FRONTLINE FIRST LADY OF STYLE
Begun in a London flat in 2000, Net-a-Porter heralded a new era in retail and redefined the relationship between luxury and e-commerce. Its President, Alison Loehnis, explains to alice franklin how being big can still mean feeling small
YOU’D HAVE TO cast the net far and wide to find someone who wasn’t familiar with online luxury powerhouse Net-a-Porter. For, surely, everyone knows a stylish dame or two who has taken receipt of a sleek black box stamped with that white logo, in which the season’s latest musthave dress or lipstick is hiding – hand-delivered and meticulously wrapped, of course.
It is here that the sheer brilliance of Net-a-Porter is exemplified. As a user, you know it’s a business, a big business – Net-a-Porter and Italian e-commerce giant Yoox merged in the autumn of 2015 to unleash one of e-tail’s biggest beasts. And yet, through the entire process of browsing, hitting “buy” on your iPhone and receiving the satisfying “DHL out for delivery” confirmation, it seems as if one person has simply popped into an inexhaustible fashion closet, unearthed your beautiful treasure and lovingly wrapped it for you to enjoy.
As I sit speaking to Alison Loehnis, president of Net-a-Porter and its brother, Mr Porter, I ask her how it’s possible to balance exceptional growth while maintaining the highest standards of service that customers know and love. “We’re big behind the scenes to [ensure we] offer the customer an even better experience, but the aim is never to appear big to the consumer,” she explains.
“I always think about the yin and the yang of the business, you know, the black and white of our branding – black with white for Net-aPorter, white with black for Mr Porter – and this balance of high-tech and analogue. Even if you go to the warehouses and you see this incredible automation and robotic cranes picking products, at the end of the day those amazing cranes and all that technology is delivering a product – superfast – but to an individual who is taking time to wrap it incredibly beautifully in black or white boxes, with ribbon, for our customer.”
This is the magic of the brand. It certainly is big business, but there remains a personal touch that carries through and impacts the whole shopping experience. Depending on your spend, you might have a named personal shopper on standby, with your order history at their fingertips, or otherwise a live chat advisor who can seamlessly help you find just what you’re looking for.
I’ve seen first-hand the screens ticking over in the pristine Net-aPorter offices, telling each team that a Balenciaga hoodie has just been sold in France or a pair of Miu Miu booties has hit someone’s