Founded in 2017 by Algerian entrepreneur and finance expert Ghizlan Guenez, the Modist is a first of its kind luxury online platform dedicated to dressing modestly. The website’s unique and considered edit of the season’s latest collections gives customers the freedom to express their originality, style and values through clothes. In April 2019 it released its own lable Layeur by The Modist and shortly after announced it had received $15m in backing from investment company Vaultier7. Last autumn it signed a partnership deal with Farfetch to bring its offer to a global market and in March 2019 it was revealed that Farfetch had invested in the platform along with Annabel Investment Holding, the investment vehicle for Nicola Bulgari, vice chairman of the Bulgari Group.
In the summer of 2019 the etailer staged its first European physical pop-up shop at Bicester Village.