Natalie Massenet

Natalie Massenet – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Natalie Massenet (born 13 May 1965) is a British-American businesswoman and fashion entrepreneur. She founded the luxury e-commerce pioneer Net-a-Porter and later co-founded a venture capital fund. This in-depth article explores her life, her innovations in fashion and tech, her leadership style, and her most memorable quotes.

Introduction

Dame Natalie Sara Massenet DBE (née Rooney; born 13 May 1965) is one of the most influential figures in fashion and retail over the past two decades. Net-a-Porter, the luxury fashion e-commerce site that transformed how people shop for high fashion online.

Her journey from journalist to tech-fashion entrepreneur, and later into venture capital and mentoring, shows a willingness to reinvent and push boundaries. She has been honored with a damehood for her contributions to British fashion and retail.

Below is a deeper look into her life, career, impact, voice, and the lessons her path offers.

Early Life and Family

Natalie Massenet was born Natalie Sara Rooney on 13 May 1965 in Los Angeles, California. Robert “Bob” L. Rooney, was an American journalist (and later film publicist), and her mother, Barbara Jones, was a British model for Chanel and a stand-in for Sophia Loren.

She spent much of her early childhood in Paris, before returning to Los Angeles in 1976 when her parents divorced.

In her youth, she worked in some modest roles: in a menswear shop in Los Angeles after high school, and later spent a year in Tokyo working as a model and stylist.

She studied English Literature at UCLA, where her academic training sharpened her communication and critical thinking skills.

Career & Achievements

Natalie Massenet’s career is notable for bridging journalism, fashion, e-commerce, and venture investment.

Journalism & Early Fashion Work

Her early career began in fashion journalism. In 1993, she became the Fashion or at Women's Wear Daily (WWD) in New York. Tatler, assisting Isabella Blow and forming valuable industry connections.

Her time in journalism sharpened her sense of aesthetics, trends, storytelling, and the interplay of commerce and style — a foundation she later used for Net-a-Porter.

Founding Net-a-Porter & Disrupting Luxury Retail

In 2000, Natalie Massenet founded Net-a-Porter in London, launching it from her flat in Chelsea.

The model was initially resisted by designers and luxury brands, who were skeptical of selling fashion online.

Over time, Massenet expanded the Net-a-Porter group: launching The Outnet (off-price designer deals) in 2009 and Mr Porter (menswear) in 2011. Porter Magazine, a print/digital fashion magazine, was also launched under her guidance.

In 2010, she sold 18% of Net-a-Porter to the Swiss luxury group Richemont for ~£50 million. September 2015, she sold her remaining stake in Net-a-Porter (merging with YOOX) and stepped down as executive chairman.

Net-a-Porter under her leadership grew into a multi-hundred million sterling business with global offices and fulfillment centers.

Leadership in Fashion Institutions & Venture Capital

After leaving Net-a-Porter, Massenet continued influencing fashion:

• In 2013, she became Chairman of the British Fashion Council (BFC), driving London Fashion Week and UK designers’ global reach. She served until 2017.

• In 2017, she joined Farfetch (an online luxury fashion platform) as non-executive co-chairman.

• In 2018, she co-founded Imaginary Ventures, a venture capital firm focusing on retail + technology opportunities.

Through Imaginary Ventures, she has backed brands like Glossier, Good American, Reformation, denim start-ups, and other D2C / fashion tech companies.

Massenet is known for her ability to see patterns, trends, and change—attributes she attributes partly to optimism and a mindset of transformation.

Personality, Style & Values

Natalie Massenet is often described as visionary, optimistic, and trend-obsessed. Some of her key personal traits:

• Optimism & future thinking — She sees change as opportunity rather than disruption.

• Pattern recognition & curiosity — Early in her career she was trained in observing trends and seeing what’s next.

• Hard work & immersion — She has said she “has a hard time switching off” and that she is always thinking.

• Commitment to positivity — She often says that “positivity is like a muscle: keep exercising it.”

• Cross-cultural sensibility — Her life across Paris, Los Angeles, London, and Tokyo gives her a global view of fashion and technology.

Her style is also brand-aware: she blends editorial fashion sensibility with commercial pragmatism and is known to embrace both digital and physical fashion channels.

Famous Quotes by Natalie Massenet

Here are several notable quotes that reflect her mindset, values, and approach:

“When I’m working, I have a hard time switching off, and when I’m not working, I have a hard time thinking of ever wanting to work again.” “I’ve taken the love of fashion from my mother, and journalism from my father.” “Contrary to popular belief, I’m not always trying to stand out.” “I think fashion is actually very good training for being in the tech world, because it’s all about moving on to the next thing, looking for the next thing, not getting stuck in the past.” “Positivity is like a muscle: keep exercising it, and it becomes a habit.” “I’m an accidental entrepreneur.” “If you want success, be unique.” “People ask if I walk around and pinch myself. Yes, I do.” “My personal ambition remains the same – to be creative, to be modern, to stay one step ahead, to enjoy life.”

These quotes illuminate her passion for creativity, self-awareness, ambition, and optimism.

Lessons from Natalie Massenet’s Journey

Natalie Massenet’s path offers many takeaways, especially for aspiring entrepreneurs, creatives, and cross-disciplinary innovators:

1. Merge content & commerce
   Net-a-Porter succeeded by making shopping feel editorial, not just transactional. She taught the fashion world that storytelling and retail can integrate.

2. Stay ahead by pattern recognition
   Observing shifts, consumer behavior, technology trends — and then acting early — is central to innovation.

3. Optimism is a discipline
   Her emphasis on positivity suggests that mindset matters as much as strategy in long journeys.

4. Don’t fear reinvention
   She has moved from journalism → fashion e-commerce → fashion institutions → venture capital, showing flexibility.

5. Global & cross-cultural outlook
   Her international background equipped her to see opportunities beyond borders, vital in fashion and tech.

6. Resilience under skepticism
   Many criticized the idea of selling luxury online in 2000 — she persisted and proved naysayers wrong.

7. Scale with care
   She balanced growth with brand integrity, expanding into menswear, beauty, print, and off-price without losing the core identity.

Conclusion

Natalie Massenet is more than a fashion entrepreneur — she is a bridge between style, technology, and entrepreneurship. Her founding of Net-a-Porter shifted how luxury is sold; her later institution work and venture investing help shape the future direction of fashion tech.

Her life demonstrates the power of creativity, optimism, and reinvention. If you like, I can prepare a timeline of her major milestones, or compare her trajectory with other fashion tech pioneers like Tory Burch, Rebecca Minkoff, or Emily Weiss. Do you want me to do that?