Once upon a frosty New York Fashion Week, Federico Marchetti, founder of Yoox and chairman and CEO of Yoox Net-a-Porter Group, got stranded in JFK with Franca Sozzani, former editor of Vogue Italia, Anna Dello Russo and Giovanna Battaglia, two larger-than-life Italian fashion editors. After 36 hours of failed attempts to fly home to Milan, the foursome did what any self-respecting fash pack would do and headed back to the city to have one last fabulous supper. “All those legends together for that long in an airport!” Marchetti chuckles down the phone as he recalls the trip – just one of many adventures he found himself on with Sozzani over the years.

The duo hit it off immediately, owing to a mutual appreciation for pragmatism in the workplace. “She was very straight to the point, as I am,” says Marchetti. An initial meeting to discuss how the two Italian power players might benefit from one another over a decade ago turned into "Vogue Talents" – a platform to champion young design stars – and a friendship that saw them travel from Dubai malls to Damien Hirst exhibitions for business and pleasure. “There was a kindness as well as a frankness,” he shares. So, when Sozzani’s son, Francesco Carrozzini, called Marchetti in the summer of 2018, 18 months after the death of his mother, and proposed a new kind of collaboration in celebration of Sozzani, Marchetti’s answer was an unfaltering “yes”.