User:Zobowilliams/sandbox

Nitin Passi, 34, is the founder and CEO of women’s multi-channel retailer, Missguided. He set up the company in 2009 and eight years later it has grown to £206 million annual turnover for the financial year ending March 31, 2017.

Early life
Nitin graduated from university in 2005. His father ran a business in the UK and US as an importer, designing and selling to fashion retailers in the US.

Missguided
Nitin first cut his teeth in the New York fashion industry where he worked for a B2B apparel business. After two years, he returned to the UK determined to start his own business and spotted the potential for growth within the online retail space during the recession in 2009.

He secured £50,000 seed funding which he used to cover the cost of setting up the business, including the purchase of Missguided’s first logo, building a website and subsidising a large amount of initial stock.

The business now has just under 4 million followers across a number of different social channels – including 2.3 million Instagram followers, 1 million Facebook fans and over 400,000 Twitter followers.

Today, Missguided is changing the pace of fast-fashion thanks to a highly agile supply chain structure, bringing styles inspired by the catwalk, street style, and celebrities to the site within days and adding hundreds of new products to site each week on a daily basis.

Nitin has steered the brand towards successful new product categories including Plus Size, Tall, Petite, Active and Lingerie ranges which have proven immensely popular and allowed the business to expand its customer base.

In 2014, Missguided collaborated with pop singer Nicole Scherzinger on two clothing ranges.

In 2015, the brand collaborated with pop singer Pia Mia, and debuted new premium range Peace + Love. In the same year, Missguided also successfully branched into bricks and mortar launching debut concessions in Nordstrom stores in the US and in Selfridges at the Trafford Centre and Exchange Square in Manchester, in a bid to grow brand awareness internationally and allow consumers more ways to shop and interact with the brand.

In 2016, the brand collaborated with American actress and model Pamela Anderson, American model and actress Amber Rose and American internet personality Baddie Winkle. The brand also launched collections with top-tier bloggers and influencers, including Carli Bybel, Caroline Receveur, Sarah Ashcroft and Alexis Ren. November 2016 saw Missguided launch its first flagship store in Westfield Stratford, London.

In 2017, Missguided launched a collection with British supermodel Jourdan Dunn. The second season of the collection will launch later this year.

The business is housed in a custom-built office in Salford Quays, Manchester to cater for the growing team. The offices have been described as “one of the coolest offices in the UK”.

Testament to Nitin’s success, he has twice picked up the Emerging Award at the EY UK Entrepreneur of the Year Awards and also won Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the World Retail Awards. In 2017, he also won the Drapers award for Best Digital Leader.

Mennace
Nitin founded menswear street-style brand Mennace in 2017. The first collection will launch in September 2017.