Natalie Massenet Former model who built a brand on persuasive femininity

A former model and fashion editor, she was assisting Isabella Blow at the Sunday Times when her then husband, Arnaud Massenet, showed her the laptop computer that would inspire her to launch an online boutique. Her glamorous deportment, transatlantic accent and elegantly coercive manner have been integral to her success.

She had no tech expertise in those early “persuasion years”, as she described them to a Vogue journalist shortly after the sale of Net-a- Porter to Richemont in 2010, which valued the company at about ?350m.

But Massenet had a deep understanding of fashion trends and magazines, “a Rolodex of contacts” (it was only 2000, remember) and excellent shoes.

“She was first in – and best dressed,” observed Chris Colfer, the former chief executive of Dunhill and senior manager at Richemont, who was one of her first investors. Net-a- Porter turned a profit within four years, and her former fashion colleagues have rued their initial scepticism ever since.

Style aside, Massenet’s influence has been built on a unique brand of femininity that stood out in the male corporate world of Britain during her early years. Visitors to her vast, tidy, monochromatically furnished offices in west London note the uniform chic of her staff, the positive affirmations over office doorways - “a shared purpose and a positive attitude is an unstoppable force” – and her focus on female empowerment.

Social media provided her perfect medium.

Massenet, who describes herself as being “very binary” – believing in both ley lines and top lines – quickly adopted Twitter and Instagram to promote the brand’s identity.

She tweeted the launch of Net-a-Porter’s print magazine with #incrediblewoman; the merger with Yoox to create a €3.5bn business with #createthefutureoffashion, and a much “regrammed” whoop of office euphoria.

Her latest innovation, The Net Set - an attempt to harness the commercial potential of online “sharing” - was accompanied by #youcansitwithus, an inversion of the Mean Girls quote.

Yet Massenet’s managerial emphasis on “fun” and sisterly cheerleading has never overshadowed the fact that she is boss. Her decision to step down from the group was foreshadowed by her reluctance to take a secondary role at Yoox/Net, where she was expected to lead the marketing division.

Philippe Fortunato, chief executive of Givenchy, which joined Net-a-Porter in 2009, suggested her resignation was inevitable, saying: “You can’t have two roosters in the coop.” As to Massenet’s future, some wonder whether a return to publishing may be in line. She is a former fashion editor at Tatler, and it is tempting to speculate that she might return to Cond? Nast, which is relaunching style.com as an ecommerce site.

Her in_ uence will still be powerfully felt. She remains chairman of the British Fashion Council until February and is a tireless champion of British designers.

“She’s an influencer,” says designer Erdem Moralioglu, who went as Massenet’s date to the Met ball in May and was an early beneficiary of Net-a-Porter promotion. As Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council, said this week, it is merely a question of where that influence will be brought to bear next.