Ruth Chapman
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Ruth Chapman OBE | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ruth Elizabeth Chapman December 1961 (age 64) |
| Occupation | Businessperson |
| Known for | MATCHESFASHION.COM |
| Spouse | Tom Chapman (entrepreneur) |
Ruth Elizabeth Chapman OBE (born December 1961[1]) is co-founder and former co-CEO of luxury fashion retailer MATCHESFASHION.COM.
Born on the Wirral, Chapman attended West Kirby Grammar School for Girls.[2][3]
While growing up, Chapman said she was always interested in fashion and the "power of clothes". She was influenced by her mother, stepmother, and grandmother[3] and, as a teenager, spent the weekends rifling through fashion thrift stores.[3]
After leaving school, Chapman went on to work at fashion brand Jaeger, department store Harrods, and a video production company.[3][4] At the age of 21, Chapman met Tom Chapman, who convinced her to leave her job to help him run a fashion boutique.[3]
Career
Ruth and Tom Chapman co-founded MATCHESFASHION.COM as a single brick-and-mortar fashion store in Wimbledon, London in 1987.[2] The couple expanded the luxury fashion chain to 14 stores in London, including launching franchise stores for MaxMara and Diane von Furstenberg.[5]
Chapman was known in the industry for working with new and up-and-coming talent, and has said that "discovering" new designers was key to the business' early success.[6][7]
In 2007, the couple launched the MATCHESFASHION.COM website, which Chapman has called a "seismic moment" for the business.[5] From the launch of the website, the business grew at up to 100 percent per year.[5] The company now stocks over 450 brands shipping to 176 countries, making 95 percent of sales online.[7][5]
In 2012, the Chapmans raised £20 million in venture capital from SEP and Highland Capital Partners.[5] The company also launched in-house label Raey.[3] In 2015, Ruth and Tom Chapman stepped down as co-CEO of MATCHESFASHION.COM to become joint chairmen.[8]
In 2017, Apax Partners acquired MATCHESFASHION.COM in a deal that valued the company at more than $1 billion.[8] The couple retained a minority stake in the business.[9]
In 2017, Chapman joined the jury of the ANDAM fashion award.[10] Between 2013 and 2017, Chapman sat on the British Fashion Council's NEWGEN selection panel to find new UK fashion talent.[11]
Matches Fashion was subsequently acquired from Apax in December 2023 by Frasers Group and went into administration in 2024.[12]
