LONDON – Machine-A is no longer affiliated with Tomorrow, four years after the brand distributor and accelerator took a majority stake in the London-based multi-brand store.
Steven Ma, a longtime friend and collaborator of Machine-A founder Stavros Karelis, is now the company’s director. Tomorrow has passed majority control of the company to private investors.
Karelis will continue to play a key role in Machine-A’s daily operation and shift Machine-A’s focus back to being a hub for emerging talent.
Ma, a graduate of Parsons in New York before starting an MBA at Emlyon Business School in France, has been closely involved with Machine-A since 2019, working on key projects such as the launch of Machine-A brand in China, a Mugler event in Shanghai with K-pop star CL and model Ming Xi, as well as a recent Reebok collaboration with Kai-Isaiah Jamal and Alibae.
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He also launched a namesake accessories brand after training in footwear design at Arsutoria School in Milan.
Ma, who now splits his time between Shanghai and London, said Machine-A has been an institution for young creative talents.
Many emerging designers such as Nasir Mazhar, Paolo Carzana, Olly Shinder, Pronounce, Samuel Guì Yang, Craig Green, Peter Do, Richard Quinn, Paula Canovas del Vas, Kiko Kostadinov, Delada, Martine Rose, Namacheko and Ottolinger have been carried at the store since 2013.
“I hope with my active involvement the brand generates the commercial growth it deserves, building upon what Karelis, the team and past investors have worked so hard to achieve commercially and artistically,” he said, adding that he plans to work on expansion into key geographies, the digital space, as well as being an incubator for emerging talent and fostering an international community that promotes innovation, inclusivity and diversity.
Karelis, a well-respected figure in the London fashion community, said he is excited to see Machine-A entering a new chapter with private partners and close collaborators who will “safeguard and further develop all the core values and principles that this company was founded upon.”
The new era is all about independence and, just as in the store’s beginning, offering a retail proposition with a top-tier curatorial client experience, he added.
Earlier in the summer, Karelis told WWD that Machine-A is reviewing its China strategy after entering the market two years ago by opening a 2,640-square-foot store in Shanghai. It has decided not to renew the lease in that space due to a challenging retail climate.
With Ma’s backing, he said the brand will further build its presence in key geographies such as China, and lead community-driven partnerships, creative collaborations and cultural events.
Following a period of rapid expansion, Tomorrow is in the process of recalibrating its ambition of expanding beyond wholesale distribution to become a fashion business “accelerator” by investing in brands including A-Cold-Wall, Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Martine Rose, Coperni and retailer Machine-A.
As reported, Tomorrow last month sold A-Cold-Wall to Four Marketing, a distribution agency backed by Mike Ashley‘s Frasers Group, less than a year after acquiring full control of the company from founder Samuel Ross.
Ross no longer has any ties to the company, and in September revealed a new, slow fashion project, called Samuel Ross_Atelier. Tomorrow had originally acquired a minority stake in A-Cold-Wall in 2018, and purchased the remainder of the shares from Ross last year.
It remains unclear if Tomorrow has also been looking for buyers for its remaining brands, especially Martine Rose and Coperni.
