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Massenet resigns from NET-A-PORTER the same day Asos chief stands down

Lauretta Roberts
02 September 2015

Two of fashion etail's most prominent pioneers, who both founded their companies 15 years ago, have revealed they are standing down from their respective businesses today.

According to a report on Bloomberg, Natalie Massenet founder and chairman of NET-A-PORTER, has resigned from the luxury etailer ahead of its imminent merger with Italian etail giant Yoox.

The news service reports that Massenet stood down after returning from a holiday. She had been due to take up the role of chairman of the combined Yoox and NET-A-PORTER group, while Yoox founder Federico Marchetti was named as chief executive.

The news comes on the same day Asos CEO Nick Robertson who founded his fashion etail empire in 2000, around the same time Massenet founded NET-A-PORTER, announced he was to stand down and hand the reins to his COO Nick Beighton. (His news was leaked to Sky News yesterday ahead of the official announcement today). Robertson will remain a non-executive director of Asos.

Nick Robertson

Robertson and Massenet were at the vanguard of etail and, operating at very different ends of the market (Asos in young fashion and Massenet in luxury), they revolutionised fashion shopping in the UK before both going on to achieve significant global success.

They both recognised that compelling content was key to online selling and were both early adopters of social media and video. Robertson, who began his career in advertising, caused a sensation when he launched Asos magazine in 2007. It is now one of the most widely distributed fashion magazines in the UK. While Massenet achieved a long-held dream when she launched her glossy Porter magazine last year, hiring big names from Harper's Bazaar to run it, including editor-in-chief Lucy Yeomans.

NET-A-PORTER, which also runs luxury off-price site The Outnet (launched in 2009) and men's etailer Mr Porter (launched in 2011), was acquired by luxury group Richemont in 2010 and the merger with Yoox was agreed in March this year.

Asos, which started life as As Seen On Screen selling products seen in film and TV, is a PLC having been listed on AIM in 2001 just one year on from its launch. It made its maiden profit in 2004 (NET-A-PORTER achieved its maiden profit just this year).

Asos' future has been the cause of much speculation over the years with names such as Amazon and Scandinavian fashion group Bestseller variously linked to a potential take-over, but no deal materialised.

The future plans for Massenet and Robertson are not yet known. They founded their companies in the same year and stood down within a day of each other, we expect and hope any future announcement will be similarly co-ordinated (and, of course, that we haven't heard the last of them).

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