The Tamesis
Earlier in the day, Mosseri and Ripley also discussed the importance of understanding your customer during a panel discussion on “Luxury’s New Value System: How Changing Consumer Behaviors Are Reshaping Brand Priorities.” The two major New York brands were built in very different ways: Still Here focused on bricks-and-mortar retail, while the Christopher John Rogers brand world was built through fashion shows, wholesale relationships and collaborations, but both maintain extremely close relationships with their customers.
“Our consumers have sold more products over the past 10 years. They’ve gotten smarter,” Mosseri said. “Over the past few years, we’ve really locked in on what our customers want from us, understood our brand pillars, and been very honest and authentic about what Still Here is, what products we want to bring to our customers, and what they want to see from us.”
Ripley echoes this spirit, arguing for the importance of talking to specific consumers rather than everyone. “We’ve grown with our customers as they become more and more focused on the brands they buy, the stories behind the products they buy, and really want to make sure it has emotional appeal — and that it has the longevity to be something really special that you want to cherish and own,” she said. “[We were] Slow down the growth of the fashion industry by extending product life cycles. “
The presentations concluded with presentations from the eight Circular Fashion Fund finalists, who shared their business plans and company ethos throughout the day. The line-up of winners includes award winners Mathot, Truss’ Woody Lello, Ragpiq’s Patrick White, Ecomid’s Oscar Rundqvist, Circular Sourcing’s Courtney Holm, Silhouet’s Brandon Steidley, Refabric’s Seda Domanic and It Goes Forward’s Carl van Heijst. Each finalist receives $50,000.
The judges are Indré Rockefeller, founder and CEO of The Loop Project; Fashion Senior profile editor Laird Borrelli-Persson, eBay Day Ventures principal Henri Jaanimaegi, Tersus CEO Peter Whitcomb, GFA CEO Federica Marachionni, Ellen McArthur Foundation CIO Joe Murphy and eBay’s Hoopes.
