things you didn’t know about

NET-A-PORTER.COM

On our New York kitchen counter you can find New York Magazine’s newest Fall Fashion Issue with an entire article dedicated to Net-A-Porter.com. I thought it would be a fun read, but a few pages in and I was already confronted with a couple of things I had never known and you probably didn’t either. So, since I’m in a rather endowing mood, I’ve enlisted a few new finds for you to discuss during your next drink or dinner date (with friends obviously. Probably not a great conversation piece when you’re accompanied by a male).

– The company was set up back in 1999 by Natalie Massenet on her kitchen table. Her idea: luxury doesn’t have to be incompatible, especially during the rise of the ‘Internet’ phenomenon.

– Natalie’s mother was a model for Chanel and her father was a well known PR manager in Hollywood.

– After giving the magazine world a go for a few years (her biggest dream) she hoarded a cordial 1,2 million pounds from her then boyfriend and a few friends to start Net-A-Porter.com.

– The next big step came in 2002: Chloé’s mother company, named Richemont, invested in the site taking it to a whole other lever.

Loss! Bet you didn’t know that did you?

– In 2010 Natalie decided, together with a few of the very first investors, to sell a large chunk of the shares to Richemont. In that deal, the company was valued at a mild $533 million, of which Natalie earned $76 million. She didn’t keep the money all to herself by the way. She invested $23 million back into the company to still keep a small share – opposite Richemont’s 93%. And she stayed a part of the company as the ‘executive chairman.’

– Everywhere in the world, the sales figures increase as the night falls. The company refers to this anomaly as ‘wine o’clock.’

– The persona of the company is referred to as “She.” She is 38 years old, travels 6 to 9 times a year, is very fashionable and is “all over the place.”

– And here for the unthinkable: the site makes absolutely no profit! They’re pretty much good at everything they do, except making money. In 2012 they made a loss of about 27 million pounds, in 2013 it was 13 million and last year they made an estimated 10 million pound loss. Loss! Bet you didn’t know that did you?

– Though they made a bit of a profit at the beginning of the year, Richemont is fed up and has plans to merge with Yoox.com. A deal that is estimated to be around 1.5 billion dollars.