Disruptive ideas are ones defined as concepts that create a new market and value network and eventually disrupt an existing market and network, displacing established leaders and alliances.
When I first met the Founder of Net-a-Porter, Natalie Massenet, and saw a business plan for a revolutionary site that entailed the then unheard-of concept of selling clothes online, I knew that it would be successful. I re-invested at various stages when no other investor believed women would buy luxury clothing online, because I had already been doing it offline more than a decade before. It changed the retail landscape forever.
When I launched CoutureLab as a laboratory of ideas, celebrating craftsmanship, and nurturing artisans, I wanted to re-examine the meaning of value – go back to basics and explore timeless luxury. CoutureLab was an experiment to see how the market would respond to this ethos and a chance to invest in brands and entrepreneurs others who believe in the same thing. Today, CoutureLab has evolved into the 20 companies that survived.
In the past two decades, technology has helped us achieve incredible things. In the retail sphere, it’s allowed us as consumers to have our pick of the best, as well as to make more meaningful and personal purchases. But as much as it’s helped us progress, we also need to remember things of intrinsic value.
We’ve launched CarmenBusquets.com to simultaneously celebrate luxury fashion and creative entrepreneurship through technology as well as the simple luxuries we shouldn’t take for granted: time, privacy and a peace of mind. It doesn’t need to conflict.
The great companies we house uphold the philosophies, vision and principles upon which CoutureLab was founded and we hope that they inspire you to follow your own path.