Tom Chapman
OBE
Born
Thomas Watson Chapman

June 1963 (age 60)
Wimbledon, London
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Businessperson, entrepreneur, investor
Known forCo-founder of MATCHESFASHION.COM
SpouseRuth Chapman

Thomas Watson Chapman OBE (born June 1963[1]) is a British entrepreneur and investor.[2]

He co-founded luxury fashion online retailer Matchesfashion.com in 1987 and served as the company's co-CEO until 2015.[3] In 2017, Matches was acquired by Apax Partners in a deal that valued the company at $1 billion.[4]

Since 2017, he has been an early-stage investor with an investment portfolio that spans several industries including technology, healthcare, and fashion.[5][2]

Early life

Born in Wimbledon, Chapman studied hotel and hospitality management before opening an independent fashion outlet.[6]

Career

Matchesfashion.com

In 1987, Chapman founded Matchesfasion.com as a single store in Wimbledon Village.[3] At the age of 21, Chapman met Ruth Chapman and convinced her to join the business.[7] By 2011 MATCHESFASHION.COM was the largest independent fashion retailer in London with 14 stores.[3]

In 2007, the company was one of the first luxury brands to go online.[8] Chapman led the company's digital strategy and turned the business into a multi-channel e-commerce retailer.[9][10]

Chapman said the original motivation for launching the website was to provide a single view of the stock as well as build a customer database and was initially surprised by the success of the website as a sales tool.[9] From the launch of the website, the business grew at up to 100 percent per year.[9] As of 2018, the company stocks over 450 brands shipping to 176 countries, making 95 percent of sales online and 85 percent internationally.[11]

In 2011, Chapman launched No. 23, a townhouse dedicated to private shopping to complement online retail.[12] In 2012, the company raised £20 million in venture capital from SEP and Highland Capital Partners at a valuation of £76 million.[13] In 2013, Chapman rebranded all Matches' physical stores MATCHESFASHION.COM to "unify" the brand.[14][8]

In 2016, the company launched 90-minute delivery to shoppers in London.[11] In 2018, the business opened 5 Carlos Place, a five-storey townhouse combining luxury private shopping in a home environment with a broadcasting hub and events space.[15] Chapman was also responsible for introducing iPads into the company's stores, which accounted for more than 50 percent of in-store sales.[8]

In 2015, Chapman stepped down as joint chief executive to become joint chairman.[3]

Matchesfashion.com was acquired by Apax Partners in 2017.[16] Chapman retains a minority stake in the business and remains on the company board.[7][17]

Investment portfolio

Since 2017, Chapman has invested in multiple startups across a wide range industries in the UK and USA through his family office, the Chapman Office.[5][18]

Chapman has invested in Seattle-based trucking start-up Convoy; skincare brand Heyday; fashion brand Universal Standard; baby food business Cerebelly; finance company IPSX; consumer personal care 'by Humankind'; feminine hygiene brand OHNE, personal male grooming company Hawthorne; and health-tech company Huma.[19][5][2] Chapman has also invested in Caliva, Plena and Harvest Health & Recreation.[5][2]

In February 2020, Chapman invested in CDLP, a Swedish menswear brand.[20] In the same year, he also invested in AI-driven sports app Second Spectrum; computer gaming platform Robin Games; training finance company Forte and customer analytics platform Contentsquare.[18]

Personal life

Married to Ruth Chapman, the couple have three children.[21] They have properties in London and Los Angeles, and have two dogs.[22][2]

Chapman collects 20th-century furniture, art and antiques.[8]

In 2017, Tom Chapman received the Drapers Lifetime Achievement Award.[23] In 2018, Chapman was inducted into the Business of Fashion Hall of Fame.[3]

Tom and Ruth Chapman were both appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to the international fashion retail industry.[24]

References

  1. ↑ "Tom Chapman – Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Evans, Peter (22 September 2019). "Q&A with angel investor Tom Chapman". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tom & Ruth Chapman Are Among the 500 People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry". The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  4. ↑ Paton, Elizabeth (1 September 2017). "Matchesfashion.com Sells Majority Stake to Apax After Fierce Bidding War". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Tom Chapman". The Marque. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  6. ↑ "Harper's Bazaar: Perfect Match". Retrieved 14 February 2019 – via PressReader.
  7. 1 2 "Drapers Top 100 2017 – 24. Tom and Ruth Chapman, founders, Matchesfashion". Drapers. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Armstrong, Lisa (12 December 2015). "Ruth and Tom Chapman on turning Matches into a multimillion-pound empire from one tiny shop". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 Stocker, 1 July 2011By Keely (July 2011). "Tom Chapman". Drapers. Retrieved 14 February 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ Smith, Edwin (12 July 2015). "MatchesFashion duo step back after successful shift to online sales". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  11. 1 2 Butler, Sarah; Wood, Zoe (1 September 2017). "Husband and wife bank £400m from sale of Matchesfashion.com". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  12. ↑ "Matchesfashion plans standalone store for Raey". The Industry. 1 January 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  13. ↑ "Drive Episode 6: Tom Chapman on Building MatchesFashion". The Business of Fashion. 26 October 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  14. ↑ Alexander, Ella (23 April 2013). "Matches Changes Brand Name". British Vogue. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  15. ↑ Conti, Samantha (10 May 2017). "Matchesfashion.com Poised to Open Town House on London's Carlos Place". WWD. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  16. ↑ "Apax - Apax Funds to acquire Matchesfashion.com". www.apax.com. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  17. ↑ "The Sunday Times Rich List". login.thesundaytimes.co.uk. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  18. 1 2 "Chapman Office". Chapman Office. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  19. ↑ "Gwyneth Paltrow and Natalie Massenet Invest in 'Size-Inclusive' Brand Universal Standard". The Business of Fashion. 19 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  20. ↑ Wightman-Stone, Danielle (4 February 2020). "CDLP raises 4.3 million euros in investment". fashionunited.uk. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
  21. ↑ Johnson, Jamie (15 April 2018). "Meet Ruth Chapman: the woman behind online designer clothing empire Matches Fashion". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  22. ↑ D’Souza, Christa (2 October 2016). "The £130m Matches woman: meet Ruth Chapman". The Sunday Times. ISSN 0956-1382. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  23. ↑ McGregor, Kirsty (December 2017). "From Wimbledon to the world: Matchesfashion's founders' lifetime achievement". Drapers. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  24. ↑ "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N11.
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