The 25 richest in the fashion world of 2018
By Vanity Fair
The Sunday Times 'Rich List' has just been published and reading it one realizes that the first places, the richest this year, all belong to the same sector, that of fashion. It also throws some data on the way in which the British buy clothes lately because, in this list, they can be found from the presidents of groups as influential as François-Henri Pinault, from the Kering group, but also those responsible for fast fashion chains, such as Primark. Here are the 25 richest on this list:
The Weston Family began with a small bakery in Toronto, Canada in the early 20th century. That small business grew and the Westons became owners of the largest supermarket chain in Canada, Loblaws. Among them are such important galleries in the United Kingdom as Selfridges and Brown Thomas. The Weston family is also the majority shareholder of Primark, which puts them at the top of this list.
Primark, Selfridges, Brown ThomasFortune £10.05bnLoss £450m
The so-called 'Barclay Twins' are one of those examples of self-made men. Born in London, they left school at the age of 16, the age at which they started working at the General Electric Company. They worked as painters, ran a tobacconist's in Kensington and started in the world of hospitality. Already members of the list of most influential men in the United Kingdom, they bought the Ritz in London in 1995 and today they own, among other businesses, the Littlewoods clothing chain.
Very, LittlewoodsFortune £7.4 billionWin £200 million
One of the most influential and media couples in fashion. He is the chairman of the luxury brand conglomerate Kering. One of the most important and that counts among its members with brands such as Gucci, Saint Laurent or Alexander McQueen. In 2006 he married actress Salma Hayek in Los Angeles, with whom he has a daughter.
Gucci, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueenFortune £5.126bnWin £1.689bn
Laurence Graff founded the Graff Diamonds company in 1960. By 1974 the Graffs had specialized in the Middle Eastern market and became the main jewelery supplier to the then Sultan of Brunei. Graff is present with its stores all over the world and his son, Francois, serves as CEO of the company. Laurence Graff was made a Knight of the Order of the British Empire in 2013.
Graff DiamondsFortune 3.77 Billion PoundsWin 130 Million Pounds
Stephen Rubin began his career as a politician running for the Liberal Party in 1959. Not having much success, he went to work for his parents' shoe company of which he was president in 1969, the year he died. his father. In 1973 Stephen Rubin transformed the family business into the Pentland Group, becoming one of the UK's leading specialist sportswear and equipment groups. His brands include Ellese and Speedo. In 1998 he named his son Andrew CEO of the company.
Speedo, Berghaus, Ellesse Fortune £2.82 billion Earn £520 million
This businessman, no friend of public life, is the founder of Sports Direct, with about 400 stores in the United Kingdom, and has rarely given interviews. He bought the Newcastle United football club for £135 million in 2007.
Sports DirectFortune £2.437bnWin £277m
The first store that Bernard Lewis opened was a fruit and vegetable store, in 1946. In the 1970s, the British businessman, already specialized in the fashion sector, opened his first clothing chain called Chelsea Girl. It was the first fashion chain in the United Kingdom and the seed of what River Island is today, a company that is currently run by his nephew, Ben Lewis.
River IslandFortune 2.125 Billion PoundsWin 125 Million Pounds
Philip Green belonged to a Jewish middle-class family. His father was a successful salesman who passed away when Philip was only 12 years old. It was then that Green became heir to his father's business. Philip Green left school at the age of 15 and started working as a shoe importer. After traveling through the United States, Europe and Eastern countries, he opened his own business. He was 21 years old. In 2002 he helped his wife, Tina Green, in the purchase of the Arcadia group to which world-wide successful chains such as Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge or Dorothy Perkins belong. He is one of the most extravagant members of the list with ** parties like his son's bar mitzvah celebration on the French Riviera that cost him four million pounds ** in which Destiny's Child and Andrea Bocelli performed; with a 100 million pound yacht or a private plane, among his most notorious whims.
Topshop, Miss SelfridgeFortune £2bnLose £787m
Robert Miller, born in the United States, is the creator of Duty Free stores. His business took off when, in 1960, he obtained the exclusive license for duty-free sales in Hawaii and Hong Kong. Duty Free Shoppers became the largest travel retail chain in the world. One of his three daughters, Marie-Chantal, is married to Pablo de Grecia.
DFS, Marie-ChantalFortune 2 billion poundsWin 420 million pounds
Philip Day is CEO and owner of the Edinburgh Woolen Mill, a group to which brands such as Peacocks, Jaeger, Jane Norman and Austin Reed belong, among other luxury brands. Although they are based in Dubai, they own a castle from the Tudor era, located in Cumbria (England).
Edinburgh Woolen Mill, Peacocks, Austin ReedFortune £1.2bnWin £50m
Known as 'the queen of Bond Street' for the number of properties she owns on that London street, Christina Ong founded her first store in 1971. She currently runs the COMO group, which includes brands such as Club 21 (of which she is the founder) , and hotels and resorts. She also she**she is Mulberry's majority partner.**
Mulberry, Club 21Fortune 1.2 billion poundsLose 96 million pounds
Mahmoud Kamani's father left Kenya in the 1960s and moved to the North West of England with his wife and four children where he started selling bags from a market stall. In 2006 Mahmud and Carol Kane founded the Bohoo clothing store. The company went public in 2014 with an estimated value of 560 million pounds.
BoohooFortune 1 Billion PoundsWin 268 Million Pounds
Mark Anthony Fenwick, born in 1948, is the fifth generation of his family to run the Fenwick Galleries, founded in 1882. They are one of Britain's most illustrious families with the longest tradition of business.
Fenwick, BentallsFortune £730mRemains the same
The Clarks shoe brand has been a family business since it was founded in 1825. Nearly 200 years ago, Cyrus and James Clark created slippers from scraps of sheepskin. That first groundbreaking pair of the time was the beginning of one of today's most successful footwear companies that continues today in the hands of the Clark family.
Clarks ShoesFortune 570 million poundsWin 10 million pounds
Ray Kalvin started working in his uncle's store in Einfeld when he was 11 years old. In 1988 he opened a specialist men's shirt store in Glasgow. It was the beginning of Ted Baker, a brand known throughout the world.
Ted BakerFortune 522 million poundsWin 54 million pounds
David Alliance began working at the age of 14 in the bazaars of Iran, the country in which he was born. At the age of 18, he moved to Manchester, where he now resides. In 1963, the Alliance family owned a large percentage of the N Brown business group, which includes brands such as SimplyBe or Jacamo, specializing in clothing with a wide variety of sizes.
SimplyBe, JacamoFortune 500 million poundsLose 60 million pounds
John Hagreaves was born into a humble family, he and his seven siblings slept in the same room in their Liverpool home. At the age of 14 he dropped out of school and at 16 he started working in the textile sector. In 1985 he opened his first Matalan store in Preston. Today Matalan is a veritable empire with over 200 stores across the UK.
MatalanFortuna 500 million poundsStays the same
Peter Simon's first contact with the textile market began in Ibiza, where he lived during the 1960s, years in which he belonged to a hippy commune. There he sold handmade crochet coats. His empire would be born a few years later when, back in London, he was selling clothes at the Portobello flea market. In 1973 and as a result of that street stall, Monsoon Accesorize was born. Today it is one of the most important fashion tycoons in the United Kingdom, which in 2014 had more than 1,400 stores around the world.
Monsoon, AccessorizeFortune £480MLose £50M
Brothers John and Ann founded a jewelry store in 1979 that responded to their passion for jewelry. They wanted to make their brand one of the most loved in the UK. And almost forty years later they have not only achieved recognition but also become one of the richest families in England.
Warren JamesFortune £477mWin £52m
Lindsay Owen-Jones is one of those men who could represent the dream of the self-made man. He started out in the late 1960s as a commercial for L'Oréal. In the late 1980s he was appointed director of the cosmetics brand, a position he held until 2011. Owen-Jones has also been part of the management team of major brands such as Ferrari.
L'OréalFortune 467 million poundsStays the same
Ralph and David Gold bought a store specializing in lingerie and sex toys in Marble Arch in 1971. It was the seed of what years later would become the empire of Ann Summers. The Gold brothers turned it into one of the most important exclusive lingerie chains in the United Kingdom. In 1981 David Gold's daughter, Jacqueline, became part of the company's management.
Ann Summers, KnickerboxFortune £460mStays the same
Nicholar Wheeler set up a shirt brand, Charles Tyrwhitt, in 1986 after going through consultancy. Nick Wheeler is married to Chrissie Rucker, founder of The White Company, so together they have one of the largest fortunes in the United Kingdom.
Charles Tyrwhitt, The White CompanyFortune £452mWin £25m
Although the whole world knows Matches Fashion as the online portal for luxury sales, in reality, the business began in 1987 with a physical store in London that the couple opened in London. Many more followed and, in 2015, the website we know today was born, which houses more than 40 luxury brands. **In 2017, Tom and Rutch Chapman sold a large part of the company** remaining as CEOs of the company.
matchesfashion.comFortune £450mWin £290m
From a trip to Japan came the idea for this clothing brand, Superdry, which was born in 2003. Celebrities such as David Beckham, Leonardo DiCaprio or Idris Elba have worn their designs. Julian Dunkerton is also the owner of The Lucky Onion group, which owns hotels, restaurants and pubs.
SuperdryFortune £441mWin £75m
Russian banker Andrey Borodin and his wife form one of the richest couples in London. She, a former model, founded a brand specialized in sportswear a couple of years ago. Vaara has been one of the fastest growing brands since its inception and its yoga and gym wear is a favorite among socialites.
VaaraFortuna 410 million poundsNew Entry
Leon Max was born in Leningrad and his parents were members of the Soviet intelligence. He became an American citizen in 1986 and it was there, in New York, that he studied design. He founded the Max Studio clothing chain in 1979, a company that today leads him to be on this list of the richest people in 2018.
Max StudioFortune 410 million poundsStays the same
