Farfetch has announced a wave of new appointments to strengthen its management team, including the creation of two new roles.

The fashion platform has poached Kshitij Kumar from Zalando as its first chief data officer, alongside Holli Rogers, who becomes Farfetch’s first chief brand officer while remaining chief executive of its sister company Browns.

Kumar will focus on the company’s AI and data science efforts while Rogers will be responsible for brand development, working alongside chief operating officer Andrew Robb.

Other appointments see Kelly Kowal named executive vice president of Farfetch platform solutions, and Sandrine Deveaux as executive vice president of Store of the Future.

Farfetch founder and chief execute José Neves said: “These changes continue to boost our capabilities and sharpen our strategic execution with a dedicated focus on key initiatives.

“They reflect the importance of our strategic priority to build our brand – blending both the ‘art’ of building a fashion brand and the ‘science’ involved in building world-class, data-driven, demand-generation capabilities.”

The fashion brand is also bolstering its relationship with Chinese retailer JD.com by launching a Farfetch flagship store on the JD.com app.

Farfetch China’s managing director, Judy Liu, said: “This is an important expansion of our strategic partnership with JD.com, which strengthens Farfetch’s China business as part of our truly global offering.

“Being able to offer the full suite of Farfetch’s technology and logistics platform to brands wanting to reach high-end Chinese consumers is a major competitive advantage as we seek to continue to grow market share in the rapidly expanding online luxury market.”

Tech. 2019

Sara Wood, EVP of product at Farfetch, will be speaking at Tech. 2019 in London in October. To see the packed programme and buy tickets visit www.tech-festival.com