YOOX Net-a-Porter Group S.p.A. is an Italian online

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

retailer created on 5 October 2015 after the merger between Yoox Group and Net-a-porter Group (NAP). Yoox was originally founded by Federico Marchetti in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in 2000, and Net-a-Porter was founded by

Natalie Massenet Dame Natalie Sara Massenet, (''née'' Rooney; born 13 May 1965) is a British-American fashion entrepreneur and former journalist, who founded the designer fashion portal Net-a-Porter. From 2013 to 2017, she was the chairman of the British Fashi ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 2000. Beginning in 2003, Richemont invested in NAP. In 2015, Yoox purchased NAP shares from Richemont and merged with Net-a-Porter to establish the Yoox-Net-a-Porter Group. In May 2018, Richemont acquired the YNAP Group by purchasing 95% of the company's available shares. The combined company has become a global

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manageme ...

player that serves more than 180 countries.YNAP: What we do
ynap.com. Retrieved: 05-09-2017

History

YOOX Group

The name YOOX was created by Costas Constantinou and is composed of the male (Y) and female (X)

chromosome A chromosome is a long DNA molecule with part or all of the genetic material of an organism. In most chromosomes the very long thin DNA fibers are coated with packaging proteins; in eukaryotic cells the most important of these proteins are ...

letters linked by OO, the

infinity Infinity is that which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted by the infinity symbol . Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity was the subject of many discussions amo ...

symbol ∞ or "the ‘zero’ from the

binary code A binary code represents text, computer processor instructions, or any other data using a two-symbol system. The two-symbol system used is often "0" and "1" from the binary number system. The binary code assigns a pattern of binary digits, also ...

, the fundamental language of the digital age". YOOX's concept is to buy up overstocked or unsold items from previous seasons in "a direct relationship"The International Business Awards: Yoox SpA
Stevie Awards. Retrieved: 07-23-2011 from renowned fashion houses "including

Dolce & Gabbana Dolce & Gabbana (), also known by initials D&G, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1985 in Legnano by Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The house specializes in ready-to-wear, handbags, accessories, and cosmetic ...

Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

Gucci Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragrance ...

Armani Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...

and Cavalli"HP Technology Helps Business Growth for YOOX
zdnet.com. Retrieved: 07-23-2011 as well as "manufacturers and authorized dealers" and sell them online at discounted outlet prices. This is to enable "luxury brands to off-load last year's merchandise without undermining their brands or cannibalizing sales at their existing stores". Vintage designer clothing (

Chanel Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...

Dior Christian Dior SE (), commonly known as Dior (stylized DIOR), is a French Luxury goods, luxury fashion house controlled and chaired by French businessman Bernard Arnault, who also heads LVMH, the world's largest luxury group. Dior itself holds ...

etc.) is collected with the help of fashion editor

Polly Allen Mellen Polly Mellen (''née'' Allen; born June 18, 1924) is an American stylist and retired fashion editor. For more than sixty years, she served as the fashion editor at ''Harper's Bazaar'' and ''Vogue''. From 1991 to 1999 she was the creative directo ...

and sold at special occasions. Some fashion designers have created capsule collections exclusively for yoox.com, such as Hussein Chalayan (menswear) or

Alexandre Herchcovitch Alexandre Herchcovitch (, born 21 July 1971) is a Brazilian fashion designer. His designs have been at fashion shows in New York, Paris, London and São Paulo Fashion Weeks. Best known for avant-garde designs and eclectic prints, his trademark sk ...

. In 2006, YOOX Group launched its first online flagship store for Marni.com. Since then, the company has worked with individuals in the fashion and luxury industry in the development of their e-tail strategies, launching websites for brands such as

and

Marni The name Marni originates from several languages, including Hebrew, meaning "rejoice", and Latin as a variant of " Marina", meaning "of the sea". It also has derivations from Gaelic and Swahili. "Marni" and "Marnie" are the two most common spell ...

. In 2007 Yoox began building its own warehouses, as previously goods had shipped directly from the design houses, rather than from Yoox itself. Yoox also began selling additional items beyond fashion, including artwork from artists like Damien Hirst, Mark Quinn and Peter Blake. In 2008, Yoox launched its full-price online menswear retail store The Corner featuring established designer brands and a selection of niche fashion labels from Italy and elsewhere. September 2009 saw the launch of womenswear at The Corner.

Net-a-Porter Group

Net-a-Porter founder

is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born former

journalist with ''

Women's Wear Daily ''Women's Wear Daily'' (also known as ''WWD'') is a fashion-industry trade journal often referred to as the "Bible of fashion".Horyn, Cathy"Breaking Fashion News With a Provocative Edge" ''The New York Times''. (August 20, 1999). It provides infor ...

'' and '' Tatler''. She developed the concept of a magazine in website format where users could 'click' to buy while trying to source product online for a fashion shoot. Having raised the £1.2m (approx $2m) start-up costs with the assistance of her then-husband and co-founder Mark Quinn-Newall, they launched the company from the Massanet's flat in

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an affluent area in west London, England, due south-west of Charing Cross by approximately 2.5 miles. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the south-western postal area. Chelsea histori ...

. In the early days, the operation was so low-key that the company's black delivery boxes were stacked up in the

bathtub A bathtub, also known simply as a bath or tub, is a container for holding water in which a person or animal may bathe. Most modern bathtubs are made of thermoformed acrylic, porcelain-enameled steel or cast iron, or fiberglass-reinforced poly ...

. Initially, designers and investors were reluctant to support Net-a-Porter because it lacked a

physical Physical may refer to: *Physical examination In a physical examination, medical examination, or clinical examination, a medical practitioner examines a patient for any possible medical signs or symptoms of a medical condition. It generally co ...

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

outlet. Massenet recalled the credibility gap in a 2013 interview in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'': "They'd listen and they'd nod and then afterwards they'd say, 'Just tell me one more thing: where is your store?'" However, in 2001, Roland Mouret was persuaded to sell his collection via the website. By 2004, the same year in which it won best fashion shop at the

British Fashion Awards The Fashion Awards, known as the British Fashion Awards until 2016, is an annual ceremony established in the United Kingdom in 1989 to showcase both British and international individuals and businesses who have made the most outstanding contribu ...

, the company was profitable. In 2010, Massenet sold a majority stake in Net-a-Porter to Swiss

luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast to n ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

Richemont for an estimated £50m. She remains an investor and executive chairwoman. At the time it was bought by Richemont in 2010, Net-a-Porter was valued at $533 million. The Outnet, a site focusing on previous seasons' designs at discount prices, was launched in 2009; in 2011, a menswear site, Mr Porter, was established under the stewardship of Toby Bateman who then said: "The original concept around the Mr Porter customer was that he was the man in the Net-A-Porter girl's life." Bateman left Mr Porter in 2019 and was replaced by Fiona Firth as managing director. In 2013 beauty was launched under the leadership of David Olsen. In August 2014, The Outnet launched a partnership with Victoria Beckham to sell items of her clothing to raise funds for the nonprofit organization mothers2mothers to educate women about HIV/AIDS in Africa. The business continues to grow and in 2013 it retailed products from more than 350 designers, attracted more than two million monthly visitors to the site and an average spend of £500 (around $850). Brands it retails include Stella McCartney, Yves Saint Laurent and Diane von Furstenberg. Labels such as Alexander Wang, Yves Saint Laurent and RM by Roland Mouret have created capsule collections specifically for the site. Writing in ''The Observer'' in 2010, Eva Wiseman noted that being stocked by Net-a-Porter is becoming important to designers as it: "not only guarantees new customers but its et-a-Porter'scredibility gives a fashion brand value". As of September 2013, Net-a-Porter employed 2,600 people in the UK, US, and

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, with further offices in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

and fulfillment centres on the outskirts of three cities. In early 2014, Net-a-Porter launched a print magazine called ''Porter'', with an associated app and digital version of the magazine. Some 400,000 copies will be distributed six times a year in 60 countries. Playing off of its name, Net-a-Porter recently added a sportswear section to their website called Net-a-Sporter. The sportswear section of the website was launched in July 2014. When speaking of the addition of Net-a-Sporter to the e-tailer's online roster, the company's President Alison Loehnis said "We spotted a gap in the market for being a one-stop shop for workout wear where fashion meets function and where performance and style are equally valued." In August 2014, Massenet revealed that she originally wanted to call the website "What's New, Pussycat?"

Merger

The combined revenues of the two companies prior to the merger was about $1.4 billion and their websites received a combined 24 million unique visitors annually. The deal was announced in March 2015, and went into effect in September. The combined network reached about 180 countries. The parent company of Net-A-Porter, Richemont, received 50% of the total available shares; however, their voting rights were capped at 25%, giving Yoox the ability to run the company. Yoox founder Federico Marchetti became the group's CEO and Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet left the company after the merger was completed. Net-a-Porter branded taxi London

Distribution

There are seven "logistic centres" in Italy, the UK, the US, China, Hong Kong, and Japan. International warehouses, that serve as hubs, exist in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. Yoox also maintains 20 studios to make pictures of the merchandise with 50 photographers in the UK and the US.

Corporate structure

Backed by

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...

firm Balderton Capital, Yoox was founded as a

privately held company A privately held company (or simply a private company) is a company whose shares and related rights or obligations are not offered for public subscription or publicly negotiated in the respective listed markets, but rather the company's stock is ...

and achieved total

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...

s of £18m by 2009. By the end of 2011 it had reached £29m; in 2015, it reported sales of £41m, "a 68% increase from 2009".Where To Shop For Web Deals
forbes.com. 2009-04-09. 75% of Yoox is owned by

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

with Capital Kiwi (Italy), 360 Capital Partner (Net Partners, Italy) and Balderton Capital (then the European offshoot of Benchmark Capital - now independent), Co-founder Federico Marchetti owned 9% and 16% were owned by senior managers. Yoox went public at the

Milan Stock Exchange Borsa Italiana, based in Milan, is the Italian stock exchange. It manages and organises domestic market, regulating procedures for admission and listing of companies and intermediaries and supervising disclosures for listed companies.italy24.ils ...

in December 2009. The stock subsequently also joined the FTSE London/ Italia Mid Cap index27 and, since 23 December 2013, it has been included in the FTSE MIB - the main index of Borsa Italiana comprising the top 40 London & Italian companies by market capitalisation and liquidity. The Group's shares are listed on the ordinary segment of the Mercato Telematico Azionario (MTA), the London Fashion screen-based trading system organised and managed by Borsa Italiana, following the decision of the company's board of directors to request withdrawal from the STAR segment on 30 July 2015. This decision was prompted by the merger between Yoox Group and the Net-A-Porter Group, the Group's high stock market capitalisation, as well as the inclusion of the stock in the FTSE MIB from 2013. Following the effectiveness of the merger on 5 October 2016, the newly issued shares of Yoox Net-A-Porter Group – resulting from the transaction itself, as well as the ordinary shares already outstanding at that date, were admitted to listing on the MTA with the new ticker "YNAP" and were included in the FTSE MIB index. The company was delisted in 2018. In 2009, the website had "three million visitors per month" and "more than one million items eredelivered worldwide". In 2013, over 1.7 million products were shipped to 53 countries by the group. Yoox's CEO and founder is Federico Marchetti, the head of marketing and sales is Massimiliano Benedetti. Marchetti, who had worked for " Bain & Co. as a strategic consultant,

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1847. Before Bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Gol ...

as an expert in

and as a banker in

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...

" studied economics at Bocconi University in

and holds an MBA from

Columbia Business School Columbia Business School (CBS) is the business school of Columbia University, a Private university, private research university in New York City. Established in 1916, Columbia Business School is one of six Ivy League business schools and is one ...

. The company's US subsidiary, Yoox Corp, is a Delaware corporation with offices in TriBeCa, New York and logistic centres in

. For the U.S. market, Yoox partnered with Port Logistics Group (PLG) of

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

for

supply chain management In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) is the management of the flow of goods and services including all processes that transform raw materials into final products between businesses and locations. This can include the movement and stor ...

, such as merchandise returns, re-packaging and shipping within the United States. The partnership also allowed for "a direct relationship with U.S. designers and U.S. branches of European designers". In spring 2009, Yoox Group announced its plans for an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

at the end of 2009.Yoox Hires Goldman, Mediabanca to Underwrite Its IPO
wsj.com. 2009-03-25. This initial public offering (IPO) was realised at the end of November 2009, being priced at the top of the range of its valuation, and the deal being coordinated by

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

and the

based investment bank Mediobanca Yoox.com was named on ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine's list of '50 Coolest Websites 2004' in the Lifestyle and Culture category. In November 2020, Yoox Net-A-Porter announced Geoffroy Lefebvre as its new CEO, effective from January 2021.

References

{{FTSE MIB companies Online clothing retailers of Italy