“Geek of Chic” to share his story in Chicago

At the start of the 21st century, shopping online was still a futuristic fantasy. And then, in the spring of 2000, Federico Marchetti invented one of the world’s first platforms for online sales, launching a company that would revolutionize the luxury fashion sector. In “The Geek of Chic: An American Dream, Italian Style,” Marchetti tells the tale of an awkward kid from the seaside town of Ravenna, Italy, who transformed himself into a pioneer in online retail. He’ll be sharing that story at a Sept. 17 book signing at the Book Cellar in Chicago.

Readers will follow Marchetti’s improbable career arc as he:

• sells Mickey Mouse comic books on the beach at Ravenna;
• earns an MBA at Columbia University while working “like crazy” at Lehman Brothers. one of the first financiers to do online research;
• creates YOOX, helping high-end fashion brands gain a foothold online while giving a second life to last season’s collections;
• receives a $7.2 million investment from Benchmark Capital, allowing him to take YOOX to America;
• orchestrates a merger with his fiercest competitor, Net-a-Porter, creating the YOOX Net-a-Porter Group and becoming the company’s CEO;
• oversees the $6 billion acquisition of his company by Richemont, the parent company of Cartier;
• agrees to chair King Charles III’s Sustainable Markets Initiative’s Fashion Task Force, uniting global luxury groups around a common goal of environmentally conscious “regenerative fashion.”

“Federico has made it alone, imagining much and working more,” Giorgio Armani writes in the forward to “The Geek of Chic.” “Those who want to break the mold have to take risks, swim against the tide, walk untrodden paths.”