With the acquisition of Wannaby, Perfect Corp strengthens its position in fashion and accessories

Leading provider of artificial intelligence and augmented reality technology solutions for the beauty industry, Perfect Corp is diversifying. Through a buyout agreement with its owner Farfetch, virtual fitting solution Wannaby (WANNA) falls into the lap of this beauty tech player, which now has its sights set on the fashion and accessories sector.

 

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

 

This approach is well known to players in the luxury ready-to-wear and major groups, who, through diversification strategies, seek to dilute risks as well as exploit new business opportunities.

 

In 2024, the turbulence facing the luxury goods industry forced many players to multiply their incursions, from Balmain and Jaeger Lecoultre opening up to perfume, to Bugatti in interior decoration and Jil Sander developing its haute joaillerie line. However,Perfect Corp is not a traditional luxury player, and a fortiori, it operates in a sector – beauty – that has shown exceptional vitality in 2024. Indeed, according to Bain & Co, the winning segments of 2024 in luxury personal goods were perfumes and cosmetics, and eyewear. And the advances enabled by AI don’t seem to contradict this ambition.

 

Perfect Corp announced on December 23 that it had reached an agreement to buy fashion and accessories specialist “virtual try on” solution Wannaby (WANNA) from its owner, Farfetch, the troubled luxury e-commerce platform.

 

Entering the heart of the luxury reactor

 

With the acquisition of Wannaby, Perfect Corp is further penetrating the heart of the luxury jet engine, the fashion and accessories sector, which accounts for over 24% of sales in the luxury market. However, according to Bain & Company, this market is falling by 2% on a comparable basis, to $363 billion in 2024 (€369 billion). Since 2022, Perfect Corp had been developing virtual fitting devices for jewelry (rings, bracelets and necklaces) but also for watches.

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Featured Photo: © Perfect Corp

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Victor Gosselin
Victor Gosselin is a journalist specializing in luxury, HR, tech, retail, and editorial consulting. A graduate of EIML Paris, he has been working in the luxury industry for 9 years. Fond of fashion, Asia, history, and long format, this ex-Welcome To The Jungle and Time To Disrupt likes to analyze the news from a sociological and cultural angle.
Luxus Magazine Automne/Hiver 2024

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