Net-a-Porter Founder Joins Farfetch as Co-Chairman

According to announcement first made on Instagram on Feb. 28, Natalie Massenet has announced that she will be taking up the position of non-executive co-chairman at the fashion e-commerce platform Farfetch, effective immediately. The news comes nearly a year-and-a-half after Massenet’s surprise exit from Net-a-Porter, the fashion e-tailer she founded in 2000, ahead of its merger with Italian rival Yoox.

Farfetch connects consumers with a curated global network of luxury boutiques and brands which use the platform to link online inventory with inventory in their physical stores and deliver services like click-and-collect and in-store returns. Farfetch is now the world’s top luxury online shopping destination measured by traffic, outperforming competitors including Yoox, Net-a-Porter and Neiman Marcus, according to data from web analytics firm Alexa. In her new role, Massenet will help Farfetch develop its brand, a weakness for the platform player and one of the areas in which Net-a-Porter excels.

Total Retail’s Take: Massenet’s appointment comes at a critical time for Farfetch, which is reportedly preparing for an IPO. The company has been on a hiring spree in recent months, appointing former Net-a-Porter executive Stephanie Phair to the newly created role of chief strategy officer in November, and Jeffery Fowler as president of Farfetch North America in September. In May, Farfetch closed a $110 million Series F round, at a valuation of around $1.5 billion. To date, the company has raised over $300 million from a group of investors including Condé Nast International, IDG Capital Partners and Vitruvian Partners.