Chalhoub Group, which partners with luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior Couture, Fendi, Louboutin, Berlutti, Saks Fifth Avenue, Loewe, Carolina Herrera, and Michael Kors, is set to take its digital transformation to the next level through e-commerce.
Some of its brands such as Level Shoes, Wojooh, Tryano and L’Occitane are already e-commerce friendly. However, the group has now partnered with Farfetch, a global platform for the luxury fashion industry, by announcing a joint venture agreement.
The announcement comes on the heels of Farfetch’s partnership with JD.com, announced last year, which is now operationally live, fuelling Farfetch’s expansion in China.
The agreement between Farfetch and Chalhoub will see the former launch in Arabic in the first half of this year, curate goods for the local consumer, and increase local supply by onboarding Chalhoub Group’s network of own concept stores and other partner franchises. In addition, Farfetch will maximize its VIP offering, with personal and curated service for customers who want support to find the items they seek.
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José Neves, founder and CEO of Farfetch, says in a statement, “As one of the largest luxury markets in the world, the Middle East is of great strategic importance to Farfetch. Our joint venture with Chalhoub Group represents our commitment to being thoughtful and thorough with regards to our expansion efforts in the region, which is an opportunity for our business and the brands and boutiques we work with around the world. It’s also great for our customers, bringing lovers of luxury fashion in the Middle East and beyond even greater choice, and incredible product that they can’t find anywhere else from around the world. Chalhoub Group is the best partner we could have on board, with its incredible history, deep market knowledge and experience with the joint venture model. It’s fantastic to be working with them as we expand our efforts in the Middle East.”
Patrick Chalhoub, CEO of Chalhoub Group, adds, “Being consumer-centric, we wanted to bring new proposals to our clients while accelerating our digital journey. Partnering with Farfetch seems an obvious choice as we share the same values of excellence and entrepreneurial spirit as well as the same passion for fashion, consumer, innovation, retail excellence and memorable experience. Farfetch is the pioneer of the new luxury fashion environment whilst Chalhoub Group has been a pioneer of luxury retail in the Middle East over the last 62 years. Therefore, we think there is a perfect match between our two groups. As one of our first contributions to Farfetch’s development in the region, we are pleased to announce that Level Shoes, Level Kids and Tryano concepts stores will become some of Farfetch’s partner boutiques, providing them, in turn, a global reach.”