SCMP Group tries on retail e-commerce with Hong Kong’s My Dress

SCMP Group Ltd announced today that it is acquiring a majority stake in MyDress Holdings Ltd, operator of MyDress.com.

SCMP Group acquired a 56.65 per cent share of MyDress Holdings Limited with its investment of HK$39.7 million (US$5.12 million), according to a company disclosure.

E-commerce platform MyDress was launched in 2013 and sells an affordable selection of fast fashion apparel and accessories for men and women, from undergarments to bags, sourced from over 50 brands.

Google has ranked MyDress as the most searched fashion e-commerce website on mobile devices in Hong Kong.

Co-founders and key executives of MyDress, Edmund Wong and Leon Lai, will continue to runMyDress and manage its daily operations while working with SCMP on further development.

“I initially started MyDress as a fashion and content portal, where people could post pictures of outfits. After two years, I met Leon, who is experienced in the e-commerce industry [in] Hong Kong,” Wong, Co-founder and Director of MyDress told e27. 

“We thought that there should be an e-commerce platform for Hong Kong people, which is why we started selling clothing. Initially, we were only selling women’s. We only started selling men’s wear about four months ago,” he added.

At the moment, MyDress website content is only in Chinese, but the English version will be launching later this week.

Wong said talks with SCMP were made about 18 months prior to the official acquisition.

Through a joint venture partnership with Hearst, SCMP Hearst publishes the Chinese editions of Cosmopolitan, CosmoBride, Harper’s BAZAAR, Esquire, ELLE, ELLE and operates Cosmopolitan.com.hk,amongst others, in Hong Kong.