Natalie Massenet is quite possibly the nicest woman in fashion. A shocking statement, considering 'nice' and 'fashion' don't normally mix. Add 'successful' to that, and it's almost unheard of. But that's Massenet.

Since setting up Net-A-Porter, the online fashion website selling designer clothes alongside fashion-forward editorial, she's become one of the most important women in e-tail.

Credited with knowing what women want before they want it, her company trades in 170 different countries, has over 1.3 million active buyers and readers, a powerful customer base of cash-rich, time-poor women, and Massenet herself enjoys front-row status at all the fashion shows. In short, there's no need for her to be nice anymore. Except that 'nice' has always been what's important.

As a former fashion editor at Tatler, she was only too aware of how the industry worked before branching out on her own. "Being considered nice in fashion is one of the best things ever. The industry can be a bit of a competitive hotbed, because it's very small and so many people want to be involved in it. So that creates a lot of tension," smiles the chic 43-year-old, who was born in LA to an American journalist father and British mother who modelled for Chanel.

"So one of my goals in starting this business was to create a place that people would want to come to work on a Monday morning, and a place where customers would love too."

"Fashion can be a bit of a competitive hotbed because it's a very small industry and so many people want to be involved in it. That creates a lot of tension."

Eight years on, she certainly appears to have achieved this. Since its inception, Net-A-Porter's UK turnover has doubled each year (£55m in 2007), its US operation is set to outgrow the UK in the next 12-18 months, and it is enjoying triple digit growth in markets outside these.

Selling luxury clothes online was a relatively new concept in 2000, which neither the fashion industry, nor consumers, were convinced by, partly because 'a number of businesses had rushed to the punch line too early, so people discounted the whole area', she says.

But Massenet was undeterred. Having taken enough phone calls from frustrated magazine readers looking to buy clothes featured on her fashion pages not yet in shops, she felt there was a strong online market for women wanting to access fashionable clothes immediately.

Natalie Massenet doesn't like to dwell on tough times or low points at Net-A-Porter, insisting everything can be turned into a positive. But she does admit there have been 'challenges' along the way.

Like convincing people that Net-A-Porter was a viable business. "It was frustrating because you know you have an amazing opportunity to do something and then people don't necessarily get it. But it just means you have to be patient, or explain it better."

"We were competing against every store on the planet, so we had to create something that was so compelling it would tempt women away from their favourite shops."

Getting luxury labels to sell online was another difficult task. "They took a lot of convincing. I had to smile a lot and beg a lot and show amazing pictures. Little by little they started to say yes," she says, with the 'visionary' Tamara Mellon of Jimmy Choo and Anya Hindmarch leading the way. Now 160 luxury brands sell online at Net-A-Porter.

She also had to refinance the business numerous times during its growth years, which has left her with just a 17 per cent stake. Yet, despite all this, Massenet has never doubted the business's potential, insisting: "I had very ambitious plans for it from the beginning and really thought it was going to be huge."

Going live on 10 June 2000 when Massenet was pregnant is still a high point, though she laughs: "I didn't know anything about being a mother or having a business." Armed with resolute ambition and resounding enthusiasm, she knew she needed two things to make the business a success – a luxury buying experience and fantastic customer service.

"We were born competing against every store on the planet, so we had to create something that was so compelling it would tempt women away from their favourite shops, or at least migrate some of their spend to us online. We have some of the best customer service in the world, so the more people get to know us, the more they realise we're a great place to shop."

This continues today, with a same-day or next-day delivery service, a just-as-easy returns policy, and ultra-chic packaging (trademark black boxes with layers of luxury tissue paper and silk ribbon) enticing 6,000 new customers a month, as well as keeping loyal ones happy.

Delivering this is down to an air-tight operation with 400 staff scattered across London and New York, including 'an amazing senior team of executives', a chief operating officer and newly appointed chief executive whose mission it is to make Net-A-Porter 'the destination for women worldwide to find out what to buy and then buy it'.

Massenet herself is also at the office daily (the top floor of Whiteleys shopping centre in West London), focusing on the marketing and content side of the business, and working with all the different teams to 'make sure we're fashion forward'.

But after 7pm, rather than wining and dining like other fashionistas, she's off home to her French hedge fund manager husband and two daughters. Her social life has taken a hit to achieve work and life balance, she admits, adding matter-of-factly: "It's just a matter of prioritising what's important to you."

Massenet's lack of social life is women's gain worldwide, with more focus put on new projects like Net-A-Porter's recent expansion into lingerie and sunglasses, and the launch of new site www.theoutnet.com early next year, the outlet for Net-A-Porter.

In fact, inside the warm and cosy world of Net-A-Porter, there's no such thing as a credit crunch, with autumn-winter stock flying out of the warehouses and profits as strong as ever. With a business model strong enough to ride an economic storm, isn't she ever tempted to shout 'I told you so!' at original doubters? "It's not my style," she laughs, "and everyone else admits it first anyway."

But then Massenet has never needed anyone to tell her what a strong business proposition she has. She's a woman who silenced critics with hard graft, conquering the fashion world click by click, and smiled along the way. Now what could be nicer than that?

For more information on Net-A-Porter, or to view their clothes selection online, click onto www.Net-A-Porter.com

By Barbara Walshe