Ambassador Terracciano gives opening remarks, ahead of the event with Federico Marchetti and Francine Lacqua
Federico Marchetti, Chief Executive Officer of YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP (YNAP) and Francine Lacqua, Editor-at-large of Bloomberg TV, were today the special guests at the seventh event in the Italian Imaginative Innovators (Triple I) series, a programme of monthly conversations between journalists and Italian entrepreneurs, organised by the Italian embassy in London. The series was launched in May 2016 with the aim of stimulating discussion between visionary members of the Italian business community and specialists in economics and finance from the world of media.
Ambassador Terracciano opened the event congratulating the two protagonists of the seventh Triple I edition: “The entrepreneurs featured in our conversations provide excellent examples of best practice for those looking to expand successfully into international markets and who are open to the prospect of using unconventional business models to do so.” He pointed out that Triple I guests have demonstrated how unconventional business models can be a powerful response to a sluggish global economy.
Federico Marchetti described his entrepreneurial adventure to an appreciative audience, explaining how he had ensured the success of YNAP through an approach that was highly unorthodox at the time in the Italian business context. In 2000, in a display of extraordinary vision, Marchetti founded YOOX and started developing a previously non-existent business concept, online fashion retail, which was initially met with great scepticism by the biggest brands. However, Marchetti’s insight, advanced business models and innovative approach to luxury e-commerce paid off, and led a paradigm shift in the sector of luxury clothing, an industry that had previously been resistant to the digital revolution. Pioneering the omnichannel model for luxury brands, Marchetti became a veritable game changer in the world of business creating the world’s leading online luxury fashion retailer, with over 2.8 million active customers today in more than 180 countries, and net revenues of Euro 1.7 billion in 2015.
The discussion was expertly guided by Francine Lacqua, a welcome return guest to Triple I after her participation in the meeting in June.
