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Moda Operandi operates as a luxury online retail platform, distinguishing itself by offering an extensive selection of high-end fashion, jewelry, and home goods. The company's core capability lies in its pioneering trunkshow model, which enables clients to pre-order items directly from designers’ latest runway collections immediately after their debut. This approach provides exclusive early access to fashion-forward pieces, often before they are widely available in traditional retail channels.
The company was founded in 2010 by Lauren Santo Domingo, a former contributing editor at Vogue, and Áslaug Magnúsdóttir. Their combined insight stemmed from recognizing a gap between the excitement of runway shows and the delayed availability of collections to discerning consumers. Santo Domingo's deep industry connections and Magnúsdóttir's e-commerce expertise provided the foundation for building a platform that brought nascent fashion trends directly to an eager clientele.
Moda Operandi serves an exclusive global clientele of affluent consumers who seek unique, curated, and timely luxury products. The company’s vision is to empower individuals through exceptional fashion design, offering a seamless and personalized shopping experience that connects them directly with the world’s most coveted designers and collections. It continues to focus on a highly curated inventory and white-glove service.
Moda Operandi has raised $574.0M across 8 funding rounds.
Moda Operandi has raised $574.0M in total across 8 funding rounds.
Moda Operandi has raised $574.0M across 8 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $13.0M Debt in June 2021.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 3, 2021 | $13.0M Debt | Kyle C. Shonak | Andr Santo Domingo |
| Jan 31, 2020 | $100.0M Other Equity | Apax Partners, Tony Florence | Comerica Bank, Santo Domingo family, TriplePoint Capital |
| Dec 6, 2017 | $165.0M Other Equity | Daniel O'Keefe | Fidelity Management & Research Company, LVMH, New Enterprise Associates |
| Dec 1, 2017 | $170.0M Series F | CVentures | |
| Feb 1, 2015 | $60.0M Series E | Fidelity Management & Research Company | Able Partners, Felix Capital, Greycroft, Lightspeed Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates, Andrew Siegel, LVMH, New Atlantic Ventures, RRE Ventures |
| Dec 15, 2013 | $20.0M Other Equity | Cond, LVMH | |
| Jun 1, 2012 | $36.0M Series C | Able Partners, Felix Capital, Greycroft, Lightspeed Venture Partners, New Enterprise Associates | |
| Jun 1, 2011 | $10.0M Series B | New Enterprise Associates | Able Partners, Felix Capital, Greycroft, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Thanasis Delistathis |
Moda Operandi is an online luxury fashion retailer leveraging technology to enable pre-orders of runway collections directly from designers. It builds a digital platform for trunk shows and boutiques, serving affluent global fashion enthusiasts who want early access to unedited designer lines in women's and men's apparel, jewelry, accessories, beauty, and home goods. The core problem it solves is the traditional 8-9 month delay between fashion shows and retail availability, allowing customers to secure next-season styles months ahead while providing designers demand data to reduce waste.[1][2][6] With over 400 employees, operations in New York, London, and Hong Kong, and shipping to 125+ countries, it has scaled from startup to a leading e-commerce player backed by investors like Apax Partners.[3][6]
Moda Operandi was co-founded in 2010 by Lauren Santo Domingo, a former Vogue editor, and Aslaug Magnusdottir in New York (later based in Brooklyn).[1][4][6] Santo Domingo spotted a gap between runway innovation and store offerings, inspiring a platform to bridge designers and consumers directly.[6][7] The idea crystallized around online trunk shows for pre-ordering show looks, launching an MVP e-commerce site and app in under six months ahead of New York Fashion Week via agile development on AWS.[2] Early traction came from solving post-show excitement with immediate access, evolving from women's focus to hundreds of brands across categories, with investments like Apax's 2017 funding marking growth.[3][2]
Moda Operandi rides the wave of digital transformation in luxury fashion, blending e-commerce tech with high-end curation amid rising online luxury sales post-2010s mobile boom.[2][6] Timing was ideal: launching during fashion week's hype addressed inventory risks for designers via data analytics, aligning with direct-to-consumer trends and sustainability pushes against fast fashion waste.[1][5] Market forces like global e-commerce growth (125+ countries) and investor interest in tech-retail hybrids favor it, as seen in Apax's tech-sector classification.[3] It influences the ecosystem by pioneering pre-order models, inspiring platforms like Farfetch, and empowering emerging designers with visibility and sales data.[1][6]
Moda Operandi's tech-fueled model positions it for expansion into AI personalization, Web3 fashion ownership, and metaverse integrations amid luxury's digital shift. Trends like sustainable production (via pre-orders) and AR try-ons will amplify growth, potentially evolving it into a full lifestyle ecosystem with men's and home expansions. As investor-backed scale continues, its influence could redefine luxury retail, turning runway hype into immediate, global reality—proving technology truly elevates fashion discovery.[3][6]
Moda Operandi has raised $574.0M in total across 8 funding rounds.
Moda Operandi's investors include Kyle C. Shonak, Andr Santo Domingo, Apax Partners, Tony Florence, Comerica Bank, Santo Domingo family, TriplePoint Capital, Daniel O'Keefe, Fidelity Management & Research Company, LVMH, New Enterprise Associates, CVentures.
