The former Net-a-Porter and British Fashion Council boss, Dame Natalie Massenet, ended her relationship with Erik Torstensson, the founder of Frame denim, after 14 years. Now he has responded by hitting her with a custody lawsuit.
News broke in August that Massenet is reportedly suing Torstensson for “breach of contract” and is alleging the businessman led a “double life” of rampant drug use, prostitutes and affairs.
Torstensson has now responded in mid-September by filing a custody lawsuit against Massenet accusing her of being an unfit parent to their son. His lawyers are alleging the fashion boss once overdosed on MDMA at Glastonbury Festival and would sometimes “lash out physically” against her ex-partner when she had been drinking.
The dramatic split has sent shockwaves through the fashion world, with British-American millionaire Massenet well known for her previous roles in the UK fashion industry.
Erik Torstensson and Natalie Massenet on the day she received her damehood in 2016
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Massenet, 60, and Torstensson, 47, share a seven-year-old son whom they welcomed via surrogate in 2017.
The couple was frequently seen together during public appearances at high-profile events, such as the 2022 Vogue World fashion show and a 2023 Goop and Gucci dinner.
Torstensson was present during Massenet’s investiture ceremony, where she was presented with the Dame Commander Insignia, in 2016.
But the once-high-powered fashion couple have fallen to pieces. Here’s what you need to know about them both.
A fashion-business star is born
Natalie Massenet with Anna Wintour in 2011
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Dame Natalie Massenet has always had a close proximity to fame and fashion: born Natalie Rooney in 1965, her father was American journalist-turned-film publicist Robert “Bob” L. Rooney and her mother was Barbara Jones, a British model for Chanel and film stand-in for Sophia Loren.
Massenet initially grew up in Madrid and Paris before moving to Los Angeles when she was 11. Her mother was a “free spirit” who left the family to return to Paris soon after the Los Angeles move. “That was really tough,” Massenet told WSJ in a 2022 interview.
As a young woman, Massenet attended UCLA and studied English Literature. After university, she moved to Tokyo for a year, where she followed in her mother’s footsteps by booking modelling jobs and also working as a stylist. Next, she assisted at the Italian magazine Moda, where she worked with the then-emerging photographer Mario Testino.
From here, she forayed into fashion journalism, working at Women’s Wear Daily (WWD) and Tatler. Here, she worked as the assistant to fashion legend Isabella Blow, before going freelance in 1998.
Natalie Massenet speaks onstage at attends Glamour’s 23rd annual Women of the Year awards 2013
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In 2000, she founded Net-a-Porter from her flat in Chelsea. Massenet’s first husband, French hedge fund manager Arnaud Massenet, helped her raise the £1.2m start-up costs. The company officially became profitable in 2004, when it also won the best fashion shop award at the British Fashion Awards. By 2010, Net-a-Porter was valued at £350 million.
In 2011, after 15 years of marriage, Natalie and Arnaud Massenet announced their divorce. They share two daughters, Bella, 24, and Ava, 18.
When Massenet was appointed chairman of the British Fashion Council in 2013, she went from winning British Fashion Awards to running them. The role put her in charge of steering London Fashion Week and overseeing the Council’s activities to promote British fashion design in the UK and overseas.
In 2015, she stepped down from Net-a-Porter ahead of its merger with Yoox group. At this time, Net was valued at £1.5 billion.
Natalie Massenet meets Erik Torstensson
Natalie Massenet and Erik Tortensson in 2013
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Natalie met Erik Torstensson when his fashion agency, Saturday Group, worked on the branding strategy for Mr Porter, Net-a-Porter’s spin-off site for men. At this point, Massenet was still married to her first husband, Arnaud.
In Torstensson’s custody lawsuit, he alleges Massenet began their affair on a flight to Milan in 2009 when she turned to him and said “kiss me”. He also alleges they would have sex in her car outside her family home and again in her car on a family holiday in Ibiza.
Torstensson was born outside Stockholm in what The Times described as “modest circumstances”. He grew up to be a skateboarder and semi-professional dancer, which he said informed his relationships with women. “Every night I went through this intense relationship with my dancing partner. It made me comfortable around women. I’m proud that I’ve always had lots of female friends,” he told The Times.
As a young man, he wrote to 240 advertising agencies requesting internships. He eventually worked for husband-and-wife creative team Trendsetter, in Stockholm, and Levi’s, before undertaking work experience at Wallpaper* magazine in London.
Here, he met business partner Jens Grede, and the pair founded their multi-media fashion marketing agency, Saturday, in 2003. Their first proper client was H&M. In 2010, they made an unsolicited pitch to Net-a-Porter to help launch Mr Porter. In 2022, Massenet recalled his pitch in her WSJ interview: “The i’s dotted, the t’s crossed, the dream, the machine, and I was like, Wow, this is perfection! I can see it! It needs to happen!”
Erik Torstensson and Jens Grede pose with models for a Frame photoshoot, 2014
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In the same interview, Torstensson added: “Long before we got together romantically, I had this enormous business crush on this person.” The pair became a couple within a year in a half.
In 2012, Torstensson started Frame, the denim company beloved by supermodels like Gisele Bündchen and Gigi Hadid. In 2022, it had sales of $200m. In 2017, Torstensson and Massenet welcomed a son via surrogate.
Now, in 2025, the once-happy couple appears to be falling apart. Massenet is reportedly suing Torstensson for “breach of contract”, claiming that the businessman led a “double life” of rampant drug use, prostitutes and affairs for multiple years and conned her out of $95 million. Torstensson claims in his lawsuit that he contributed $20 million towards funding their lifestyle.
