Former Net-a-Porter marketing chief replaces founder Natalie Massenet as group president and eyes m-commerce push
The Net-a-Porter Group’s founder and president Natalie Massenet has been replaced by former marketing chief Alison Loehnis following her unexpected departure earlier this year.
Massenet departed mid-way through the £1bn merger with Italian fashion group Yoox. The combined entity will create the world’s largest online luxury retailer but reports emerged at the time that Massenet was not fully on board with the plans, despite being slated to stay on as executive chairman.
However Massent's replacement Loehnis spoke highly of the potential for the Yoox Net-A-Porter Group, saying it is now a “company without boundaries.”
Loehnis joined Net-A-Porter in 2007 as vice president of sales and marketing, before becoming president of Net-A-Porter in 2011.
“I am delighted and honoured to be taking on the role of president of The Net-A-Porter Group. The opportunities within the business for growth, development and innovation - values that have always been at the heart of our work - are now without boundaries as part of Yoox Net-A-Porter Group. I look forward to leading our talented teams as they continue to set the standard for luxury retail online,” she said.
Loehnis has been behind a number of successful ventures at Net-a-Porter including the launch of its sportswear arm Net-a-Sporter and the launch of an Asia-Pacific website.
M-commerce is to be her focus of in the new role given over half of the online fashion retailer's traffic now comes from mobile. This will also likely see Loehnis turn her immediate attention to Net Set, the brand’s recently launched shoppable social network which Massenet had high ambitions for.
Loehnis will report to Federico Marchetti, who runs the combined group.