Who will be part of The Online Fashion 100 in 2010?

LONDON, United Kingdom — Last year, the online fashion community in London was abuzz when Leon Bailey Green and London’s Independent newspaper co-published the ‘Online Fashion 100,’ a list of the most “Inspirational, Interesting, and Influential people in the Online Fashion Industry.”

Today, BoF has the exclusive scoop on a few of the names that will appear on this year’s list, due to be published on Monday alongside expert commentary from Hilary Alexander of The Daily Telegraph and Brent Hoberman of Lastminute.com fame.

So without further ado, here’s a sneak peek at the Online Fashion 100 for 2010.

It should be of no surprise that James Bilefield & Dylan Jones of Conde Nast Digital and GQ, Nick Knight of SHOWstudio, Nish Kukadia of SecretSales.com, and Simon Cowell & Sir Philip Green of Arcadia and Sony, have all made the cut.

One notable addition to the list this year is Johann Rupert, Chairman and principal shareholder of Richemont, who is on the list alongside our next BoF Fashion Pioneer, Natalie Massenet. She sold Net-a-Porter to the Swiss luxury goods group earlier this year for £350m. Indeed, investors like Mr. Rupert are included on the list for the first time, acknowledging the essential support that their capital provides to the development of the online fashion ecosystem.

That said, the Online Fashion 100 is more of an art than a science due to the subjective basis upon which it is created, a fact which Green says is a necessity.

“I really believe in keeping the list diverse and inclusive,” he explains. “The only way to maintain that is to keep it subjective with my choices, some of which were whittled down if unchosen by judges. These are people who I have watched — directly or indirectly— through their work over the past year, or have come to my attention after being mentioned by industry professionals I respect.”

The complete Online Fashion 100 will be published on Monday, 21 June 2010 on Leon Bailey Green and The Online Fashion Agency.

Net-a-Porter screenshot | Source: Net-a-Porter

LONDON, United Kingdom — It’s official and finally confirmed. Net-a-Porter, the world’s pioneering and leading luxury ecommerce retailer has been acquired by Richemont, which was already the largest shareholder in Net-a-Porter prior to the announcement of the transaction this morning, valuing the business at a whopping £350m.

Natalie Massenet, Net-a-Porter’s Founder and Executive Chairman has long been a friend and supporter of BoF, so not only are we delighted that she and her founding team have deservedly cashed in on all their hard work over the past ten years, but also because, with the backing of Richemont, there is a chance that many of BoF’s dreams and ideas for Fashion 2.0 can now become a reality.

Natalie Massenet told The Business of Fashion this morning: “The timing is right for us. The company has reached a natural point where it is capable of enormous growth. We look forward to working with Richemont in this next chapter.”

And, perhaps this makes Richemont the biggest winner of all. Having recognised the potential of Net-a-Porter’s content-meets-commerce model early on, it now has the most powerful luxury fashion retailing platform at its disposal at a time when the entire retail model and operating system of the fashion industry is being redefined.  The potential synergies and opportunities are enormous, not to mention the access Richemont now has to the top minds in the luxury online retail space.

Indeed, Massenet said in a press release this morning: “We will be announcing exciting new plans for the business over the coming months. Richemont has completely embraced our vision and strategy since they came on board as a shareholder and together we are going to continue to build the 21st Century model for luxury fashion retailing.”

BoF is very much looking forward to it — and being a part of it.

Read an exclusive and inspiring BoF CEO Talk interview with Natalie Massenet here.

Johann Rupert, CEO Richemont Group | Source: Connectingwatches

Rupert ready to resume the helm at Richemont (FT)
“Johann Rupert said yesterday that he would retake the helm as chief executive of Richemont from April, indicating that the world’s second-largest luxury goods group still expected storms ahead.”

Style bloggers take centre stage (FT)
“Also on the front row… sits a slender, less familiar figure dressed in grey T-shirt, jewelled necklace and tuxedo jacket. Meet Bryan Grey-Yambao, known as Bryanboy to the 215,000 unique users who visit his eponymous blog each day (British Vogue magazine, by comparison, sells just over 200,000 copies a month.)”

Tom Ford’s new focus (The National)
“From his single-handed revitalisation of Gucci to his innovative approach to the aesthetics of cinema, Tom Ford is a man of many accomplishments. However, his greatest achievement may be a much more personal reinvention.”

One step ahead: Prada the world’s most influential fashion label (Independent)
“From simple nylon rucksacks to willfully challenging shoes, one label has always been at fashion’s cutting edge. And that’s to say nothing of the yachts, architecture, art patronage…”

Fashion forward (Business Standard)
“For Singh, fashion is a minuscule part of a larger, more dynamic, and meaningful, world of design. He says, ‘I want to do products that are the very best. I want to achieve quality that one can say is great.’”