Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
LONDON, United Kingdom — When it was first announced that pioneering fashion e-tailer Net-a-Porter was planning to launch a glossy physical magazine called Porter, there was no shortage of sceptics. Though Net-a-Porter was one of the first luxury retailers to elegantly integrate content and commerce — shortening the path between inspiration and transaction, and allowing them to more effectively engage and expand their audience and generate additional revenue by selling advertising — many wondered why an Internet-based company would launch a print product at a time when competition for readers and advertising dollars remains fierce.
Indeed, some industry insiders suggested that, for Net-a-Porter — which, according to data from Companies House, was marginally unprofitable in 2013 with an operating loss of about £25 million (about $40 million), having invested heavily in both human talent and global expansion — launching a print publication was a distraction from its core e-commerce business.
BoF's Imran Amed sat down with Net-a-Porter Group founder and executive chairman Natalie Massenet, Porter editor-in-chief Lucy Yeomans, and publishing director Tess Macleod Smith to understand the thinking behind the launch and how Net-a-Porter's new print product — which will be published 6 times a year and costs $9.99 (four dollars more than American Vogue) — is doing things differently in the crowded and highly competitive market for women's fashion magazines.
