[6] Natalie Massenet, née Natalie Sara Rooney, was born in Los Angeles on 13 May 1965,[11] the daughter of American journalist-turned-film publicist Robert “Bob” L. Rooney and Barbara Jones, a British model for Chanel, and film stand-in for Sophia Loren.

[12] She spent her early childhood in Paris, moving back to Los Angeles in 1976 with her father, after her parents divorced.

[13] Her first job after graduating from high school was in a menswear shop in Los Angeles and Massenet then attended UCLA, studying English Literature.

She then moved on to Tatler in the UK, where she worked as assistant to Isabella Blow and her colleagues included Lucy Yeomans.

[6][14] Massenet founded Net-a-Porter in 2000 in London as a website in magazine format for selling designer fashion.

[17] Initially the business operation was so low-key that Net-a-Porter's trademark black delivery boxes were stacked up in the bath.

[19] As of September 2013, Net-a-Porter employed 2,600 people in the UK, US and Hong Kong, with further offices in Shanghai and fulfilment centres on the outskirts of three cities.

[20] Ahead of a merger with the Yoox Group, Massenet stepped down as the executive chairman of Net-a-Porter in September 2015.