Widely considered to be one of the most influential figures in fashion and retail, the ad interim CEO and president of the Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, Alison Loehnis, has been a leading force at the pioneering online retailer for more than a decade. Here, she joins Monocle’s fashion director Natalie Theodosi for a sprawling conversation about leadership, balancing creativity and business, nurturing young brands and entering a new chapter in the industry. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
One of the things that's evolved in terms of the business, I think there is increasingly a values driven customer.
I mean, they're coming to us looking for fashion, they're coming looking for beautiful product, but they also really want to understand the brands they're buying into and what is their impact from an environmental perspective.
What are the values behind these brands?
Hello and welcome to the big Interview.
Our guest this week is widely considered to be one of the most influential figures in fashion and retail.
The ad interim CEO and president of the Jux Net A Porter Group, Alison Lowneys.
Prior to joining Net a Porter in 2007, Lowneys spent time in the advertising and marketing departments of companies as varied as Saatchi and Saatchi Hachette, Disney and lvmh.
Combining a deep understanding of creativity and business, she joined Net A Porter in its infancy when many luxury brands were still not convinced about selling online.
Since then, she has helped build the Net A Porter Group, launching menswear site Mr.
Porter and online outlet the Outnet.
She has overseen the company's merger with yux, a public listing and delisting on the Milan Stock Exchange, as well as an acquisition by Swiss luxury group Richemont.
Now, once again, she's steering the business into a new chapter.
As Richemont looks to sell, the landscape might have changed.
Online sales might be slowing down across the board.
Yet Lonis is confident that Net A Porter will remain a market leader.
We look back at the business's journey so far and talk about the founding values, from curation to customer service that remain essential today.
I'm Natalie Theodosi and I spoke to Alison Lonis on the big interview.
I wanted to start by rewinding a little bit and talking about sort of all your journey because you had such diverse experiences from Disney to Saatchi and Saatchi.
And can you tell us a little bit more about that and how they shaped you and your understanding of creativity and luxury?
Yeah, absolutely.