Kate Brown, product director, and Nick Stevenson, trading & sustainability director, at FatFace discuss building authentic, values-led collaborations; using marketplace partnerships to reach new European customers; and strengthening its international expansion.
The UK fashion brand’s latest design partnership has seen it work with the V&A, while it harnesses a Zalando tie-in to connect with shoppers across 20 European markets.
Brown says: “We only partner with organisations whose values genuinely align with our own.” She adds that the B Corp certified brand is looking for “collaborators whose values and stories feel authentic to who we are”.
These collaborators not only inspire the latest collections, but also complement the brand’s environmental focus. One of its most prominent partnerships is with the Marine Conservation Society. Since 2019, the brand has pledged £500,000 toward ocean recovery, and it has released exclusive ocean-inspired clothing collections. It donates 10 per cent of sales from these items to the charity.
“We don’t see these collaborations as something separate from the brand,” notes Brown. “Rather, they’re an extension of our existing design handwriting, bringing fresh ideas and creativity while remaining true to the style and quality our customers expect.”
The latest V&A inspiration follows a previous partnership with The Natural History Museum. While these historic museums provide “an incredible source of inspiration through their heritage, archives, and storytelling”, every collection is still designed through “a distinctly FatFace lens”.
Brown adds: “Whether it’s the print, colour palette or craftsmanship, the product has to feel unmistakably like FatFace.”
Collaborations, whether it is with museums or charities, provide FatFace with new ways to reach and connect with customers. They of course also create opportunities in different product categories. But Brown stresses the “real value” for the brand is “in the inspiration they provide”.
“Our team loves bringing those stories to life in a contemporary way, while creating something genuinely unique,” she notes.
“For us, the most successful collaborations are the ones that create an emotional connection. Whether they’re inspired by heritage or a shared sense of creativity, they give customers another reason to engage with FatFace. When that inspiration is authentic and aligned with our values, it naturally supports customer acquisition, brand awareness, and commercial growth.”
Platform partnerships for international relations
As well as being creatively inspired by these partnerships, FatFace has teamed up with other leading retailers to grow sustainably outside its UK home market.
In May, the lifestyle brand expanded its partnership with Zalando, launching across 20 additional European markets on the platform.
This extended Zalando presence sees FatFace now available in markets including France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, as well as Central and Eastern European territories such as Poland, Romania and Hungary.
The strategy builds on its initial Zalando launch in Germany in August 2025, where FatFace says sales have doubled year on year. With Germany now served through both NEXT and Zalando, FatFace is positioning marketplaces as a key route into Europe.
“Germany gave us confidence that the FatFace brand travels well and resonates with customers beyond the UK,” explains Stevenson.
The brand saw strong demand across womenswear, with categories such as dresses, tops and shorts performing “especially well”.
“Importantly, we’ve also found that customers have responded positively to our full-price proposition. We’ve been able to grow the business without relying on heavy discounting, which reinforces our confidence in both the strength of the brand and the quality of the product,” he adds.
“Those early learnings demonstrated that our proposition translates internationally, giving us the confidence to expand into additional European markets.”
Another learning from this international collaboration has been FatFace hasn’t needed to change who they are for European customers. Stevenson says: “The FatFace brand appears to be resonating in its natural form, which gives us real confidence as we continue to expand.
“We’re very clear about what makes FatFace distinctive: quality, optimism, effortless style, and products designed for everyday adventures. Those fundamentals remain consistent wherever customers discover us, whether that’s in the UK, Germany or elsewhere in Europe,” he shares.
For FatFace, marketplace expansion is being treated as both a growth channel and a source of customer insight. Data from partners such as Zalando is helping the retailer understand local demand and refine its assortment by market, while maintaining a consistent brand identity across Europe.
The aim is to balance local relevance with brand recognition, ensuring customers encounter the same FatFace proposition wherever they discover the business.
“Ultimately, our international growth strategy is built on staying true to what has always made FatFace successful – great-quality product, strong brand values, and a deep understanding of our customer, while using marketplace partnerships to introduce the brand to more customers across Europe,” states Stevenson.
Digital stock pool
Serving customers across Europe seamlessly has been supported by a single European digital stock pool. Customers in these new markets can shop FatFace’s womenswear, menswear, accessories and footwear ranges, including its premium Copper & Black collection.
This one pool has been a “fundamental enabler” to the brand’s international growth strategy.
Stevenson says: “When you’re entering new markets, customer demand naturally develops at different rates, so having one central inventory pool gives us the flexibility to respond quickly and allocate stock where it’s needed most.
“Having a single European digital stock pool allows us to scale into new territories without creating separate local inventory positions, making the business far more agile and efficient.
“It also means we can bring new products to market faster while giving customers the benefit of quicker delivery through stock held within Europe. That combination of operational efficiency and improved customer experience has been critical as we’ve expanded.”
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