London luxury goods repair service The Restory among startups picked for Farfetch incubator
A London-based start-up which repairs luxury fashion items is among the businesses selected for Farfetch's retail technology incubator.
The Restory, which restores designer items, is one of 11 start-ups selected for the 12-week Dream Assembly programme.
Farfetch plans to support fashion tech start-ups with talks, mentoring and networking opportunities.
"The companies we have selected for the first Dream Assembly cohort all have great potential to present innovative solutions and are capable of shaping the future of commerce,” said Farfetch chief strategy officer Stephanie Phair.
Other start-ups which made the cut include Canadian app FTSY which scans a user's feet to fit shoes and US-based closet-sharing platform Villageluxe.
The Restory's founder and chief executive Vanessa Jacobs told City PM that the programme could help her to scale up the business.
The service currently offers collection and drop-off at Harvey Nichols Knightsbridge as well as on-demand collection of items in London, but Jacobs said that Farfetch "will help us with the experience and knowledge to scale".
She added that London is an ideal location to start a retail tech business because unlike some counterparts it is "a true global metropolis".
"It combines the energy of a big city with the creativity and dynamism that comes from an outward looking mindset and global talent pool," she said.
Farfetch announced its incubator in April, making it one in a number of companies tapping into start-ups for retail tech solutions. John Lewis has been running an accelerator called JLAB for five years, while LVMH started its own programme earlier this year.
Since then, Marks & Spencer has partnered with Founders Factory to invest in start-ups and Farfetch's rival Net-a-porter has unveiled a mentorship scheme.
Farfetch filed its intention to go public in the US last month with a value of as much as £6bn.