YOOX & NET-A-PORTER Both Turn 20 This Month
The year 2000 – or Y2K as it was fondly referred to at the time – not only marked the turn of the century and a new millennium but also a new dawn for luxury fashion. It was the pivotal year in which both YOOX and NET-A-PORTER were born – the first online fashion destinations of their kind. The two companies paved the way for e-commerce, as the pioneering platforms to encourage leading luxury houses to take their first steps online, at a time when the internet was completely uncharted territory. The arrival of both YOOX and NET-A-PORTER in June 2000 changed the way we shop forever, and over the past 20 years, both businesses – now joined together under one group – have continued to shape the course of fashion and beyond.
The name YOOX was derived from the Y and X chromosomes, with the two letters linked with the 00 of binary code. From the very start, YOOX founder Federico Marchetti’s desire to cater to both men and women’s fashion and lifestyle dreams and create a culture of gender balance and inclusivity was woven into the brand’s DNA, coupled with an approach that masterfully brought together human and machine.
YOOX entered the US in 2003, Japan in 2004 and, in 2006, signed a deal with Marni to launch the first online flagship store. Numerous mono-brand online stores for leading luxury brands, including a long-term partnership with the Kering Group to power e-commerce for many flagship brands such as Bottega Veneta and Saint Laurent, followed in the years after. In 2010, before anyone else, YOOX combined RFID [radio-frequency identification] technology and automation in its global techno-logistics platform in Interporto Bologna. From YOOX’s inception, Marchetti’s ability to seamlessly bring together the worlds of technology and luxury fashion with a data-driven approach and a constant eye on innovation set it apart from any potential competitors.
“We will continue to innovate and revolutionize this industry, delighting customers around the globe, and building a legacy to endure
”Federico Marchetti
It was in 2015 that YOOX and NET-A-PORTER joined forces in the most innovative merger in history, becoming YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP (including MR PORTER, THE OUTNET and Online Flagship Stores Division), the world’s leading online luxury retailer, with Marchetti becoming chairman and CEO. Then, in 2018, YOOX NET-A-PORTER was fully acquired by the Richemont Group.
Today, YOOX NET-A-PORTER serves more than 4.3 million customers in 180 countries, with over one billion visits to its sites each year.
“YOOX and NET-A-PORTER both burst into being in June 2000 – timing that today seems like destiny,” says Marchetti. “We united our industry-defining mindsets to create a dynamic, ambitious eco-system of sibling brands with the content, platforms and global reach to thrive in a constantly changing landscape. I’m incredibly proud that our founding sense of adventure, entrepreneurialism and a keen attention to sustainability and communities remain the beating heart of who we are.
“The world of luxury and fashion brims with talent, craftmanship, beauty and compelling stories. We will continue to innovate and revolutionize this industry, delighting customers around the globe, and building a legacy to endure.”
Innovative, liberated and boundary-pushing are three qualities that have defined YOOX since its launch. They are also three qualities that describe Jonathan Anderson, the founder and creative director of London-based luxury brand JW Anderson, which YOOX has collaborated with for the 20th anniversary.
The longstanding YOOX and JW Anderson relationship stretches back for almost a decade, beginning when JW Anderson was one of the first participants in The Next Talents, a showcase created by Marchetti and Franca Sozzani, the late editor-in-chief of Vogue Italia, in 2011. Since then, Jonathan Anderson has become one of the most acclaimed designers in the industry, lauded for his work at both his eponymous label and Spanish fashion house Loewe.
To celebrate YOOX’s 20th anniversary, Jonathan Anderson has looked back through the JW Anderson archives, drawing on familiar themes and codes to create an exclusive capsule collection for YOOX, beyond seasons, trends and genders.
As YOOX and NET-A-PORTER celebrate their 20th anniversaries, at the center of the celebrations are our customers, who are the most integral part of the story. Thank you for joining us for the past 20 years. Here’s to 20 more.
Shop JW Anderson x YOOX