Tech Titans José Neves And Ian Rogers On The Future Of Luxury Fashion

It’s a sunny Saturday morning in Paris when two tech titans sit down to discuss the future of the luxury fashion industry over turmeric lattes and granola pots. LVMH’s chief digital officer Ian Rogers, 45, has invited José Neves, 43, CEO and founder of Farfetch.com, over to his apartment during Paris fashion week at ES Magazine’s request to digest the future of luxury shopping, AI and why big data and cryptocurrencies are the next wave of innovation. Rogers, an American in Paris, joined LVMH from the music industry in October 2015. He now oversees some 70 LVMH websites, including 24 Sèvres, the new online extension of Parisian destination store Le Bon Marché, along with high-end beverage platform Clos19.com and beauty giant Sephora. Born in Indiana, Rogers studied computer science before moonlighting as a roadie for the Beastie Boys. He would later become president of new media for the band’s record label, Grand Royal. Roles at Topspin Media, Yahoo Music and the streaming service Beats Music followed, before its $3 billion takeover by Apple in 2014, when Rogers joined the tech giant, too. Neves, the Portuguese tycoon at the helm of the billion-dollar Farfetch empire, started coding at the age of eight, before studying economics in Porto, Portugal. In 1996 he established the shoe brand Swear in London, followed by retail venture B Store in 2001. In 2007 he founded the technology platform Farfetch.com, which now unites 700 of the world’s designer boutiques on one single site and has a potential IPO on the horizon. Read more at Evening Standard.