YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP, the world leader in online luxury and fashion, is driving forward its innovative buying strategy, combining exceptional fashion and style talent with data-driven insights to curate a perfect selection of luxury products for customers, with the appointment of a new chief buying and merchandising officer for NET-A-PORTER. Lea Cranfield, who re-joins the Group today, is appointed into the newly created strategic role, having previously spent seven years at the company. The senior position unites NET-A-PORTER’s buying and merchandising teams under a single, broader leadership, forming an integrated, dynamic model that enables the Group’s customer-first emphasis.
Lea’s proven skills and original outlook will further cement the Group’s leadership in selective distribution and accelerate its modern approach to buying. Her focus will be on continuing to drive the connection between the impeccable talent of NET-A-PORTER’s buying teams, renowned for their creative and discerning fashion flair, with the precision of data, to curate a finely-tuned selection of products that inspire its global customers and match their desires. As part of this Lea will leverage the know-how of the in-house data analytics team as well as those within the China Alibaba JV, to aid accuracy in predicting trends and deeply understand local preferences.
As a dataphile, I have long believed in the power of analytics in the fashion world to enrich the design, selection and service experience for customers. At YOOX NET-A-PORTER we have pioneered the union of style excellence with the precision of data, carefully finding the balance between human and machine to enhance our curation of the world’s most coveted brands. I am delighted to welcome Lea back to our Group – her innovative mindset matches ours and together we will accelerate our journey to a new era of luxury and fashion buying.
Federico Marchetti, Chairman of YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP
Lea has more than 20 years of experience in international luxury fashion e-commerce and is returning to YOOX NET-A-PORTER, having been with the company between 2011 to 2018. During this time Lea played a pivotal role in the launch and growth of the MR PORTER site and led merchandising and buying planning strategy at NET-A-PORTER. She will report into YOOX NET-A-PORTER Luxury Division President, Alison Loehnis.
