While the pandemic caused many proverbial doors of opportunity to close, other doors were pushed open. That was the case for Talia Handler, CMO of men's basics brand Mack Weldon. Handler, who most recently worked as an e-commerce strategy consultant at TikTok, jumped from the agency side of marketing to her new position at 10-year-old Mack Weldon in May 2021.  "We benefited from working from home -- from people who want to be comfortable, but still look great," said Handler of the digital-first brand's latest campaign, on the Glossy Podcast. "It has been amazing to see that growth over the past few months with our new integrated campaign and our more integrated go-to-market approach." The TV-centric campaign Handler was referring to was centered on "the expression 'buy some time' [and also] what we now call our Daily Wear System, which is the sum of all the parts of everything that we make that works together," she said. Since its launch in 2011, the brand has expanded it product line from underwear to T-shirts, socks and sweatpants that together "produce radically efficient wardrobing," Handler said. For Handler, taking on a new role at the company during the pandemic carried more benefits than not, including engaging with its "amazing brand fans," she said. "We bring in our customers not to help us design a product, but to help us perfect it for the uses that they want to apply it towards," said Handler.  

The Glossy Podcast

Mack Weldon CMO Talia Handler on growing brand experience with integrated marketing

In this week's Week in Review podcast, fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff discuss the biggest fashion news of the week. Topping the list is the viral backlash surrounding Coach's policy of slashing bags that get thrown out. After that, the pair talk LVMH's earnings, including what impact supply chain obstructions will have on the conglomerate and how Tiffany & Co. is performing. And finally, they address activewear brand Vuori's staggering $400 million funding round.

Week in Review: Coach's bag-slashing controversy, LVMH's earnings and Vuori's $400 million fundraising round

From the Revolutionary War that facilitated the founding of the United States to the Black Lives Matter movement, America has shown that nothing is set in stone if people are willing to fight for change. Also intertwined within the country’s foundation is denim, which, despite its seemingly benign presence as a fabric, denotes social change, as well. As fashion brands across the industry respond to calls for eco-consciousness, AG Jeans, a denim brand founded in 2001, has been a trailblazer in promoting sustainable denim. “In the last 12-24 months, we're finding that customers are caring more than ever,” said Sam Ku, president and creative director of AG Jeans, on this week’s Glossy Podcast. “They've decided that, yes, I am willing to pay a little bit more for something that is better for the planet. I am [also] willing to buy a little bit less and buy better quality and make it last longer.” For AG, this shift in the industry manifested in the Jean of Tomorrow, a 100% biodegradable jean made of “eco-friendly” cotton and hemp fibers, complete with a “Coronado nut” button. “Building a brand based on great product is the most important thing,” said Ku. Unlike a majority of jean retailers, AG operates and manufactures its jeans at its L.A. and Mexico facilities that are “100% owned and operated by us,” said Ku. But despite this, the brand has not been exempt from the Covid-related supply chain challenges within the fashion industry. “We're able to stock a lot of our raw materials that we consistently use, [but] those that we don’t carry are hard to keep up with,” he said. As for the future, Ku is focused on getting the company back to 2019 sales levels and “continuing to deliver the right product on time,” he said. “The brands that can do that right now will win.”

Sam Ku of AG Jeans: 'Building a brand based on great product is the most important thing'

In Glossy’s Week in Review podcast, fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff discuss the most important fashion news of the week. This week, they discuss Rent the Runway’s IPO filing -- including its rebound from pandemic losses. Of course, they cover the highlight of Paris Fashion Week: Demna Gvasalia’s Balenciaga x Simpson’s episode and the brand’s growing presence in streetwear.  And from Glossy’s annual Fashion Summit in Miami, the duo share fashion brands’ takeaways, including supply chain difficulties like unreliable carriers, tariffs, rising costs and international factory delays that needed to be countered with advanced planning. This is especially important with the holiday season around the corner.

Week in Review: Rent the Runway’s IPO, the Balenciaga x Simpsons PFW crossover and Glossy Fashion Summit takeaways

When Vashtie Kola became the first woman to design a Jordan sneaker in 2010 -- 25 years after the dawn of the shoe's revolutionary debut -- it was a feat for a woman to break into the boys club that is streetwear. Fortunately, Aleali May, a style consultant, designer and model, continued to break down the gendered walls of the sneaker industry in 2017. But for May, because "it's taken this long" to bring another female voice into the forefront of the design process, pledging to "get this whole women's market rolling," has been crucial in her journey with the Jordan brand, she said on this week's Glossy Podcast. After working at RSVP Gallery, an upscale and streetwear retailer in Chicago owned by Virgil Abloh and Don C, May was offered the opportunity to make her own mark in Jordan history. And with that opportunity came the guiding question of storytelling. With Air Jordan, “Every silhouette has its own story,” said May. As a force integral to both the ins and outs of the fashion industry, May’s unique perspective on the industry has continued to evolve, specifically concerning the peaks and troughs of the pandemic and its impact on inclusivity within the industry as a whole.  In terms of design, May continues to make her mark in the traditionally male-dominated sneaker industry. “The more seasoned I get in this, the more willing I am to try out new silhouettes,” she said.  And looking towards the future of streetwear and the fashion industry, “My whole focus is [to try] to include more women's brands, more women's ideas, more women's products, and, of course, unisex as well,” said May.  This week, on October 6-7, she's co-hosting Transfer, a two-day virtual festival on the livestream shopping platform NTWRK. It will feature exclusive drops from brands including Nike and Hood by Air, as well as experiential creator content, among other components.

'What story can I tell for women?': Designer and model Aleali May on her journey with Air Jordans

In Glossy's Week in Review podcast, fashion reporter Danny Parisi and editor-in-chief Jill Manoff discuss the most important fashion news from the week. This week, they focus on the fashion crossover of the year, Fendace. They also spotlight Tom Brady's new menswear brand, developed with Frame's Jens Grede and Public School's Dao-yi Chow, and the passing of California's Garment Workers Protection Act, which guarantees a livable wage for California's 45,000 garment workers.

Week in Review: Fendace, Tom Brady's new menswear brand and the Garment Workers Protection Act

As calls for sustainability within the fashion industry swell, some brands have been quick to vocalize their sustainability strategies, while others have taken a different approach by working to meet sustainability goals in silence. In the case of Faherty, a sustainable clothing brand launched in 2013, “It's less about making political pronouncements, and [more about] putting our energy and words and actions behind the things that we care about,” said Kerry Docherty, co-founder and chief impact officer at Faherty, on the latest Glossy Podcast.  As CIO, Docherty’s focus on the brand’s sustainability and cultural initiatives was magnified in the past year-and-a-half. The brand opened 13 of its 30 stores at a time colored by the pandemic and the social justice movements that simultaneously took precedence.  “It was a real opportunity for us as a brand to put a stake in the ground and say, ‘What are we standing up for? What do we need to do internally to get to where we want to be?” she said.  The Native-American community is one community, in particular, that Faherty has invested in. “[The focus is] how we, as a brand, can differentiate ourselves as someone who's [allying] with the Native community, instead of exploiting it,” said Docherty. Rather than “appropriating” Native designs, Docherty is learning about Native culture and art and “focusing on long-term impact” and relationships with Native designers, she said.  In terms of sustainability, maintaining a sustainable brand means “holding ourselves accountable” for the materials and lifecycle of the clothing items, said Docherty. Faherty has done so with its concrete benchmarks of having 85% of fabrics be sustainable and 90% of packaging be “plastic-free,” she said.  “[For] our generation and the generation coming up, intentionality and sustainability are important, as are giving back,” she said. “The more brands that feel accountable for that, the better it is for all of us.”  

Faherty's Kerry Docherty: Being a sustainable brand means 'holding ourselves accountable'

Week in Review: Balenciaga x Fortnite, LFW and Vestiaire Collective's mega-valuation

For many consumers, a well-curated Amazon homepage -- complete with a fall shoe edit and ‘customers’ most loved’ products, from toaster ovens to tote bags -- has replaced the need for the local department store. But the benefits of a brick-and-mortar store for brands and customers alike were not lost on Matt Alexander, co-founder and CEO of Neighborhood Goods, a department store for the new age. Unlike the traditional -- and dying -- breed of department stores, Neighborhood Goods, which launched in 2017, caters to the modern consumer with a selection of rotating brands and innovative restaurants.  For some brands, having a presence at Neighborhood Goods resembles “a pop-up,” while for others, it resembles “wholesale,” “testing real estate” or “a marketing channel,” said Alexander on the latest Glossy Podcast. “It creates this opportunity in this landscape and ecosystem where they can show up in a physical and digital way, [and] leverage the restaurants and different bits and pieces. [And they can] inexpensively get in front of a great consumer and accomplish all sorts of different goals.” Since the first Neighborhood Goods location opened in Plano, Texas, the company has continued to expand its physical footprint, with stores in Austin and Chelsea, as well as its digital presence. “With the [onset] of the pandemic, [all products] went online,” leading to a 1,000% year-over-year sales growth on digital last year, said Alexander.  “The more we can [translate] the ‘why’ and the storytelling that we do well in the stores to the digital realm, the better,” he said. “[Our website] can augment and create something special to exist alongside a lot of existing channels for the brands [and] consumers.”

Neighborhood Goods’ Matt Alexander on disrupting the traditional department store model

In 2020, office spaces around the country began to resemble the ghost towns of the Wild West. Still, Suzy Biszantz, group president of men's and women's at Centric Brands, was determined to find an in-person space for her teams that would balance safety and productivity. To do so, she traversed to the Arts District of Los Angeles and secured a workspace that could also facilitate the growth of the company, where she oversees its Favorite Daughter, Herve Leger, Hudson, Buffalo Jeans and Izod brands. “It’s important that your creative people who touch product are able to actually touch and feel and be around the product,” said Biszantz on the Glossy podcast. “We rented a new building that’s 20,000 square feet, has 10 separate entrances and is all one story.” The building's other Covid-safe features include ample outdoor space for collaborative meetings, a lack of elevators, and separate exits and entrances. Each brand needs its own space because each is focused on different objectives, she said. “[For] each brand, you have to look at the total potential,” when determining its DTC, wholesale and retail strategies," she said. In the same way, not every brand is focusing its marketing strategy on collaborations with influencers, which is a unique challenge. “You have to strike the right balance of operational support, logistics support, strategic support,” she said, regarding a brand's role in influencer partnerships. “But you can’t lose and water down the authenticity of who you’re collaborating with.”

Centric Brands' Suzy Biszantz: 'The most challenging obstacles are logistics and supply chain'

Glossy’s editorial team, like much of the fashion community, reunited with New York Fashion this past week, as the event returned by hosting a full schedule of IRL shows for the first time since February 2020. Going in, we had some expectations about how the event would play out, as we’ve covered NYFW every season for the past several years. But as the world has turned upside down since we last hit a runway show at Spring Studios, for example, we also had some questions. For example, how would event organizers make showgoers feel safe, as the Delta variant is still a big cause for concern? And would the usual editors, buyers and influencers show up, with most every brand also showing their collection virtually? On this bonus episode of the Glossy Podcast, editor-in-chief Jill Manoff and fashion reporter Danny Parisi break down what they experienced while show- and event-hopping this season. As they tell it, the event had highs and lows, plus a few surprises that hinted at the future of fashion week.

Bonus Podcast: Glossy staffers recap a whirlwind NYFW

In his 13 years working on the events production side of IMG, Dominic Kaffka -- now svp of IMG Fashion Events -- has not only had an insider’s view of New York Fashion Week’s ongoing transformation, but he’s also had a hand in steering its course.  For example, he spent the past two show seasons fueling the event’s digital acceleration by ensuring the show went on, so to speak, without physical shows. In September 2020 and February 2021, the bi-annual event was largely carried out virtually, due to the pandemic. “We had 20-25 guests [per show] -- but for us, it was really important to not miss a full New York Fashion Week,” Kaffka said on the latest Glossy Podcast. “Most of our clients who chose not to do a live fashion show with guests came up with much more creative ways to present their collections. A lot of designers did lookbook shoots, a lot of designers produced very elevated fashion films on a cinematic level -- their budgets shifted from putting on a big show to putting on a big digital content production.”  But now, he said, “People are shifting their budgets, their intentions and their planning back to live events.”  Ahead of New York Fashion Week, which kicked off on Wednesday, Kaffka discussed how designers will strike a physical-digital balance this season and to what extent the event will be democratized moving forward.

IMG’s Dominic Kaffka on the ‘festivalization’ of NYFW 

“We have to be OK with riding the wave." That is the mantra Michael Preysman, founder and CEO of Everlane, has come to rely on throughout Covid-19. In other words, Preysman has learned that, while the Everlane team can't control what challenges are thrown at the fashion brand -- which was founded with a focus on transparency and ethical sourcing in 2010 -- they can control the way that they respond. From the initial waves of the pandemic to the Black Lives Matter movement to now the Delta variant, getting through the past year can be described as “running a sprint, and it turns out it’s a marathon,” said Preysman, on the most recent episode of the Glossy Podcast. While the vaccine rollout evoked hope in many for the return of normalcy, Everlane has been honest about the fact that the resulting supply chain issues and labor shortages will take “another 3-5 years” to come back from, said Preysman. Until then, Preysman remains determined to maintain transparency regarding Everlane’s prices and direct-to-consumer business model, overall.  “[Our] $100 cashmere is coming to an end in 2022, because the cost of cashmere is increasing, said Preysman. However, the typical Everlane customer, who ranges in age from their late 20s to early 30s, is “willing to pay more” for the brand’s environmentally conscious and quality pieces, said Preysman.  Everlane has also adapted the customer experience to be “seamless” online and offline, ensuring that “fitting rooms are the star of the [physical] space,” and that returns and shipping are made easy for customers.  Looking at the bigger picture of sustainable fashion, Preysman remains outspoken that sustainability has “completely been greenwashed,” he said.  "We try to avoid that word [sustainable] and use more factual statements, [like] organic, or clean water, etc.,” and to actively focus on reducing the brand’s carbon footprint. Everlane has done so by committing to the use of recycled materials and more efficient means of transport. “What we're trying to show is that you can both … live a great life and have a low environmental impact,” said Preysman.

Everlane’s Michael Preysman: 'Buying carbon offsets is an excuse to continue to reap carbon'

The word “suit” may elicit visions of measuring tape, tailors and brick-and-mortar stores filled with crisp jackets and slacks. However, as consumption evolves from being within the mall to on the computer, and from cashmere to casual, Sene, an apparel brand that started with a focus on being the Lululemon of suits, has adapted accordingly. Since the brand launched in 2015, Ray Li, co-founder and CEO, has spearheaded Sene’s transition into an online purveyor of custom suits under the brand values of sustainability and inclusivity. In 2019, Li decided to close down Sene’s Los Angeles location and relaunch the brand on Kickstarter with a SmartFit Quiz to hone in on the custom sizing aspect of Sene. This changed the trajectory of the business, Li said. “Our mission was always to make custom clothing possible for everyone,” he said on the Glossy Podcast. “But it was a very long journey to get here.” After moving the brand fully online, Sene introduced its FlexTech Suit, a “custom suit [made of] athleisure fabric,” and soon after, its custom denim. Li, who sees a “$17 billion opportunity for custom denim,” plans to expand Sene’s denim selection with shorts and jackets. He also plans to introduce more athleisure styles like joggers.  “Each time we enter a category, we want to feel like we’re making the best possible version of the product we have,” said Li. “We also want to price it at an off-the-rack price.”

Sene’s Ray Li on creating the Netflix of fashion: 'Each person has a unique shopping experience'

With 25 years of experience at luxury brands like Burberry and Céline, Ulrik Garde Due’s reputation for revitalizing companies led him to his current position as president and CEO of Mark Cross, America’s oldest luxury accessories brand.  “I saw a real opportunity in creating a lifestyle positioning," he said on this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast. “[Not only with] women's accessories, but also [by] relaunching men's, which we [did] last year ... [and] creating more of a gifting destination for top-class quality and American luxury." When the pandemic hit, however, “We went from this survival to contingency planning to then, as I like to call it, ‘thrival’ mode,” said Garde Due. “It was our job to start thinking of the opportunities that this pandemic created for the industry and for the luxury consumer, and look at the post-pandemic era and what was needed to get executed during the pandemic to be ready for that.” That meant focusing on developing Mark Cross’ wholesale and directly operated channels and catering to consumers in the U.S. and in mainland China, which Due sees as ”an ever-growing market share” opportunity.  Mark Cross first began to cater to the preferences of the millennials and Gen-Z consumer demographics in the fall of 2019 by launching an “in-house vintage website.” Even more recently, the brand has reacted to the changes accelerated by Covid-19 by “investing heavily into the digital sphere.” That's included partnering with companies like Hero and a personalized delivery service.  “Getting back to the [20]19 [sales] volumes, as well as enlarging our community, are the two main goals this year," said Garde Due.

Mark Cross CEO Ulrik Garde Due: 'A different speed' is now required of luxury brands

The Glossy Podcast is a weekly show discussing the impact of technology on the fashion and luxury industries with the people making change happen.

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