Timed perfectly for New York Fashion Week, The Geek of Chic: An American Dream, Italian Style by Federico Marchetti offers an inside look at the extraordinary journey of the man who transformed luxury fashion retail online. With a Foreword by Giorgio Armani, Marchetti’s memoir traces his path from a small town in Italy to creating YOOX Net-a-Porter, one of fashion’s most disruptive digital empires.
Born in 1969 in Ravenna, Italy, Marchetti’s early life was marked by ambition and ingenuity. As a boy, he sold Mickey Mouse comics on the beach, a small venture that foreshadowed his entrepreneurial future. After earning his degree from Bocconi University in Milan, he moved to New York City in the late 1990s, working tirelessly at Lehman Brothers while completing his MBA at Columbia University. There, he witnessed firsthand the potential of the internet—a tool that would soon become the cornerstone of his groundbreaking business.
Marchetti founded YOOX in 2000, a name blending the X and Y chromosomes with the zero of computer code, reflecting both creativity and technological innovation. His platform gave high-end brands a digital presence and a way to sell past-season collections online. Though new to fashion, Marchetti leveraged his Italian heritage, steeped in appreciation for luxury and quality, to shape a new vision for e-commerce. A $7.2 million investment from Benchmark Capital propelled YOOX across the Atlantic, setting the stage for its eventual merger with Net-a-Porter in 2015. By 2018, Richemont acquired YOOX Net-a-Porter for over $6 billion, cementing Marchetti’s legacy as a leader in luxury digital retail.
Marchetti applies his expertise as Chair of King Charles III’s Sustainable Markets Initiative Fashion Task Force, collaborating with iconic brands including Chloé, Armani, Burberry, Stella McCartney, and Prada. His mission: unite the luxury sector around circular, climate-conscious, and regenerative practices, blending innovation, artistry, and sustainability. King Charles III counts Marchetti as a trusted adviser on fashion and digital strategy.
The Geek of Chic is more than a business memoir; it is a roadmap for aspiring entrepreneurs. Against a backdrop of global cities from Milan to New York, Tokyo to Dubai, Marchetti shares encounters with figures such as Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Anna Wintour, and Giorgio Armani. His story champions a modern synthesis of innovation, AI, humanism, and creativity, illustrating how ambition, vision, and a love for beauty can turn the American dream into reality—Italian style.