The Business of Fashion Podcast

Ssense’s Krishna Nikhil and 2PM’s Web Smith talk strategies for making physical retail exciting at The BoF Professional Summit: What’s a Store For? The role of physical retail has changed drastically over the past few years — particularly amid the pandemic — as customers turned to digital channels and brands sharpened their focus on e-commerce. But, physical stores remain an important touchpoint. During this month’s BoF Professional Summit “What’s a Store For?” Krishna Nikhil, chief merchandising officer & chief marketing officer of Ssense, and Web Smith, founder of 2PM, unpacked the different ways brands are transforming their stores to be more than just a place to conduct transactions. That means thinking about a physical retail space as a means to provide experiences and entertainment that are relevant to their audiences and continue to prioritise service.“It’s so important to think about how you create something that is meaningful for the customer,” says Nikhil. “For us, that really started with this idea of ‘how do we reinvent how commerce takes place in the store?’”Nikhil and Web Smith, founder of retail media company 2PM, join BoF’s founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed for a discussion about making stores a grounds for immersive experiences without diluting their purpose of obtaining customers.Ssense has streamlined the trying-and-buying process to be more efficient by introducing an appointment service so that customers can spend their time in-store engaging with the cultural programming and the “big moments” the retailer orchestrates — like Virgil Abloh’s 2018 “Cutting Room Floor” exhibition, which recreated his studio in the space. “What we are doing is giving both a great experience with product, but also giving time back to that customer… That time back, is about immersion in all the other experiences that we create in the store,” said Nikhil.Pointing to direct-to-consumer start-up Rowing Blazers, which used only about 30 to 40 percent of the space in its flagship for actual merchandise, Smith says product doesn’t need to dominate a store. “What are the associated things: the moments, the history, the accessories that you were merchandising with — the history of the industry itself?” he said. “What are those things that you would associate with the sale of those products?”As the line between media and commerce increasingly intersects, brands need to present a specific vision of their point of view to the audience they want to attract. “Products are almost commoditised at this point: anyone can make anything. What makes a product unique right now is the person that’s selling it and the audience that they’re selling it to,” said Smith.Related Articles: Tapping Into the Future of Physical Retail — Download the Case Study You Can’t Predict the Future of Retail, but You Can Prepare for It 10 Retail Archetypes for the Post-Pandemic Era Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

BoF’s Tim Blanks speaks with one half of the renowned duo Mert and Marcus about finding new creative avenues.   Renowned fashion photographer Mert Alas — one half of the renowned duo Mert and Marcus — has spent the last four years immersed in the world of gin. While pandemic pivots to new creative ventures have become commonplace, Alas was looking for a new creative outlet long before the current crisis. In crafting his new aromatic gin — named Seventy One after the number of nights it takes to rest the spirit in oak casks — he found many parallels with fashion’s creative challenges. Just like in fashion, gin making has suffered from a focus on speed over quality. True craft requires patience and time, Alas says. On this week’s BoF Podcast, Alas speaks with Tim Blanks about finding new creative avenues and resisting the pressure to produce more and more and more stuff. Alas approached his new gin like any other creative project as a “relentless journey for perfection.” He immersed himself in the process, learning about every step, from the drink’s perfume basis to how many days were required to settle the alcohol. “It became this like a domino effect of ideas and in reality, an experience,” he says. As Alas thought about how he wanted to position his new brand, he spent a lot of time reflecting on the “selfish” nature of the fashion industry. During lockdown, he wanted to create “some kind of an artistic give back,” using Instagram to connect with young creative followers and give them feedback. Creatives should hold on to the time they had during the pandemic to focus on their craft, Alas says. “I was very much on a go, go, go [mentality] for the past 30 years… What I realised [during] the pandemic was that we also never stopped... I was doing a lot of quantity, but now I realise I missed craft.” Related Articles: Christopher Kane’s Pandemic Pivot The Art of the Crisis Pivot – and the Brands Getting it Right How to Pivot Your Skill Set During Covid-19 Join BoF Professional for the analysis and advice you need. Get 30 days for just $1 or explore group subscriptions for your business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Andrew Keith, managing director of Selfridges, discusses the future of the British department store at The BoF Professional Summit: What’s a Store For?The purpose of the store has shifted dramatically in the past few years. But while other department stores struggle to keep up with these changes, Selfridges has established itself as an outlier by doubling down on its physical retail strategy, as highlighted in BoF’s newest Case Study, “Can Selfridges Future-Proof the Department Store?” The British chain has transformed its storefronts into experiential hubs, decked out with pop-ups, restaurants, art installations and even a skateboarding bowl, to try to get as many consumers as possible to spend as much time as possible within store walls.“What we’re creating within the Selfridges stores is a destination,” said Andrew Keith, managing director of Selfridges.”It’s about being able to create a space people want to go to for the day.”On this week’s BoF Podcast, Keith joins BoF’s Imran Amed at Selfridges’ Oxford Street flagship during The BoF Professional Summit “What’s a Store For?” The two chat about how the pandemic has affected the retailer’s face-to-face focus, how the company — rumoured to be in discussions about a £4 billion ($5.6 billion) sale to an unknown buyer — is shoring up its e-commerce channels and what he sees for the fused future of digital and physical retail.The pandemic decimated London tourism, which made Selfridges think more locally about its retail strategy, and in turn, built market share with domestic customers. From Birmingham to Manchester, Selfridges works with local creatives to make every store distinct in a way that engages with the particular place’s needs and aesthetics. “Each of these communities has its own diversity, it has its own entrepreneurial environment around it,” said Keith. “It’s important for us to be able to reflect that.”The retailer may be investing in digital, but it is maintaining its focus on the curated and experiential aspects of its offering across channels, because that’s what Keith says will set Selfridges apart from the seemingly endless e-commerce options. “Some of the pure-play retailers don’t have the same sort of richness that we can create with the fusion of physical and digital together,” said Keith.As Selfridges continues to evolve its retail model, it’s experimenting with circularity, recycling and repair through initiatives like “Project Earth,” where it set targets for materials and partnership shifts, and “Resellfridges,” its resale and rental service. In doing so, the retailer is making fundamental changes to the metrics it uses for success. “We’re not only changing the way people shop, we’re also changing the way we approach business,” says Keith, adding that the company’s focus will shift to more sustainable metrics like longevity of customer lifecycle, balancing margin opportunities, and changing the way it looks at acquisition. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the Covid-19 crisis struck, Karen Walker — known for her offbeat designs that have been worn by the likes of Meghan Markle and Michelle Obama, and carried by retailers such as Barneys and Harvey Nichols — found that she was propelled to shift the way she thought about her business, her mission as a designer and her community. Walker’s home country, New Zealand, battled the Covid-19 pandemic with a swift hand — its citizens saw only five weeks of lockdowns before the virus disappeared from within its borders. Despite the relative brevity of the country’s lockdowns, business owners and brands were still faced with the same existential crises and questions as the rest of the world. Now that people within the country have returned to something close to normal life (just without tourists), Walker notes several shifts in attitude: people want to treat themselves, but they also want to support the nation and local businesses that supported them. More generally, consumers have come out of lockdown more interested in buying products aligned with what they stand for.On this week’s BoF Podcast, Walker joins Tim Blanks in a conversation about dealing with change, defining desire and life on the other side of the Covid crisis.When New Zealand’s prime minister announced the country would go into lockdown in March, Walker had just finalised the next year’s budget. Instead of being able to sit back and do business as usual, she was forced to rethink everything and ask existential questions about her business that would go on to have a lasting impact. “If this goes on for six months or a year, and I really have to fight for this, what am I fighting for? What will my audience miss? What’s at stake? Why should I go into battle for this?” she said.After going through what Walker calls nature’s “forced contemplation,” she stopped thinking of herself as primarily a designer, but rather, a retailer who serves the needs of her community. As part of that mindset shift, Walker abandoned the traditional fashion calendar, for one, because she realised it was more in her customer’s interest to do so. Even though she sees the change as good, it was still unsettling. “Change is uncomfortable, alright, even if you know you have to do it — it’s still an uncomfortable place.” Walker said.Walker has observed transformations in what consumers think about and look for when shopping. First, they want to know what retailers stand for and how it aligns with what they care about. Second, they want products that are both beautiful and functional. “They want it to be a good product, not necessarily a new product. That speaks to how it’s made, how it’s designed, how it functions, the cost of its making — the unseen costs on people and planet,” said Walker. “Those are very much in people’s minds, and that’s what motivates me too. I’m not interested in just making more and more stuff.”Related Articles: Stella McCartney on the Business of Sustainable Design The Year That Changed the World Vanessa Kingori on the Reinvention of British Vogue Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

British Vogue’s editorial transformation over the past four years has been widely documented, but changes on the business side are equally noteworthy. Vanessa Kingori, British Vogue’s first female publisher (who works alongside editor-in-chief Edward Enninful), has taken more of a consultative role with advertising clients, focusing on the health of their brands, not just reach and impressions. Today, brands are more interested in how they can create human connections and innovate through Vogue’s channels, rather than just buying space on the printed page. On the latest edition of The BoF Podcast, Kingori talks with BoF’s Imran Amed about the publication’s new business strategy, and how it ties in with the magazine’s focus on diversity, inclusion and sustainability. Cover launches still matter, but Kingori and Enninful are focusing on reflecting the multifaceted lives of their readers. With that, has come a change in how the magazine highlights and thinks about women. “The big shift here is [Edward] is taking the magazine from being about these beautiful dresses, to being about the woman in the dress,” said Kingori. “She wants beautiful things, but she also has a lifestyle. She has a career. She has other aspirations, she wants to accessorise a dress.” Though everyone seems to be ringing the alarm bells, according to Kingori, print is not dead. “There is no digital marketing that you could do that would be more effective. Our print magazine is our biggest marketing tool, and our social media platforms are our biggest agents,” she said. The title hasn’t shied away from making brands feel uncomfortable by bringing up societal issues, and it’s actually been of commercial benefit to British Vogue. “The reality is, we have increased our sales revenue and our digital audience in every single way, in every single metric since we started. Audiences are ready for those difficult conversations,” said Kingori. Related Articles: Vanessa Kingori’s Commercial Reboot of British Vogue Meghan Markle’s Vogue: When Activism Is More Fashionable Than Fashion What Anna Wintour’s Big Promotion Means for Condé Nast Join BoF Professional for the analysis and advice you need. Get 30 days for just $1 or explore group subscriptions for your business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Milan-based, American designer speaks with Tim Blanks about how he plans to introducing the cult brand’s enduring values to a new global audience. When Lawrence Steele was named creative director at Aspesi in November, it was a home-coming of sorts. The American designer consulted for the Milan-based label for 13 years before departing in March 2017 to join Marni as associate creative director. Now, he’s been tasked with introducing the cult label founded in 1969 by Alberto Aspesi to a new global audience, while remaining true to its distinctive identity and ethos which Steele says are suited for this moment of reflection and reset. On this week’s episode of The BoF Podcast, Lawrence Steele speaks with editor-at-large Tim Blanks as he debuts his first collection for Aspesi: Steele is looking to technology to help Aspesi get big international traction, while retaining its niche insider vibe. The brand debuted on WeChat and Weibo in April, and expects to launch on Tmall in September. “I think today with the world, how it’s opened up so vastly through technology, there’s something quaint about [Aspesi] being a small brand, but there’s something very exciting about taking the values of the brand out into the world.” When it comes to fashion, retaining an authentic brand identity can’t mean standing still; it’s a constant balance to honour traditions and remain relevant. “It’s very easy if you step back and you think about the long run to see what lasts and to gauge what’s happening,” said Steele. “But you have to have the culture of being able to look at it from above and not being caught up in the world of what fashion really is, which is change, because fashion by nature is change, it’s the fashion of the moment.” Steele sees the pandemic as an opportunity to reset the fashion industry and do away with wasteful season cycles and excessive production. “My hope is that what we draw from this is that we have found other creative ways of communicating, of reaching each other, of creating through the technology that was around us all along.” Related Articles: Lawrence Steele, Master of the Long Run In Milan, a Return to Tradition #BoFLIVE: Engaging the Gen-Z Shopper Join BoF Professional for the analysis and advice you need. Get 30 days for just $1 or explore group subscriptions for your business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Valentino creative director and London menswear designer discuss their process reimagining the Roman brand’s signature rockstud. The Valentino rockstud has become a brand icon. To mark its tenth anniversary, creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli teamed up with British menswear designer Craig Green to create a sneaker adorned with the Valentino symbol. It was a collaboration forged over Zoom during the pandemic, with Piccioli based in Rome and Green in East London. On this week’s episode of The BoF Podcast, editor-at-large Tim Blanks speaks with Piccioli and Green about creative collaboration and reimagining design icons. When collaborating, designers’ differences can often offer the best source of creative inspiration, says Green. “A collaboration works best when it’s from two separate worlds coming together and seeing what can be born out of that.” Shifting meaning while upholding tradition has been Piccioli’s mantra.  The new sneaker aims to honour Valentino’s heritage and traditions, but also find the power in reinterpreting an established symbol. “I want to use the same objects, the same signs, but I want to give them a different meaning,” says Piccioli. Above all, collaboration is an education. “I think with every collaboration and with every person that you work with, especially working with someone like Pierpaolo, you learn a lot,” says Green. “You kind of inevitably change in the future what you plan to do.” Related Articles: Can Valentino Bring Radicalism to Its Romanticism? Valentino Delivered the Digital Experience the Industry Has Been Waiting For The BoF Podcast: Craig Green says, ‘Fashion Can Come From Anywhere’ Join BoF Professional for the analysis and advice you need. Get 30 days for just $1 or explore group subscriptions for your business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jane Clay, strategic director at workplace design consultancy Gensler talks to BoF’s Imran Amed about how offices of the future will play a critical role in creating a sense of culture, community and belonging. Almost overnight, the pandemic fundamentally altered the way we work, forcing both employers and employees to embrace the idea of working from home. But now, as vaccination rates rise, offices re-open and employee expectations around flexible working models grow, business leaders everywhere are asking the same question: what’s the role of an office in a post-Covid world? This week on the BoF Podcast, Jane Clay, strategic director at workplace design consultancy Gensler, joins editor-in-chief Imran Amed to discuss why offices are more than just functional workplaces. Office spaces are crucial for young employees to benefit from mentoring and guidance through shadowing their more experienced colleagues. “If you have a lot of people in your organisation who are quite young and may need a lot of mentoring and a lot of looking after, in the sense of their growth and learning, then it might not be such a great idea to not have them around you [in an office],” said Clay. Clay recommends taking a more holistic view, establishing how shared spaces can creating a sense of culture, community and belonging. “Whether you are in fashion, whether you are in art and design, whether you are in fintech, and actually whether you are legal, I think no matter what arena of work you are in the office will be that totem for culture and connection.” As organisation leaders plan to redesign their office, Clay said sustainability must be factored into decision-making from the start. “There is something in the idea of how do we reposition real estate? Why build something new when you can reposition something old?” she said. “There is a relevance in the old that also has a great story when it comes to sustainability.” While Zoom calls have been democratising during the pandemic, the gradual return to the office in a hybrid working model is likely to create challenges. “While we have all been in our own little boxes [on Zoom calls], we have all had the same experience, but as soon as you start to have some in and some out [of offices] we have to be very mindful,” Clay said. “This means communications and behavioural protocols really have to be looked at.” Related Articles: How Fashion Brands Are Making Remote Work Permanent Camilla Lowther on Building a Career as a Fashion Creative Selling ‘Office’ Clothes to the Work-From-Home Woman Join BoF Professional for the analysis and advice you need. Get 30 days for just $1 or explore group subscriptions for your business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The highly respected talent agent talks to BoF’s Tim Blanks about how young creatives can develop their careers and have meaningful impact. CLM is one of the most influential management agencies in the industry. But after 35 years representing the likes of Juergen Teller and Tim Walker, last year’s upheaval reminded Camilla Lowther of how she got started: working at a small agency and building new networks. This year, she launched Fire, a creative talent agency focused on the new generation of talent. This week on The BoF Podcast, Lowther and editor-at-large Tim Blanks discuss opportunities to learn from and with young generations and why being true to yourself is still fundamental to a successful career as a creative. “Believe in what you do. Don’t try and do what you think other people want you to do, because, you know, the truth is really important. Even if it takes longer to get there, if you really believe in it, then other people will believe in it,” says Lowther. Creativity is best served when you’re open to sharing and learning, whatever stage of your career you’re at. “I think the one thing that’s really important for all of us who’ve been in the business for possibly a long time is to impart our knowledge and our narrative to [young people],” says Lowther. “And then then it’s up to them to take what they want to and also to teach us something new.” Lowther reflects on how persistence is an important quality in anyone starting out in their career and how remaining true to your vision is critical. “Don’t try and do what you think other people want,” she says. “Even if it takes longer to get there, if you really believe in it, then other people will believe in it.” Related Articles: End of the Model Agency as We Know It? Can Hollywood Super Agency Finally Crack Fashion? Building Great Bowery, Fashion’s Super-Agency Join BoF Professional for the analysis and advice you need. Get 30 days for just $1 or explore group subscriptions for your business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Creative director Angela Missoni reflects on life beyond Missoni as she steps down after 24 years in the role. Angela Missoni is stepping back from her role as creative director of Missoni. While she’ll stay on as president, the company will now be led by chief executive Livio Proli, who was appointed after the brand took on private equity funding from FSI Mid-Market Growth Equity Fund in 2018. This week on The BoF Podcast, Angela reflects on the family heritage and craftsmanship that still sit at the Italian luxury brand’s core in conversation with editor-at-large Tim Blanks. At its heart, Missoni has been a family business, drawing on the creative flare of three generations. “I think my parents invented a style,” said Missoni. “They invented a new language in fashion and then I think in the past 25 years I was able to expand the lexicon of this language.” The brand’s signature stripes are partly the result of technological limits when Missoni’s parents began creating knitwear; stripes were the only thing the machine they had could knit. “Missoni evolved through the evolution of technology, but the hand was always more relevant,” said Missoni. “People were asking my father if he designed on a computer. No, my father was designing on a little square of white paper.” The brand is well placed to move forward as Missoni steps back, the creative director said. “I will always give my support, [but] I’m confident in leaving the collections in the hands of my team… [Missoni is] perfectly fit to go forward in this moment.” Related Articles: Angela Missoni Exits Creative Director Role Missoni Sells Minority Stake to Private Equity Firm in €70 Million Deal 2020′s Top M&A Targets in Luxury The Missoni Matriarchs   Join BoF Professional for the analysis and advice you need. Get 30 days for just $1 or explore group subscriptions for your business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.