Natalie Massenet

Words of Natalie Massenet, founder and CEO of Net-a-porter, in her interview for the American Vanity Fair in September. I love this woman, she fascinates me. I always read her interviews, and I'm surprised because behind that facade of a serious businesswoman, one can glimpse someone with a very fine and intelligent sense of humor.

For me, this lady has had a more significant influence on how we understand and consume luxury today than any of the French houses that create it. She alone convinced the world that what it needed was a virtual store where one could spend thousands of euros on clothes you couldn't touch. And boy, did she have an accurate vision. I remember, a year and a half ago, chatting with the son of the creator of a well-known Spanish fashion brand. He told me that he had convinced his father that it was better to invest in creating a mid-low range sub-brand than in creating a powerful online store for the main brand because, according to him, expensive products don't sell online. I looked at him in bewilderment, and to my surprise, I could only mumble, and...haven't you thought about net-a-porter?, "what do you mean?" he snapped (heirs are not usually characterized by their intellectual brilliance, are they? fulfilling stereotypes, my friend. Olivia, you better get your act together!), that it has proven the opposite of what you just said.

Net-a-porter, Luisa via Roma, Shopbop... the list is already quite long. It's true that in Spain we are not as screen-consumers as they may be in other countries, but I myself am an example that yes, medium-high range clothes are bought online. Yes, we continue to advance; let's not spend all day assuming we live in the digital dark ages. Even my father-in-law has learned to use Skype to call us in San Francisco, come on! Let's not be the first to sink ourselves. Everyone, like Natalie, let's believe in ourselves above all and be more positive.