Ruth Chapman

Born on the Wirral, Chapman attended West Kirby Grammar School for Girls.[2][3]

While growing up, Chapman said she was always interested in fashion and the "power of clothes". She was influenced by her mother, stepmother, and grandmother[3] and, as a teenager, spent the weekends rifling through fashion thrift stores.[3]

After leaving school, Chapman went on to work at fashion brand Jaeger, department store Harrods, and a video production company.[3][4] At the age of 21, Chapman met Tom Chapman, who convinced her to leave her job to help him run a fashion boutique.[3]

Ruth and Tom Chapman co-founded MATCHESFASHION.COM as a single brick-and-mortar fashion store in Wimbledon, London in 1987.[5] The couple expanded the luxury fashion chain to 14 stores in London, including launching franchise stores for MaxMara and Diane von Furstenberg.[6] It went on to become the largest independent luxury fashion retailer in London.[7]

Chapman was known in the industry for working with new and up-and-coming talent, and has said that "discovering" new designers was key to the business' early success.[8][9] Chapman was credited with bringing designers including Versace, Prada and Bottega Veneta to the UK.[7]

In 2007, the couple launched the MATCHESFASHION.COM website, which Chapman has called a "seismic moment" for the business.[6] From the launch of the website, the business grew at up to 100 percent per year.[6] The company now stocks over 450 brands shipping to 176 countries, making 95 percent of sales online.[9][6]

In 2012, the Chapmans raised £20 million in venture capital from SEP and Highland Capital Partners.[6] The company also launched in-house label Raey.[3] In 2015, Ruth and Tom Chapman stepped down as co-CEO of MATCHESFASHION.COM to become joint chairmen.[10]

In 2017, Apax Partners acquired MATCHESFASHION.COM in a deal that valued the company at more than $1 billion.[10] The couple retain a minority stake in the business.[11]

In 2017, Chapman joined the jury of the ANDAM fashion award.[12] Between 2013 and 2017, Chapman sat on the British Fashion Council's NEWGEN selection panel to find new UK fashion talent.[13]

Married to Tom Chapman, the couple have three children.[2] They have properties in London and Los Angeles, and have two dogs.[14]

Chapman supported The Telegraph's Women Mean Business campaign which aimed to close the finance gap between female and male entrepreneurs.[2] Chapman is a Patron of The Prince's Trust's Women Supporting Women campaign.[15]

In 2017, Ruth and Tom Chapman received the Drapers Award for Lifetime Achievement.[11] In 2018, Chapman was shortlisted for the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year Award.[16]

Ruth and Tom Chapman were both appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to the international fashion retail industry.[17]