Elizabeth von der Goltz’s career sits right at the intersection of fashion and business, with a resume that includes some of the most storied retailers in the world. Beginning at Barney’s in the ‘90s, she’s had stints at many of the heavyhitters: Bergdorf Goodman, Net-a-Porter, MatchesFashion, and Farfetch.

As of January 2026, however, von der Goltz set her sights on Silicon Valley in her new role as Poshmark’s first Chief Revenue Officer. “Innovation and technology have become so much of what's driving what's happening across many industries,” she says. “When you think about the new generation, it's all about resale and social commerce. So, I want to be part of it.”

The highlight reel of von der Goltz’s fashion career is packed with milestones, including launching The Vanguard program at Net-a-Porter to support emerging designers and becoming a founding board member of RAISEfashion, a non-profit focused on inclusion and equity in the industry. But she doesn’t shy away from speaking about the moments when she’s been thrown off course. 

After being let go from her role at MatchesFashion in 2022, von der Goltz returned to school—the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School—and reassessed her career priorities with a coach. Today, she credits this chapter for aligning her with meaningful work…including Poshmark, of course, where she’s bridging her love of the fashion industry with the platform’s passionate community committed to circularity and personal style. The future looks promising and—it’s certain—von der Goltz is leading it.

Throughout university, I followed fashion, but I was an Art History major. I didn't even know fashion was an actual job. My father has a PhD in economics. My mother has a PhD in physics. My brother's a lawyer. It's a very typical Chinese household. I was honestly one of those people who left college not knowing what I wanted to do at all… which we should normalize.

I grew up in Hong Kong, and there's a store called Joyce. It’s now under different ownership, but its founder, Joyce Ma, has the most impeccable taste. She introduced all the big, famous European American designers to Asia. Luckily enough, I went to boarding school with a friend whose sister was the Chief Merchant at Joyce. When I finished school, I asked to meet his sister. She was really well known in the industry and well respected, and I asked her about what she did. Her work was not just about taste and relationships; it was about building businesses, negotiating, and growth. The balance of creativity with business and finance really appealed to me.

I moved to New York in the mid-’90s, and the goal was to work at Barney’s. I did everything I could to get my foot in the door, and eventually did. Very early on, I realized I was very blessed. Sometimes you have to change your job a million times before you find what you want to do, but this was literally the perfect fit of being super analytical, financial, and also creative.

What's really gratifying about fashion is that it’s anthropological. What people wear can tell you stories about where people are from and what they do. People used to laugh in school that I could look at a garment and tell which designer it was, and close to what year it was from. But for me, it's the numbers, the business part, and the business strategy that motivates me in fashion. I think that's why this path has led me to where I am.

I spent the bulk of my career at Bergdorf’s, which was the most amazing experience, and we built what I considered the number one store in the world. I call them the “golden years.” I could have stayed there forever. But by then, Net-a-Porter had launched, and fashion was becoming more digital. 

I'm someone who is thinking about the future. I want to be part of what's next. And I also always want to be constantly learning, developing, and pushing myself to be a little bit nervous and uncomfortable. I hit that point where I felt I needed to do something different. And for me, it was about the future of e-commerce and digital. That’s what precipitated my move to Net-a-Porter.  And that led me to Matches. And then Farfetch.

I've been very lucky. I've been in a career where people let me take the ball and run with it. I was always the superstar in my career path. And it really was shocking when I was let go from Matches. They brought in a new CEO, and we didn't even get to really know each other. He was very frank in explaining that they weren't going in the same direction and that he didn’t see a place for me in the company. I knew it was not personal, but it's very hard when you're a person who's very ambitious, very driven, and has always excelled. It's hard not to equate that with who you are, what you stand for, the work you've put in, and what you've done for their company. It was a really tough time, and it was a lot of self-reflection on where I’ve gone and how I’ve gotten to where I am. 

After that, I went back to school, and I worked with an executive coach for the first time. I was reflecting on how I figure out what I want to do next—not what someone else wants me to do. One of the best things we did together was narrowing my values to the top 10. And then to five. It helped me think about what I wanted to do next, how I wanted to approach it, and navigate the time between leaving my last role and where I am today.

For me, dressing is how you show up for yourself, and in a way that protects you. Whatever you're wearing—however daring you want to be and whatever trends you want to try—you have to be comfortable. Otherwise, you're not going to be comfortable at that table, at that negotiating meeting, or in that business call. 

I think that clothing, especially in the business world, expresses who you are, how you want to be perceived, and indicates how you want to come to the table. Now, since moving to California [for Poshmark], people think that I’m going to be in Patagonia every day. I'm like, “No, I'm a fashion person.” I'm not going to be overly dressed in a place like Silicon Valley, but I'm not going to change the way I dress because of what everyone else is doing. I’m here to represent that we are a fashion business and not just a tech company. So it’s important how I show up. When you're dressed for the right occasion, it just gives you that confidence. I know I look great, and I can accomplish whatever I set out to do.

Poshmark is unique in that it’s built this community, it has this history, and it has this really loyal base. The next chapter is building this community into an amazing platform for discovery, driving sellers, treating sellers as individual businesses, and matching them with buyers.

My role is a combination of crafting the future of what we stand for as a brand, how the rest of the world perceives us, and how we position ourselves as the forerunner of the resale e-commerce world…all while making sure that we keep that community and emotional aspect we’ve built intact. The ultimate vision is that we become the most trusted circular platform.

In any environment, it's always about standing up for what I believe in. It’s about voicing what I feel. Don't just stand back and be a passive observer. There's a time for observation and learning, but when you see things happening that you need to speak out about, you do it. And that's including business situations. 

I was lucky enough that my father was in business, so I was always exposed to this world. I was never intimidated when I entered boardroom negotiations. I remember sitting in a meeting with a buying director, and after leaving, she was like, “I don't know how you sit down at a table with all the C-suite and five men.” In her mind, that was challenging the status quo. I never thought of it that way. I just sat down and accomplished what I needed to do.