Dive Brief:

• Farfetch on Friday announced that it will acquire beauty retailer Violet Grey, according to a company press release. The completion of the deal is subject to customary closing conditions, including the approval of Violet Grey shareholders.
• Cassandra Grey, founder of Violet Grey, will become a beauty adviser for Farfetch and co-founder of NGG Beauty, where she will incubate and accelerate new brands. She will also be the chair of Violet Grey, where she will provide both creative and strategic direction. Farfetch's vice president of operations, Niten Kapadia, will become Violet Grey's managing director.
• The deal comes prior to the launch of the beauty category on the Farfetch marketplace, which is scheduled for later this year.

Dive Insight:

This past fall, Farfetch CEO José Neves made it clear that beauty was one of the luxury retail platform's strategic focuses for 2022. On a November call with analysts, Neves called the segment a "compelling crossover proposition to luxury consumers," and highlighted an opportunity in working with brands to enter into the beauty advertising market.

On that same call, Chief Customer Officer Stephanie Phair said that Farfetch was gearing up to offer a mix of large and independent brands on the marketplace. "We intend to enter beauty in an only on Farfetch way, with a very compelling consumer proposition, generating excitement through storytelling between fashion, beauty and innovation to appeal to fashion lovers in an unrivaled way," Phair said.

The acquisition of Violet Grey looks to be laying the groundwork for that entrance, with Farfetch stating that the company is a "cult favorite" beauty destination.

In a letter to shoppers regarding the acquisition, Cassandra Grey emphasized that her company was founded on product recommendations and building beauty partnerships. The company is known for its "Violet code" where it tests beauty products with its community of makeup artists, estheticians, dermatologists, hairstylists and influencers to curate offerings.

Grey said that Farfetch is a "global tastemaker that not only shares our obsession with earning customer trust, but one that has established itself as the choice luxury fashion platform by connecting curators, creatives, and customers." 

Besides gearing up for the beauty segment, in December Farfetch announced that it acquired resale platform Luxclusif. The deal was made to develop tech and services such as automated pricing and accelerated expansion of its resale service.