Farfetch appoints three executives to lead merchandising, Web3 and the Americas

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A slew of new hires at Farfetch signal key areas of growth for the platform. Former Matchesfashion CEO Elizabeth von der Goltz has been named CEO of Browns and chief fashion and merchandising officer of Farfetch; Stephanie Simon has joined as vice president community and Web3; and Sindhura Sarikonda will become Farfetch’s president of Americas, the company announced Wednesday.

“I am delighted to welcome Elizabeth, Sindhura and Stephanie to Farfetch. Our 2023 plan is very much focused on continuing to advance our platform vision whilst delivering growth, profitability and free cash flow. These hires will help us achieve that,” said Farfetch chairman and CEO José Neves in a statement. 

Von der Goltz departed as CEO of Matchesfashion in September and was global buying director at Net-a-Porter and SVP general merchandise manager at Bergdorf Goodman prior. Simon joined this month from audio social platform Clubhouse where she was head of community. Sarikonda was most recently global head of in-store at Klarna, and prior to that head of beauty for Jet.com and general manager for Walmart US e-commerce. 

In December during the company’s first capital markets day, the C-suite outlined its 2025 goals which included diving into the hard luxury opportunity following its deal with Richemont in August, which included buying a 47.5 per cent stake in Yoox Net-a-Porter and the integration of almost all of Richemont’s houses to the Farfetch marketplace. In the short term, profitability is the focus: the company expects margins to improve throughout 2023, but noted that partnerships will cut into that. The company is aiming to reach adjusted revenue of $3.5 billion by 2025.

Farfetch underperformed in the latter half of 2022, but said that engaging the Web3 community is a key focus. In the past six months, share price has dropped 12.7 per cent overall, reaching the lowest in mid December, but has begun to recover since then with the share price up 58.41 per cent from that dip until now.

The company told Vogue Business in December that chief people officer Sian Keane updates the nominating and governance committee every quarter with the company’s succession planning and executive leadership development. The company keeps diversity, equity and inclusion top of mind and often develops relationships with top candidates ahead of time, prior to roles being available.

Separately, two executives are leaving to “pursue other opportunities” according to the statement: chief brand officer Holli Rogers, who stepped down from her position as CEO of Browns in 2021; and chief growth officer Martin Avetisyan. 

“On behalf of everyone at Farfetch, I would also like to pay a warm tribute to both Holli and Martin for the contributions they have made to Farfetch’s growth over the years,” said Neves. “I am very grateful for their leadership and expertise, and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.”

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