outlet Xian Yu.

    This is the second time Alibaba has closed on an investment round in YCloset. The first, back in September 2017, saw Alibaba join fellow investors SB China Capital and Sequoia Capital to complete a $50 million series C round in the start-up.

    Founded in 2015, YCloset charges users a monthly subscription fees (RMB499 or US$72.3) to rent clothes and accessories, and stocks hundreds of fashion and luxury brands such as Kenzo, Acne Studios and Self-Portrait.

    It claims to have more than 15 million registered users across 40 cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

    The news follows Alibaba’s ceding control of its Russian business to form a new venture with a state fund and two technology firms, and news that chairman Jack Ma plans retire in September 2019.

    Alibaba’s revenue rose 61% to 80.9 billion yuan ($11.77 billion) in the April-June period.

  • Ermenegildo Zegna invests in India’s Raghavendra Rathore

    Ermenegildo Zegna invests in India’s Raghavendra Rathore

    Italy’s Ermenegildo Zegna has purchased a minority stake in Raghavendra Rathore, as the Italian suit maker looks to expand the luxury men’s brand and mature India’s luxury fashion market.

    In partnering with Reliance Brands for a collective stake, Zegna’s equity investment is set to elevate Raghavendra Rathore as a business and brand, putting it on an international playing field.

    While information was not disclosed of the partnership, there is huge potential for the Indian label to grow its custom menswear and accessories, its ability to enhance customer engagement, as well as to get more sourcing and back-end support. That’s in addition to opening more stores.

    “Like Reliance, we are strategic and not merely financial investors,” Ermenegildo Zegna, CEO, Gildo Zegna told the Press Trust of India.

    “As regards the investment in Raghavendra Rathore, it is significant as it is a first for a global fashion house making a strategic investment in the business of an Indian designer. In some sense, it heralds the coming of age and maturing of India’s luxury fashion business.”

    Rathore, the Indian menswear designer famous for his Jodhpur Bandhgalas, currently has seven standalone stores in India.

    Ermenegildo Zegna, which has its own menswear brand, retails through three stores in India, all run by Reliance Brands.

    Reliance Brands has a portfolio of over 40 international brands that span across the luxury, bridge-to-luxury, high-premium and upscale-street lifestyle segments. Brands include Gas, Diesel, Marks & Spencer and Steve Madden.

    Last year, Reliance Brands acquired a 46.6% stake in Genesis Luxury Fashion, which operates brands such as Armani, Canali and Michael Kors.

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