Net-A-Porter branches out into beauty

Net-A-Porter will start selling beauty products on March 20.

The luxury online fashion retailer will begin stocking a carefully selected range of skincare, make-up and hair products as the online retailer continues to expand after celebrating sales exceeding £368 million in 2012, up from £238 million the year before.

The company's marketing director Alison Loehnis told WWD: ''As we started to expand it was a disconnect to not be able to offer beauty. By being at the front lines, we have an enormous amount of insight and exposure to talent and also product.

''The proposition is really where the beauty-meets-fashion aspect and we see it as so symbiotic with the rest of our offerings. As we've developed our content, beauty is such a big part of fashion.''

London-based Net-A-Porter - which was launched by fashion journalist Natalie Massenet in 1998 - will stock products from brands including Aesop, Beauty Works West, Chantecaile, James Read, Natura Bissé, Philip B and Sarah Chapman.

The move comes as other big fashion names have embraced the world of beauty products as a profitable revenue stream, including Burberry, Chanel and Dior. Burberry recently moved production of its signature perfume in house.

Net-A-Porter has grown exponentially in the last year and boasts celebrity fans including Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole.