Meet the Boohoo billionaires who turned a market stall into a £3bn fashion empire – and now own Miss Pap which paid £1m for deal with Love Island’s Amber Gill
LOVE Island’s Amber Gill has become a millionaire weeks after leaving the villa having signed a £1million deal to be the face of fashion company Miss Pap.
The billionaire family behind the retailer have had an interesting story of their own – having turned their Manchester market stall into a £3bn fashion empire.
Businessman Mahmud Kamani, 55, who originally founded Boohoo and now owns the likes of Miss Pap, Nasty Gal and Karen Millen, uses the fortune he has made to fund his family’s enviably lavish lifestyle.
Nowadays, Mahmud, his wife Aisha and his three sons fly by private jet, holiday in the wealthiest places in the world and own a fleet of expensive cars between them.
But it wasn’t always that way.
Wholesaler Mahmud’s empire started when he launched Boohoo in 2006 after spotting the potential of the internet and switched from selling on his Manchester market stall to selling online.
WHAT BRANDS DOES THE BOOHOO GROUP OWN?
- boohoo
- boohooMAN
- PrettyLittleThing
- Nasty Gal
- MissPap
- Karen Millen and Coast brands
The company, which produces and sells its own-brand clothing exclusively online, is now worth a whopping £3.2billion – that’s more than high street giants Debenhams and online competitor Asos.
The Boohoo Group also now own LA-based Nasty Gal, giving them a dominant stake in the online fashion world, and acquired Miss Pap from founder Ashley Ali earlier this year for an undisclosed sum.
Miss Pap was founded in 2014 but reportedly had planned to appoint a liquidator to wind up the company.
Former beautician Amber, 22, landed the mega-money contract with the company just six weeks after winning Love Island with ex Greg O’Shea – and it will be out in October.
The move is strategic for the Boohoo group, as it has helped to boost awareness about their newly acquired Miss Pap brand.
- Amber’s collection will launch in October from MISSPAP – shop here.
Miss Pap focuses on fast fashion, and follows a similar model to Boohoo which uploads as many as 120 new pieces to their site every day and on average they sell 50 dresses per minute.
Their come with a two-week turnaround – from spotting the latest fashion to designing, manufacturing and then selling the piece.
With dresses for as little as £3 and shoes for £4, the retailer is a favourite with cash-strapped teenagers and celebrities alike.
The likes of Little Mix, Towie’s Amber Dowding and plenty of online fashion bloggers and influencers post snaps in their Boohoo clothes.
Mahmud and his family are a true ‘rags to riches’ story and their now-lavish lifestyle is documented on Instagram by his three sons Adam, Samir and Umar.
Adam and Samir both work for the family business.
Umar, however, branched out on his own and started the hugely successful Pretty Little Thing.com, which has A-list celebrity sponsors like Kylie Jenner and also signed Love Islander Molly-Mae for a £500million deal.
And the family are certainly not shy about flaunting their riches, with Umar posting shots to Instagram showing him standing on top of his Rolls-Royce in sunny LA.
It is reported that Mahmud also drives a Rolls-Royce Phantom costing £350,000.
He and his wife, 54-year-old Aisha, have been spotted in all their formal finery at Royal Ascot.
Adam and his brothers have shared snaps boarding a private jet to Coachella in California, and Samir posted a snap of himself on a helicopter heading to superglam St Tropez on the French Riviera.
One thing is for sure, despite naming the company Boohoo, the Kamanis’ fabulous lifestyle leaves little to cry about.
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