I saw the list that Net-A-Porter posted of the most wanted pieces from 2000 until today. Twenty-five years is impressive. A brilliant idea for a business that changed how people shop. In 2000, people had to go to a store to see, shop, touch, and try, but along came Natalie Massenet, who understood that the second generation of the internet was ripe for e-commerce.
As always, women tend to build businesses when there are voids in their lives. Massenet’s frustration with sourcing products for a photo shoot sparked the idea of a website in a magazine format that would also sell the clothes. Much has evolved, but the business remains at its core, rooted in her original idea.
I remember my first purchase on Net-A-Porter. It was a red bag that I had to have. I remember when it was delivered (it was by mail then) and the beauty of the black box, the bow, the entire experience made me feel special. A true luxury experience that only got better with the one-day concierge delivery service.
A month after buying that bag, I saw it at Barneys. I had not seen it anywhere else before. What was interesting was that the Barney’s bag was more expensive than the one I bought from Net-A-Porter. E-commerce had yet to catch up with the money exchange.
The ability to shop online and have your package in a day, and easily ship it back, has changed everything. Net-A-Porter eventually added other categories, had to make changes, merged with YOOX, and of course Farfetch, Ssense and others launched as basically the same platform. Luxury is hurting, brands sell DTC, the Saks roll-up is not looking pretty, and retail is undergoing change, again.
The next 25 years should be pretty interesting, actually, the next two years should be.
