Mahmud Kamani's father, Abdullah, left war-torn Kenya for Britain and sold handbags from a market stall in Manchester. Mahmud grew up in the family wholesale firm, Pinstripe, delivering goods by van. Carol Kane joined Pinstripe in 1993 and met him there.
Kamani and Kane founded Boohoo in 2006. They used their supplier knowledge to design, make and sell cheap, fast fashion online to young shoppers. Boohoo floated on AIM in March 2014 at 50p, valuing it at about £560m to £600m. Kamani netted £135m and Kane £25m. By April 2017 it was valued at about £2bn.
It then bought brands. Karen Millen and Coast came in 2019, and Oasis and Warehouse in 2020. In 2021 it bought the Debenhams brand for £55m and Burton, Wallis and Dorothy Perkins for £25.2m. In July 2020 the Leicester pay allegations cut the share price by 46%.
Since March 2025 the group has traded as Debenhams Group. Kamani is executive chairman and holds 11.46%. In the year ended 28 February 2026 revenue fell from £1,217.9m to £917.0m and the loss before tax was £108.6m.