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China venture for fashion investor
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CARMEN Busquets, the Venezuelan entrepreneur best known as the first investor in Net-a-Porter, began introducing fashion and design to the Latin American market back in the early 1990s. Now, she is eyeing the booming Chinese market by bringing in designer jewelry and accessory brands that lack exposure here.
Busquets, who has incomparable knowledge of the fashion-tech space thanks to her pioneering involvement with e-tailer Net-a-Porter, teamed up with long-time friend Ricardo Ferrer to found TrustLuxe, a high-end e-commerce retailer in Shanghai that offers designer bags, accessories and jewelry.
During her recent trip to Shanghai, Busquets, who is often referred to as the “fairy godmother” of fashion e-commerce, sat in TrustLuxe’s lane house showroom and talked to Shanghai Daily about her business formula.
“Regarding TrustLuxe, 50 percent of our customers are below 30 years old, so our communication is very much targeted at them. We keep our content fresh and interesting, mixing our brands with general content,” she said.
Unlike Net-a-Porter, TrustLuxe only focuses on accessories because “items like jewelry and handbags never go out of fashion,” she mentioned. Her targeted clients are those who want to show off their uniqueness and value design and craftsmanship.
“I believe in a human touch in the luxury business,” she said. “Customers can shop online and visit our showroom to browse through the offerings. Online and offline work very well together in China, especially due to the trust problem that exists. Regarding offline, our customers can see the products, meet the designers (who are often traveling to Shanghai and meet the potential clients), and browse the different brands. All this is later added to our online social media platform and website, so that the effect of the offline is multiplied.”
She also mentioned that customer care is vital. “When we started Net-a-Porter, it was niche and no one expected such big success later on, but we were very good at delivery, customer services, as well as choosing and editing the pieces.”
Though the economic environment is not ideal generally at the moment, none of Busquets’ businesses have been affected. “My businesses are all born out of disruptive ideas and deal with all kinds of pricing, so they all are growing. But at the end, the ones that are successful have always started small and have always been cautious. More than ever, we can think big, but we need to start small to be in control of our business formula and recognize how big we can become,” Busquets said.
Good ideas, good people
As one of the first professional investors to see value in luxury e-commerce, Busquets has invested in many e-commerce platforms, including Business of Fashion, Farfetch, Moda Operandi, Lyst and PS Dept. Since Busquets’ entry into the industry in 1992, approximately 10,000 jobs have been created from her investments. Her desire has always been to discover and support the world’s top emerging entrepreneurs and to help educate consumers about their stories and products.
How does she decide where to invest? Busquets said: “I focus on the founders and the teams supporting them, not just on great ideas. And the right timing is key. The companies that failed were because I invested in them too early and or it’s been hard to put the right team together, or the founders and/or investors have become too greedy.
“I always like to sell at a time when the next investors can make lot of money too. Your fellow investors need to trust... that you will be selling them a good asset for their portfolio or companies and that they will always make money with it.”
She believes that if founders have a unique idea they are passionate about, they can create successful companies — as long as they do it at the right time, and with the right people. “I invest in people. I believe in good ideas and good people. You can fail because ten thousand things beyond your control can go wrong. That’s why I don’t invest a lot of money. Net-a-Porter was a huge risk, but I was involved,” she said.
Busquets wants to see a future where the consumer can buy more intelligently and the value of owning things takes on a more individual meaning. She also wants to help the new economy in any way she can, either though mentoring founders or investing in their companies.
“I’m so impressed with young people in China and how advanced they are with technology. To those who are creative, I would advise them to be economically sustainable by creating a WeChat store to enforce good relationships with clients and better know their customers. Sell at the right price for their own audience and don’t get greedy — it can cause so much economical instability, a waste of your valuable time and stock, and frustrate your own creativity.”
Busquets has a free-spirited soul. She sees a world without barriers. Born to an entrepreneurial industrialist father, she was expected to work in her family’s businesses but instead the rebellious daughter pursued her own path in fashion.
Things move and change so fast in today’s world but Busquets’ free spirit and passion remain constant. “I lost one company because they wanted to lock me in. I love collaborating with passionate people and great ideas and I love backing people.
“In this tough fashion business, I’m surrounded by powerful women and men but I’m not intimidated by them. I love empowering women and empowering men who empower women. It’s about giving them strength, educating them and even learning from them. There is no meaning for superiority and I dislike the fact that women criticize each other.”
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