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Carmen Busquets knows how to get luxury e-commerce back on track

The investor and co-founder of Net-a-Porter shares her outlook on the state of the industry, where it went off course and why she’s selling her closet.
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Photo: Andres Oyuela

What does 30 years in the luxury fashion industry teach you? For Carmen Busquets, it’s that you can’t take anything with you when you go.

The Venezuelan-born entrepreneur, who was both co-founder and founding investor of Net-a-Porter in 2000 and has invested in major companies, including Farfetch, Cult Beauty, Lyst and others since, is embarking on a purge of sorts. She’s collected fashion pieces from emerging designers, sustainable brands and artisans over the years. Her next project will be to sell them off, starting next year. All proceeds will go to charity — a focus for Busquets is philanthropic work, and just about everything she does these days is for the Carmen Busquets Foundation, which she is in the process of setting up in the US.