Michael Kliger has steered Mytheresa for nearly a decade, turning the retailer into one of the fastest-growing and most resilient businesses in the luxury-fashion market. Last year he further established the company’s leadership position by acquiring Yoox Net-a-Porter – a rival group that includes Net-a-Porter, Mr Porter and off-price outlets Outnet and Yoox – from Richemont. Kliger is now tasked with overseeing all five businesses and turning Yoox Net-a-Porter around, which has been facing revenue issues for many years. In an exclusive sit-down interview, he shares his ambitious plans and explains why there’s space for all five brands to coexist.

Now that the acquisition is complete, how will you integrate the Yoox Net-a-Porter brands into your business? 
The job is clear. Back of house, we need to become more efficient and leverage what Mytheresa has already [achieved] in IT and operations. There’s a lot to be done because there were some not-so-smart decisions in the past – but that doesn’t matter, we’ll fix it. When it comes to front of house, we need to return to the allure and excitement of assortment, service and marketing. We’re also bringing back high-quality people. We were quickly able to fill some key positions with major figures, including Brigitte Chartrand, who is now Net-a-Porter’s chief buying officer. 

What were some of the issues that led to Yoox Net-a-Porter losing so much of its business?
The key mistake was bringing all the brands together – from Net-a-Porter, which is full-price, to Yoox, which is off-price – and creating one tech platform. It never worked properly, it cost a lot of money and customers were leaving because the IT wasn’t working, leading to revenue and cash issues. Then when [an unforeseen issue such as] Covid or a recession hits, you find yourself in a bad place, making cuts and rush decisions. But being steady is the only way forward; customers don’t want to wake up and hear a different story every day. It might not sound as exciting but being reliable is important. That’s why we clearly said that we want to separate off-price from luxury. This doesn’t mean that we want to sell the off-price brands, they just need a different infrastructure. 

What about differentiating between your core luxury businesses, particularly Net-a-Porter and Mytheresa? Some say that there’s too much crossover. 
There’s a clear strategy to keep them separate. We want as little crossover as possible, so that’s why we’re hiring separate buying, content and marketing teams. The good news is that there is currently only a 10 per cent overlap in customers. Net-a-Porter will always have a bigger portfolio, including new labels that you haven’t seen before. The customer wants to discover more and has a bigger appetite for editorial content, given the brand’s magazine heritage. At Mytheresa, the idea is to find new items from your favourite established brands. It sells exclusive products that you can’t find anywhere else and it has also always been lighter on content. 

Physical activations are going to be very important for both brands but their vibes will be different. The typical Mytheresa event is a beautiful table, a beautiful dinner. The typical Net-a-Porter event is a great party, good music, people coming together. 

Do you foresee growth in the current economic landscape? 
Mytheresa grew by 8 per cent in the first nine months of 2025, so we’re very happy. We’re used to better numbers but it’s a very volatile world and customers want reliability. We rely more on the big spenders but that will hopefully change. As the economy recovers, the aspirational customer will return. What I don’t want is these businesses to grow by becoming broader. They need to be precise and clear about [what they stand for] because if we try to speak to everyone, we might end up speaking to no one. 

Have you noticed any changes in customers’ shopping habits over the past year? 
High jewellery and watches have been successful because people are looking for long-term value. They want to buy superb quality that they can keep for longer. In a time of crisis, stability and true value become the priority. When things are better, like they were in the 1980s, people start to look for more fun and more exuberance. It’s not a dramatic change, it’s just cycles. Will logos return at some point? Absolutely.  

What about the executive changes taking place inside so many luxury houses? Can the vision of a new creative director increase a customer’s desire to shop? 
It’s an opportunity but also a risk because the customer can get confused. “Where is the Valentino or the Balenciaga that I knew?” At the end of the day people are attached to the product – they don’t know who Alessandro [Michele, Valentino’s new creative director] or Demna [Gucci’s incoming artistic director] are, even if the fashion world knows all about them. Customers notice [the shift] immediately and the first two seasons can be tricky. 

So why have houses been so quick to switch their lead designers? 
It’s simply because business hasn’t been good. From 2008 to 2020, brands kept growing, so there were only occasional changes. Now there’s a crisis in China and in tourism, so numbers don’t look good. Still, magic can happen and what we’ll be witnessing in the second half of the year, with more than 10 debuts, will be incredibly interesting. 

You’re known for being the industry’s best host and creating memorable events around the world. Are you thinking of going a step further and forging bigger partnerships with the world of hospitality? 
The real driver is quality – I’m not interested in saying that we have a partnership with a big hotel group. We want to be in the best places in every location that we visit. There are groups, such as Rosewood or Four Seasons, that share the same mindset. But there are also smaller places that get what we’re doing and we want to partner with those companies. It’s not just about someone who has a big yacht. Do they have the same mentality of making people happy? 

Listen to the full conversation on ‘Monocle on Fashion’ here.