Meet Alison Loehnis of Yoox Net-A-Porter Group

“My entire career has been about balancing creativity and commerciality,” says Alison Loehnis, the ad interim CEO of Yoox Net-A-Porter. Loehnis has had a varied professional trajectory, which has encompassed stints in the worlds of photography, advertising, magazines, entertainment and luxury, at companies including Saatchi & Saatchi, Disney and LVMH. “What I’ve discovered along the way is that the two aren’t mutually exclusive – you don’t necessarily have to be in a design studio to be creative, and nor do you have to be only on the finance side to be business-minded.”

When she joined Net-A-Porter in 2007, as vice president of sales and marketing, she stayed true to that philosophy. “I’ve always been focused on how you bring a product to life through storytelling, with an emphasis on digital opportunities in my more recent roles,” explains the American-born executive, who was promoted to the role of president-in-season following the announcement of the Yoox and Net-A-Porter merger in late 2015, and was named ad interim CEO in October 2022.

In her current role, Loehnis says data is king and is key to all her decision-making. “But there’s a huge amount of instinct at play as well,” she adds. “This is a business of head and heart, and allowing the two ample space to work in sync is the most successful formula.”

Loehnis has been responsible for ensuring a smooth transition both internally and externally following the merger. “Our company has been through a lot of change, but I view that as an incredible source of energy,” she says. “The key is to make sure everyone is aligned in understanding the end goal – there’s no such thing as over-communication. It’s about empowering the teams by leaving space for experimentation, for questions and open dialogue.”

As the leader of an e-commerce brand that has historically been known as a first mover, Loehnis understands that taking an agile but considered approach to the adoption of new technologies such as AI is crucial. Her customers are increasingly demanding (“When you compare the younger generation of shoppers with people who were buying 10 or 20 years ago, the expectations are completely different – they want a completely seamless digital service”), but that isn’t a reason to rush in to trying new things for the sake of it. As she explains, “the litmus test is whether something new will actually make the customer’s life easier.”

Related Story

Her overall focus, says Loehnis, is on “anticipating the needs of the next generation of luxury-fashion consumers,” which includes leading the way in the industry-wide push for sustainability. “We have a role to play in influencing change in an industry that has historically been very wasteful, so transparency around ethics and values is vital,” she explains, highlighting recent initiatives such as the launch of the company’s first ‘care and repair service’, which aims to minimise the volume of clothes going to landfill.

For Loehnis, staying hands-on remains an important part of seeing the big picture. “The best career advice I’ve ever received is that ‘retail is detail’,” she says. “From product selection to customer service, the small stuff matters.”

Related Story

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qa3RqZyrq5KWx6Kt0WeaqKVfqrhwvMSop6WdXaWus8DInqpompGvrqK%2BjJqrZq%2Bfp7hwrZNtb21xZGiCcK3Loqqopl2hvKa0zaKqZqGeqbKzwsiermg%3D