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Chances are you’ve heard of Net-A-Porter the high-end designer fashion site that pioneered the online shopping revolution. (Honestly what did we ever do before those little black boxes arrived on the doorstep?) But perhaps you aren’t quite as familiar with its rival Farfetch? Trust us, that’s all about to change.
Natalie Massenet the former British magazine editor that launched Net-A-Porter in 2000 – a time when the notion of buying designer fashion online was laughable – has joined Farfetch, an online platform that partners with over 1500 boutiques and 750 of the hottest designers around the globe to give us access to the biggest and best curated mix of luxury fashion on the planet. We’re talking Saint Laurent, Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Manolo Blahnik and the list goes on and on.
Translation: the bold new era of online shopping has begun and we are the winners.
To make matters more exciting Massenet, who has been named co-chairman, is charged with expanding the Farfetch brand globally and galvanising partnerships within the fashion industry, a task that should come as a cinch to Massenet who doubles as chair of the British Fashion Council. So yep, she’s connected.
Natalie Massenet with Farfetch José Neves
Credit: Supplied
Today’s announcement follows 18 months of speculation on what Natalie would do next. Would she replace Anna Wintour at US Vogue as rumoured? Is Imaginary Ventures, the company she registered two months after leaving Net-A-Porter, primed to launch a new e-commerce venture?
The fashion world and we the consumers finally have the answer. This appointment appears to be another step toward global domination for Farfetch, which made a decision to buck the traditional wholesale e-commerce model favoured by Net-A-Porter et al, when it launched in 2008. And it’s a move that’s clearly working. The company is now the top luxury online shopping destination in terms of traffic.
Its revolutionary omni-channel strategy (tech jargon for the merging of online shopping and retail bricks and mortars stores) means shoppers now have access to a global network of stores and warehouses along with services such as same day deployment across multiple international cities and click-and-collect in store. It’s another impressive display of how Farfetch fuses their tech with their fashion they customised century experience. Told you things are about to become major.
As for Massenet, she of course has had the last laugh. The fashion mogul sold a majority stake in Net-A-Porter – an empire that now includes TheOutnet.com, MrPorter.com and PORTER Magazine – for around 80 million in 2010. Massenet stayed on to helm the company she created before her shock exit in September 2015 ahead of the groups planned merger with Italian competitor Yoox.
Credit cards at the ready people.
