As first reported in Ragtrader’s July 29 edition, fashion powerhouse Marlene Mangioni joined the online retailer after investment firm AR Management acquired a 50 per cent stake in the business. The firm had a stake in Mangioni’s Col-lect retail venture at the time of its share bid, and has since rebranded this to ‘My Catwalk’ as it prepares to create online and offline synergies between the two operations.
Four MyCatwalk stores are scheduled to open across Melbourne, Sydney and Perth next month while a sweeping overhaul and relaunch of mycatwalk.com will debut in February 2012. In an interview with Ragtrader, Mangioni said the site will include functionalities not “seen anywhere else in the world” as well as an e-magazine and improved shopping functions.
Mangioni is a former buying executive for luxury retailers Belinda International and Robby Ingham. In a repeat of her defection to Robby Ingham in 2009, Mangioni has recruited a number of key industry figures to spearhead the new venture. These include former Robby Ingham assistant buyer Danielle Barker and former Collette Dinnigan and Camilla & Marc wholesale executive Nicola Thompson Hancock.
The jewel in Mangioni’s new crown however is multimedia and marketing guru Marguerite Kramer, who has created online brand extensions for the likes of Madison, Shop Til You Drop and Harper’s Bazaar Australia. Kramer also held a 10-year post at Harper’s Bazaar magazine in New York, acting as managing editor during the editorship of iconic Liz Tilberis.
Mangioni has already kicked off a number of changes to the MyCatwlak offer, including the introduction of international designer diffusion brands. Mangioni claimed this would not affect the etailer’s support of local designer labels, which it has specialised in since its inception.
AR Management would not comment on whether it planned to make further investments in the sector. As reported in the previous edition of Ragtrader, the firm made an unsuccessful bid to purchase Belinda International during its administration.
Assia Benmedjdoub