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In 2014, three entrepreneurs in Hamburg decided to challenge the giants of fashion e-commerce. At a time when players like Zalando, ASOS, and Amazon dominated the market, launching yet another online fashion store seemed almost foolish. But Tarek Müller and his co-founders saw an unmet need: inspiration. While others focused on fulfilling demand, they built ABOUT YOU to create it—combining tech-driven personalization, influencer-led content, and a mobile-first experience long before those became industry standards.
Today, ABOUT YOU generates over $2 billion in revenue, operates in 28 countries, and powers more than 200 external online stores through its proprietary tech platform, SCAYLE. In this episode of OFFBounds, I sat down with Tarek in Hamburg to uncover the thinking behind their unique hybrid model—being both a fashion destination and a software company—and how they’ve quietly become one of the most influential forces in European retail.
We dive deep into the company’s early bets on Instagram creators (before “influencer marketing” was even a term), the role of AI across their customer experience and backend operations, and their innovative marketing playbook—one that includes exclusive fashion drops with celebrities like Kendall Jenner and Millie Bobby Brown. Tarek also shares why About You’s upcoming merger with Zalando could reshape the future of online fashion in Europe, and how regulatory loopholes and global supply chain shifts are creating both threats and opportunities in the retail space.
Beyond the business, this is a story of vision and grit. Tarek built his first company at 16, bootstrapped it with no outside capital, and has since grown into a leader who now manages a team of 1,500 young professionals across Europe. If you care about leadership, innovation, or the future of commerce—this episode is one you can’t miss.
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