Yoox和NAP合併之後 Net a Porter founder steps down ahead of perfect fit Yoox deal
Described as “the perfect fit”, the combination of luxury online retailers Yoox and Net-a-Porter was finalised on Thursday — but with one imperfection: the sudden decision by Net-a-Porter founder Natalie Massenet to resign just hours earlier on Wednesday night.
由兩大奢侈品電商Yoox與Net-a-Porter(NAP)“天造地設”的合併大戲塵埃落定，但有一點美中不足：就在發佈會開始前幾個小時，Net-a-Porter創始人娜塔莉氠斯內(Natalie Massenet)卻突然宣佈辭職。
“We view this departure as a clear loss for Yoox/Net-a-Porter,” said Chiara Battistini, luxury goods analyst at JPMorgan, as the news broke. “Ms Massenet was the vision behind NAP’s strong success, being actively involved in the management of the online group and relationships with brands.”
“她的離職，我們認爲顯然是新公司Yoox/Net-a-Porter的損失。”摩根大通(JPMorgan)奢侈品行業分析師奇婭拉巴蒂斯蒂尼(Chiara Battistini)獲悉消息後這樣評價道。“馬斯內女士是NAP功成名就的大功臣，在對這家電商的管理以及搞好與知名時尚品牌的關係方面可謂鞠躬盡瘁。”
Ms Massenet, who founded Net-a-Porter in 2000 — the same year that Federico Marchetti set up Yoox — had stayed at the helm of the business after selling it in 2010 to Switzerland’s Richemont in a deal that valued the London-based group at 350m.
馬斯內女士於2000年創辦NAP，費德里科氠切蒂(Federico Marchetti)也於同年創辦了Yoox。2010年，總部位於倫敦的NAP以3.5億英鎊賣給瑞士歷峯集團(Richemont)，但馬斯內女士一直執掌NAP帥印。
But her decision to refrain from taking up the executive chairman role at the newly-merged group — Richemont agreed in April to sell Net-a-Porter to Yoox for shares — bears the hallmarks of a personality clash.
但她做出不擔任新成立公司的執行主席（歷峯今年四月同意出售NAP股權於Yoox）的決定，明顯是因爲彼此（她與馬切蒂）性格水火不容。
Ms Massenet said in a statement on Thursday morning: “Having joined forces with Yoox group, the company will be bigger, stronger and superbly well-positioned under Federico’s leadership to lead the industry and create the future of fashion.”
馬斯內女士在不久前的聲明中說：“與Yoox實現強強聯合後，在馬切蒂的領導下，公司的規模與實力會更上一層樓，將會做行業的領頭羊，並開創時尚業未來新格局。”
It was Mr Marchetti who had described the merger as “perfect” — through the creation of the world’s largest online retailer focused on luxury brands. At that time, Ms Massenet was “looking forward” to their future and ebullient about the group’s conjoined power to “create the future of fashion”.
正是馬切蒂把兩家公司的合併視爲“珠聯璧合”——理由是此舉創建了全球規模最大的奢侈品電商。當時的馬斯內對前景充滿了無限憧憬，對兩家公司合併後“開創時尚行業新未來”的實力信心十足。
However, the corporate marriage between the quiet, autodidactic Italian tech entrepreneur Mr Marchetti and the flamboyant, charismatic former journalist Ms Massenet, who is also president of the British Fashion Council, raised eyebrows as soon as the deal was struck.
但是，當兩家公司達成合並協議後，以性格沉穩、自學成才的意大利科技創業者馬切蒂與個性張揚、魅力四射的馬斯內（這位昔日的記者同時又兼任英國時裝協會(British Fashion Council)主席）爲首的兩家公司實現“聯姻”後，就引發了業界質疑。
“She’ll have resigned by Christmas,” said one person familiar with the situation on the day of the merger announcement. Many fashion insiders agreed that her resignation was only a question of time.
“馬斯內肯定會在聖誕節前辭職。”宣佈兩家公司合併的當天，一位熟悉內情者說。時尚界很多權威人士都認爲她的辭職只是時間問題。
Further cause for speculation followed in May, when, during a lunch with the FT, Mr Marchetti reiterated his ultimate control of the group, as well as the pair’s strikingly different managerial styles.
到了今年五月，坊間的猜測甚囂塵上，與《金融時報》的午餐會期間，馬切蒂除了重申兩家公司截然不同的管理風格，還強調自己對合並後的公司擁有終決權。
Pointing out that there would be only one boss of the new group “and that’s me”, he went on to describe himself as unpopular at Yoox, which runs ecommerce sites for Giorgio Armani, Valentino and
他指出新公司只能有一位老大，“而且這個人就是自己”，並繼而稱自己與昔日在Yoox一樣不受員工待見。Yoox爲阿瑪尼(Giorgio Armani)與華倫天奴(Valentino)等時尚品牌管理電商網站。
“They don’t like me,” he said of his colleagues. “But that’s OK. I don’t need them to like me.”
“員工不喜歡我。”他這樣說道，“但這無關緊要，本人不需要他們喜歡。”
His bullish attitude stood in stark contrast to the culture of shared passion engendered by Ms Massenet at Net-a-Porter, where her popularity and charismatic leadership style were considered integral to the company’s success.
他的執拗性格與馬斯內執掌NAP時倡導的“共享激情”企業文化形成了鮮明對比，馬斯內的巨大聲望以及魅力型領導風格是NAP成功的法寶。
Her sororal cheerleading spirit seemed at odds with Mr Marchetti’s results-driven dogmatism — the day after the Lunch with the FT interview appeared in print, she posted on Instagram an image of a heart captioned with an entreaty to be nice to one another. The image was subsequently removed.
她與員工情同手足、打成一片，似乎與馬切蒂只注重結果的獨斷專行顯得格格不入——與《金融時報》的訪談見諸報端後的第二天，她在Instagram上展出了一張帶有“懇請彼此心心相印”字幕的心形照片，但該張照片隨後就被刪除。
While the merger is not jeopardised by Ms Massenet’s departure — and, indeed, Yoox shares rose 5 per cent on Thursday — her absence leaves the group far more vulnerable, partly because of the loss of her networking skills in the world of design.
雖說馬斯內的離職並沒有影響合併後的公司——沒錯，Yoox週四的股份漲了4%——但她的掛印而去卻讓新公司顯得越發外強中乾，部分原因就是馬斯內也隨之帶走了自己在設計界的人脈。
In conversations with the FT this year, many British-based designers, among them Erdem Moralioglu, Christopher Kane, Roksanda Ilincic, Roland Mouret and Victoria Beckham have testified to her vital role in helping steer their brands into profitable international fashion houses.
在與《金融時報》今年的訪談中，包括埃德姆莫拉里奧格魯(Erdem Moralioglu)、克里斯托弗凱恩(Christopher Kane)、蘿克桑達伊林契奇(Roksanda Ilincic)、羅蘭穆雷(Roland Mouret)以及維多利亞貝克漢姆(Victoria Beckham)在內的諸多英國設計師都親口承認馬斯內在向國際知名品牌公司推介自己品牌時居功至偉。
Those relationships, developed over her 15 years at Net-a-Porter, may prove near impossible to replicate, and much of the lustre, glamour and élan she brought to the company leaves with her.
過去15年執掌NAP時積攢的這些人脈資源將來幾乎不可能再重現，她的諸多榮譽、魅力以及激情都隨着她的掛職而去而基本煙消雲散。
Moreover, while the Yoox-Net merger creates a business with a market value of 2.3bn and the biggest fashion e-commerce site in the world, Net looks increasingly vulnerable within the fast-emerging digital landscape.
而且，雖說合並後的公司市值達到23億英鎊，併成爲全球規模最大的時尚類電商，但在迅猛發展的電商行業，NAP顯得越來越不堪一擊。
Apple’s Ian Rogers has just been appointed head of digital strategy by LVMH, which suggests the luxury giant is at last preparing to launch comprehensively into the e-commerce sector. And Condé Nast will soon unveil its newly branded , a luxury e-commerce platform in which the company is reputedly investing 100m.
來自蘋果公司的伊恩圠燦斯(Ian Rogers)最近剛被路威酩軒集團(LVMH)任命爲數字戰略部負責人，此舉表明這家奢侈品巨擘終於決定全面進軍電商業。康泰納仕(Condé Nast)新成立的奢侈品電商網也即將揭開神祕面紗，坊間說公司投資1億英鎊巨資創建了這家電商平臺。
What next for Ms Massenet? She sits on a sizeable fortune.
馬斯內接下來會何去何從？她如今可是坐擁鉅額財富。
She was reported to have earned 50m from the initial sale of Net-a-Porter to Cartier owner Richemont in 2010. Now, she stands to receive a payout of more than ㄠ 洀, according to FT calculations.
媒體報道她2010年把NAP賣給卡地亞(Cartier)品牌所有者歷峯集團時，進賬5000萬英鎊。如今據《金融時報》估算，她這一次有望進賬1億多歐元。
To walk away from her “baby” must have been difficult, nonetheless, especially since she has occupied a near-unrivalled position of authority and influence within the industry for years.
然而，與自己費盡心血打造的公司說再見肯定難捨難分，尤其是她多年來已在業界擁有無人撼動的權威與影響力。
“As for my own future, my entrepreneurial drive is as strong today as it always has been, and my passion for innovation will continue to be my guide in business,” wrote Ms Massenet in her statement.
“至於我個人的未來，我的創業勁頭依然不減當年，而且我對創新的熱情將繼續爲自己在商業領域指明道路，”馬斯內在聲明中這樣寫道。
Some of the wilder speculators have suggested that her departure may see her returning to publishing: Net-a-Porter’s bimonthly print magazine Porter recently won Print Product of the Year at the British Media Awards, and she has made no secret of her passion for journalism and editing.
更有人大膽預測：她離職後，可能重返出版界：Net-a-Porter的雙月刊雜誌《Porter》最近榮獲英國媒體獎的年度最佳紙質雜誌獎(Print Product of the Year at the British Media Awards)，她毫不掩飾自己對記者行業以及採編業的偏愛。
Could a move back to Condé Nast, where she once worked on Tatler, be on the cards? It’s tempting to see a directorial role for the tech entrepreneur at a company currently reinventing itself as a digital player. We watch this space.
她是否會重回康泰納仕出版集團(Condé Nast)？她曾在《Tatler》雜誌幹過。讓科技創業的領軍人物執掌正轉向數字界弄潮兒的出版界，肯定精彩紛呈。讓我們拭目以待吧。
