From rag trade to riches

Meet Stef Passantino, a 27 year old online discount fashion retailer who heads up Lastseason.com.

He's the guy who offered Pete Doherty five grand for a photo shoot because he thought the troubled singer "could do with the money".

A move that subsequently bought Lastseason.com priceless column inches in the world's press when Doherty's management demanded £30,000 "as a bare minimum" for what would have been a day's work (yeah, yeah, we know, Doherty would have been effectively being paid to endorse Lastseason.com, but that didn't stop the tabloids having a field day).

And he's also the guy that has secured a million pounds in backing from Rock Computer's Nick Boardman.

Not bad going for an internet entrepreneur who cut his teeth selling clothes on eBay.

1. Who is Stef Passantino?

I am a 27 year old online discount fashion retailer who founded
Lastseason.com.

2. What gave you the idea for Lastseason.com?

I used to manage an independent fashion store. We would always at the end
of sales have small amounts of stock left which I started selling on eBay. I managed to clear the stock at a good price, some items fetching actual retail price.

We often had brand agents coming into the store offering top ups on our latest collection at discount. This was their end of line / clearance stock.

Realising this, I looked at the web to see if there were any online discount stores and discovered there were very few for fashion. The few out there were not very good in my opinion.

So I decided to put the wheels in motion and get Lastseason.com started.

3. Do you think eBay is an ideal place for budding entrepreneurs to cut
their teeth?

Yes. It's always a good way to make money. The only drawbacks are the
uncertainties of the sellers and buyers. You can never be 100% sure of the
authenticity and quality of goods, but luckily it worked for me.

That was another reason for Lastseason.com - the stock is from the brands so
you know exactly how good it is.

4. What did it take to get the Lastseason.com website off the ground?



A lot of hard work!

I worked on the concept in all my spare time after work. As it grew I realised it needed more than just my part-time efforts - it also needed a cash injection for it to progress so I sought out investment.

5. Is it true that Rock Computer's Nick Boardman invested one million pounds in the business? How did that come about and what difference has it made?

That is the amount that has been set to spend on it, yes. We have to spend it wisely as at certain times of the year brands will go into sale, and that is when we need to buy.

I met Nick a few years back just through a friend - and I bought my laptops
through him over the years. When I was looking for investment he was the
first person I thought of.

It was the next logical step, he had the infrastructure and had been selling online for the last 11 years, I had the fashion side and the contacts so the partnership works really well.

The difference has been huge - I've been able go full time and put all my efforts into the business. It has made all the difference. Using Nick's knowledge of internet marketing has really helped Lastseason.com progress.

6. The Pete Doherty story has been all over the media - fantastic publicity for the website. What has it done for your traffic levels?

Ha! Yeah it's been a bit crazy!

I keep getting contacted through the site from people wanting to get into modelling and offering their services. I even had a Gordon Ramsay lookalike requesting work - unfortunately Gordon isn't too well known as a fashionista!

The Pete story did however generate a lot of coverage. Sales tripled as did the hits we had on the site.

7. What's the best thing about building a business via the internet?

Overheads - they are kept right down as there is no need for a fancy shop
with high rent. Going online means we can give customers a further discount.


I read a good quote the other day: "There is no difference between bricks
and clicks." I definitely think more and more consumers are beginning to
realise this.

8. Top tip for someone wanting to start an internet business?

Be patient and work hard at getting your site up in search engine rankings.
It takes time for search engines to pick it up. The more searchable you are
the more hits you get.

Hits = Customers.

27th February 2008

Comment on this article

Thursday February 28, 2008
How hot is Stef! The website is quite good as well!!
Kerry Sheerman

Thursday February 28, 2008
This is a really inspirational story for me because I'm just starting out selling things on ebay and have dreams of building what at the moment is a weekend hobby into a full time business one day. This has made me even more determined to succeed.
David White

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