Fashion’S Power Duo Crumbles: Natalie Massenet Sues Erik Torstensson In Shocking Socal Scandal

From Red Carpet to Courtroom: A Fashion Fairytale Gone Wrong

Alright, LA fam, buckle up for some serious tea. Natalie Massenet, the hometown hero who basically invented online luxury shopping with Net-a-Porter back when we were still rocking flip phones, just hit her longtime partner Erik Torstensson with a lawsuit that’s got everyone from Hollywood to London buzzing. Filed in a California civil court on Thursday, the suit claims Torstensson’s been living a wild double life - think prostitutes, drugs, booze, and spending sprees that’d make even a Rodeo Drive regular blush.

Massenet, born right here in the City of Angels, has always had a crystal ball for what’s next in fashion. She launched Net-a-Porter in 2000, way before online shopping was a thing, turning it into a blood sport for the elite. But this betrayal? Yeah, even she didn’t see this Malibu-style drama crashing down.

Love, Power, and Frame: How They Built an Empire

Rewind to 2009 - Massenet and Torstensson’s meet-cute happened just before she cashed out big, selling her Net-a-Porter stake to Richemont for a cool $70 million. Torstensson, a scrappy marketing exec and creative director with SoCal dreams, pitched her on Mr. Porter, the men’s digital fashion hub. Sparks flew, and by 2011, after Massenet’s divorce from French financier Arnaud Massenet (with whom she shares two daughters), they became fashion’s ultimate power couple, slaying red carpets from LA to London.

Together, they built Frame, Torstensson’s denim brand that’s partly based in LA, into a superstar magnet. Rihanna, Beyoncé, Gisele Bündchen, Gigi Hadid, and Karlie Kloss all rocked their skinny jeans, and just this week, Frame opened its 19th store at Cross Creek Ranch, right across from the iconic Malibu Country Mart (y’know, that spot where every celeb grabs their overpriced smoothies). According to The Wall Street Journal, Frame’s pulling in close to $200 million a year - not bad for a brand born from a Swedish farm boy’s hustle.

Massenet wasn’t just arm candy, though. She’s been a mentor to big names like Victoria Beckham and Jimmy Choo’s Tamara Mellon, a rare warm soul in fashion’s cutthroat viper pit. Her career kicked off in the ‘90s at WWD and Tatler, and she later chaired the British Fashion Council, even earning a Dame title for her work. But her lawsuit claims all this success made her a target for Torstensson’s alleged schemes for “social clout” and power.

“I trusted him with my heart, my family, and my fortune, and now I’m left picking up the pieces of a life I didn’t even know was a lie,” Massenet reportedly confided to a close friend, as the lawsuit details came to light.

Behind the Glam: A Dark Double Life?

On the ‘Gram, Massenet and Torstensson were #CoupleGoals, living large in their South Kensington mansion (designed by Obama White House fave Michael S. Smith) and a 300-year-old, 12-bedroom Wiltshire estate called Donhead House. They’ve got pads in Amagansett and two connected townhouses on NYC’s East 74th Street, plus a 12,000-square-foot rental while renovations happened. Torstensson even admitted to The New York Times he’s “100 percent living in a bubble” - and thought that was a flex.

But behind closed doors, Massenet’s 2024 lawsuit paints a grim picture. She noticed Torstensson drinking heavily and ghosting at night (they share a son born via surrogate in 2017). Things got uglier with claims of “emotional distance,” weird illnesses like panic attacks and hives, and a January discovery of valacyclovir - a drug often used for herpes. By May, explicit messages and photos allegedly revealed years of affairs, including with someone Massenet knew personally.

When confronted, Torstensson supposedly copped to being a liar, alcoholic, drug addict, and sex addict. The Daily Mail dropped receipts with alleged texts to drug dealers and escort services, plus claims he dropped $500 an hour on prostitutes at the Beverly Hills Hotel during LA work trips. One time, Massenet allegedly caught him buying $700 worth of Ecstasy and cocaine. Talk about a plot twist even Hollywood couldn’t script.

Money, Lies, and Emotional Wreckage

The financial fallout is just as messy. Massenet says Torstensson burned through $95 million of her cash on private jets, vacays, homes, and luxe extras, promising she’d profit from his ventures like Frame and a $300 million stake in Skims (yep, Kim K’s shapewear line, co-founded by Torstensson’s partner Jens Grede, who’s married to Emma Grede, a Kris Jenner connection and co-founder of Khloé Kardashian’s Good American). But the lawsuit claims once the money dried up, he bounced, leaving her “cash-strapped” with their kid.

Now, Massenet’s fighting back, seeking damages for breach of contract, fraud, and emotional distress. A Frame spokesperson kept it short: “Frame and Erik Torstensson have agreed to part ways. This is a personal family matter and unrelated to our business activities.” Meanwhile, Massenet wasn’t available for comment, but her serial-entrepreneur hustle - from Imaginary Ventures backing Skims and Glossier to personal investments like Electragram (co-founded by AIR MAIL’s Graydon Carter) - shows she’s not down for long.

This fashion prophet, who predicted luxury e-commerce before we even had iPhones, somehow missed the storm brewing right next to her. From SoCal to South Kensington, the industry’s group chats are on fire, and we’re all just waiting for the next drop in this Tinseltown-level saga. Stay tuned, LA - this story’s far from over.