Print article as PDF

Net-A-Porter

Online fashion retailer Net-A-Porter stocks more than 300 designers, from worldwide ‘super-brands’ to diminutive cult favourites. But more than simply an e-store, Net-A-Porter’s interactive site and acclaimed editorial make it the first port of call to many disciples of cutting-edge style.

Pros

 

  • Innovative and cutting edge work
  • Great experience

Cons

 

  • Challenging application process

 

The Inside Buzz View

Net-A-Porter Profile & Stats

 

Launched in June 2000, amidst the scorched business landscape of the dotcom collapse, Net-A-Porter trailblazed into the realm of online fashion retail. Founder Natalie Massenet had her fair share of doubters, but after more than ten years of growth, Net-A-Porter’s £100+ million annual revenue has long since silenced its early critics.

 

Net-A-Porter now stocks more than 300 designers, from worldwide ‘super-brands’ to diminutive cult favourites. This fashion bellwether ships its extensive range of high-end apparel, shoes and accessories to 170 countries worldwide – even providing same day delivery to London and New York. But it’s stellar names such as Jimmy Choo, Alexander McQueen and Miu Miu, that keeps Net-A-Porter’s 2.5 million monthly visitors coming back for more.

 

This empire couldn’t be more at odds from its humble beginnings: three friends in a tiny Chelsea studio, cheering “Ker-ching!” at each and every order received. Today, Massenet presides over teams of buyers, editors, art directors and marketeers from the airy dome of Whiteleys, the company’s London HQ. Net-A-Porter now employs nearly 600 people in London and New York, and a blast of an air horn punctuates significant orders.

 

Inspiration can strike any time or place. Natalie Massenet’s eureka moment came when pregnant and whilst working as the fashion editor at Tatler. She realised that many of the clothes used in the magazine’s shoots weren’t available to the public, due to either lack of supply or prohibitive geographical reasons. And each new publication would trigger unsolicited phone calls from fashionistas wanting the latest looks. Despite the inauspicious dotcom burst, Massenet saw the internet as the perfect vehicle to deliver these garments direct to the customer’s door. So after settling on a name – inspired by the French phrase ‘prêt- à -porter’, meaning ‘ready to wear’ – Massenet set to work.

 

Massenet soon found success, simply by giving women exactly what they wanted: unprecedented access to the hottest looks of the season from international cutting-edge labels. But Net-A-Porter does more than simply send out black boxes with slinky bows; the pages of the company’s site includes acclaimed editorial, updating its readers weekly on the ins and outs of high-end fashion. Net-A-Porter’s interactive newsletter is now the first port of call to many disciples of cutting-edge style. And just in case men were beginning to feel left out, Mr Porter opens for business in early 2011.

read more