FAT FACE FINDS FORTUNE

  20 February 2000

Clothing company, Fat Face, is a classic example of how a ski bum's dream can come true. 

Some visitors to Natives may remember when Fat Face was run out of a small Méribel apartment.  Times have changed for its founders, Jules Leaver and Tim Slade, who have recently secured £5m of expansion capital from Friends Ivory & Sime Private Equity.

From opening their first shop in Fulham in 1993, Fat Face now has 30 stores and 250 staff.  The money will be used to increase the number of stores to more than 70, as well as developing e-commerce and mail order.

Corporate advisors see Fat Face as a retail success because of its operation in the lifestyle market, alongside companies such as Gap.