The Swiss luxury group Richemont has been known to handle various luxury “maisons” such as Cartier, Dunhill, IWC, Piaget and Van Cleef & Arpels. In a recent piece of luxury news, it has also acquired pioneering web-based fashion retailer, Net-A-Porter.
Net-A-Porter was founded by Natalie Massenet ten years ago. She worked as a fashion journalist in women’s magazines and was awarded an MBE honor by the Queen of England in 2009. She currently holds the position of Chief Executive in Net-A-Porter and has 600 employees in London and New York.
Prior to the acquisition, Massenet already holds 18% of the website’s shares while Richemont itself owns one-third of the luxury website’s business. Net-A-Porter’s estimated worth is 350 million pounds and it seemed to be recession-free when it posted a 234% increase in pre-tax profits in the 12 months leading to January 2009. Last year’s annual sales were valued at 120 million pounds.
Online retailing has been garnering popularity in the luxury retail business. Though you can but an 18 euro pack of socks in Net-A-Porter, it is also possible to purchase a 16,600 euro handbag while sitting in front of a computer. Net-A-Porter has 300 brands on its turf including luxury fashion brands Jimmy Choo, Stella McCartney and Givenchy. This is what makes Richemont’s acquisition of Net-A-Porter a notable piece of luxury news.
Tags: Luxury Group, Luxury News
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