Net-a-Porter’s Lisa Aiken on how she eats, sleeps and breathes fashion

London College of Fashion graduate Lisa Aiken worked at several online luxury retailers before joining Net-a-Porter in 2011. She is currently fashion director of the e-commerce site.

Your job didn’t exist five years ago. What does a fashion director do on a daily basis? “I work closely with our buying team of 12 people. My job is to pull them together to give them one vision for the season – what are the trends, key pieces and what brands we should be going for.”

Another big part is sourcing new designers for the site. How do you spot talent? “Social media has made it a lot easier to go scouting. Yes, the traditional platforms still exist, such as showrooms, but Instagram has done for fashion what YouTube has done for music. It puts designers on a platform where they can have exposure much earlier on in their careers. It’s a leg up in an extremely competitive environment.”