Net-a-Porter founder Dame Natalie Massenet is suing her ex, Erik Torstensson (co-founder of the Frame jeans brand) in a civil suit in Los Angeles. And in a series of devastating claims, said he used her connections and money to fund his lifestyle and advance his career, while living a double life.
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The pair started their relationship in 2009 and ended it 14 years later. Torstensson hasn’t yet responded to the lawsuit in which Massanet claims he spent her money on drugs and prostitutes.
The former BFC head said when she discovered what was going on and that he confessed to being a “liar, drug addict, alcoholic, and sex addict”.
She also said that when she met him he “found his target and path toward power, influence and a better life”.
She’s 13 years older than him and said he persuaded her to have a child via a surrogate in 2017 but his secret life continued at the same time.
They lived in her London mansion as well as having homes in the US and she introduced him to key influencers including Anna Wintour, Tamara Mellon, Diane von Furstenberg, and the Beckhams, who were seen wearing his brand.
Massanet said she’s been left “not only heartbroken, but also cash-strapped with his child following the very expensive life that he manipulated her into paying for”.
She claims to have spent more than $95 million (£71 million) during their relationship on their lifestyle “based on Torstensson’s promises to repay her in kind”.
The court papers, which have been seen and reported by several British newspapers, claim they’d agreed she would be the one to fund that lifestyle, invest in his business and share in the returns.
The suit says she wants a “fair equitable return on the investments she made” and compensation for “severe emotional distress”.
