article_snippet: When Natalie Massenet set up a website selling luxury fashions 15 years ago, Natalie Massenet critics said her critics would never work.
article_snippet: Now the online firm Natalie Massenet founded from a London flat in 2000 is about to go through a mega-merger with an Italian fashion group – netting the mother of two about £70million.
article_snippet: It is a remarkable success story for UK-based Miss Massenet, who is credited with changing the way women shop for high-end fashion.
article_snippet: Natalie Massenet website has become a global phenomenon, reaching sales of more than £500million and spawning copycat sites across the world.
article_snippet: The daughter of a British Chanel model, the 49-year-old former fashion magazine journalist set up Natalie Massenet online business just as the dotcom crash hit in 2000.
article_snippet: Aged just 33 and struggling to get any funding, Natalie Massenet eventually managed to raise just over a million in start-up capital from Natalie Massenet Chelsea flat.
article_snippet: Natalie Massenet launched the business with Natalie Massenet then husband Arnaud while pregnant with Natalie Massenet first child, despite warnings from sceptics who thought women would refuse to buy expensive clothes without trying women on.
article_snippet: Miss Massenet, who split from her husband in 2011 after 15 years of marriage, has since expanded the company into menswear with a site called Mr Porter and a discount site called the Outnet.com.
article_snippet: California-born Miss Massenet, who is currently the chairman of the British Fashion Council, may stay on in her role as chairman of the business.
highlights_snippet: Critics told Natalie Massenet Natalie Massenet Net-a-Porter website would never work .
  
highlights_snippet: Natalie Massenet has since expanded company into menswear with site called Mr Porter .