From YOOX to the King’s Counsel: Federico Marchetti’s Memoir
At the dawn of the 21st century, shopping online was still a distant fantasy. There was no Facebook, no iPhones, and few could imagine buying luxury goods with a click. Yet in the spring of 2000, digital innovator and sustainable fashion pioneer Federico Marchetti launched one of the world’s first online fashion platforms — creating a company that would transform the luxury sector.
Timed to coincide with the 2025 New York Fashion Week, The Geek of Chic: An American Dream, Italian Style (Post Hill Press, September 9, 2025) by Federico Marchetti, with a Foreword by Giorgio Armani, tells the inside story of building the world’s first online fashion company. It charts the highs and lows of the journey, weaving together surreal moments, unexpected turns, and “sliding door” decisions that defined Marchetti’s extraordinary evolution.
The Geek of Chic: An American Dream, Italian Style by Federico Marchetti
Born in 1969, Marchetti grew up in Ravenna, Italy, and overcame the challenges of a complicated childhood. His entrepreneurial spirit surfaced early, when he sold Mickey Mouse comics on the beach, planting the first seeds of ambition that would later take him across the Atlantic. In the 1990s, after graduating from Bocconi University in Milan, he moved to New York City, earning an MBA at Columbia University following a demanding stint at Lehman Brothers. There, he discovered the speed, efficiency, and transformative potential of the internet.
Off-season luxury fashion available from YOOX. Image courtesy of YOOX.
That discovery led to YOOX — its name blending the Y and X chromosomes with the 0 of computer code. YOOX gave luxury brands their first real foothold online and offered a second life to last season’s collections...
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Image Credits:
Lead: Portrait of Federico Marchetta by Alex Maioli
All other images as credited in photo captions.