One women I really enjoy is Natalie Massenet, Founder and Executive Chairman of net-a-porter.com.
Born in LA in May of 1965, Massenet is the daughter of an American Journalist and a Chanel model. After spending her early years living in Paris and Madrid, Massenet moved back to LA aged 11 to live with her father after her parents divorced, where she attended a private school her father could only just afford to send her to.
A Journalist herself, Massenet began her career in fashion at Women's Wear Daily where she was a Fashion Editor. Later she worked for Tatler in London where she came up with the idea for net-a-porter.com.
"I couldn't believe you could be sitting in your apartment in London and be clicking on a Victorian jacket in Wisconsin, and that someone in Wisconsin could send it to you!", she told British Vogue.
Net-a-Porter was launched in June of 2000 from Massenet's Chelsea apartment where she and 15 staff members waited in bedrooms packed full of designer fashion. (Can you imagine what they must have felt when the first sale came through? I'd be doing my happy dance and popping the bubbly.)
It was the first online store to sell luxury clothes for women - revolutionary, considering women before this had only ever purchased clothing they had seen and felt in person.
Net-a-Porter didn't turn a profit until 2004 when Massenet accepted the 'Best Shop' award at the British Fashion Awards. Later that same year the online store also won the UK Fashion Export Award for Best E-Tailer.
In 2010 Massenet sold the company for £350 million to Swiss luxury goods conglomerate Richemont.
Massenet remains the Executive Chairman at net-a-porter.com where she manages over 600 staff world wide. The website attracts more than two million hits a month with an average spend of £500.
Thank YOU Natalie Massenet for making the shopping experience for people like me who don't enjoy shopping in-store more enjoyable. I love clothes shopping online. You are the reason fashion is so accessible.
*Image courtesy of UK Glamour Online
