From pub to fashion hub

Net-a-Porter co-founder Megan Quinn addresses the November Casey Cardinia Business Breakfast. 147275_28

By ANEEKA SIMONIS

THE panache and business acumen that helped spawn $3.4 billion high-end fashion retailer was nurtured in a Queensland hotel.
Megan Quinn, co-founder of the global phenomenon Net-a-Porter, told guests at the November Casey Cardinia Business Breakfast that she was the daughter of a publican and cut her business teeth in the outback bar.
“I lived in pubs from a young age,” she said.
“My dad showed me to lead by example. He was always fair and sometimes needed to be firm.
“I watched him build an authentic relationship with his staff and customers.”
Two of the main principles left by her father were: “You are never too senior to pick up a broom” and “whistle while you work – be grateful that you have a job”.
Ms Quinn said she also worked to the principles of Passion, Compassion, Humour and Style in everything she did, as espoused by one of her favourite poets.
She said it was important to move to the beat of your own drum and to try to get into the hearts and minds of customers and staff.
Net-a-Porter was released to the world in 1999 before online retailing was commonplace.
Unlike many pioneering businesses at the time, Net-a-Porter survived the dot com bust – a feat achieved by constant innovation and two-way communication with consumers.
“Innovation doesn’t need to be extraordinary. You just have to do something different. Something a little beyond what the customer expects to exceed expectations,” Ms Quinn said.
When the high-end fashion retailer – stocking everything from Alexander McQueen to Balmain, Dolce and Gabbana, Fendi and Vallentino – was launched, it was done so with no research into or experience in the market.
Ms Quinn described the early founding years as ‘constructive anarchy’ – explaining that dominant ideologies about the industry were ignored in the development phases in order to create “something different”.
Drawing on the words of late businesswoman Anita Roddick, Ms Quinn said she has long stood by the need for uniquity: “If you do things well, do them better. Be daring, be first, be different, be just.”
But Net-a-Porter was not Ms Quinn’s only entrepreneurial success.
In the lead up to co-founding the billion-dollar business, the strong business woman worked in advertising, started the cleaning company Partners in Grime as well as founded consultancy firm Q&Co.
Ms Quinn is now a non-executive director of UNICEF Australia and Specialty Fashion Group, and an Ambassador for Fitted for Work.
She was named the 15th most powerful woman in Australian retail in 2013 by Inside Retail.
Ms Quinn founded Net-a-Porter alongside three others including friend Natalie Massanet, Ms Massanet’s husband Arnaud, and Ms Quinn’s former husband Mark.