They Still Got It: Fashion Edition

Recently, I attended a large family affair and celebration, a Bar Mitzvah party. On the dance floor, of course all the 13-year-olds were dancing the night away. But I actually found myself in awe of another enthusiastic dancer, a 70-year-old woman who I soon found out had just undergone a knee replacement. She was up shaking what her momma gave her to all the top 40 hits and refused to sit down. I felt incredibly inspired.

In recent years, there has been a similar unexpected enthusiasm toward chic, confident older women from the fashion industry. It seems the buzz really started with the popularity of Ari Seth Cohen’s blog Advanced Style, which highlights street style like that of the famed Sartorialist or Tommy Ton, but focused on the stylish over-60 set that had been largely ignored by the fashion system beforehand. He has now also released a book and documentary of the same name. In 2012, fashion brands started taking notice of this appeal, with American Apparel casting a 61-year-old in their ads, and Lanvin’s fall 2012 campaign featuring two ladies over the age 60. And with 93-year-old fashion eccentric Iris Apfel starring in ad campaigns for Kate Spade and Alexis Bittar for Spring 2015 as the much anticipated documentary about her is soon to be released, we have seen a new attitude in fashion that embraces beautiful women with immense energy and their own personal style that shines just as bright as any 22 year old working model.

But to me, what really celebrates this new attitude is the latest collaboration and campaign between edgy, snarky streetwear brand Dimepiece LA and 86-year-old social media sensation @BaddieWinkle in the “State of Mind” Campaign. A great grandmother from Kentucky, Baddie Winkle, with the mantra “Stealing your man since 1928”, gained social media buzz by posting selfies wearing clothing from brands of the same like covered in current pop culture icons and sassy slogans like “Bye Basic”, “Twerk”, and “Been Trill”.  Fitting outside the typical grandmother image, the social media mogul has proven just as saavy as any other teenage blogger to gain brand endorsement, and has earned 900,000 followers on Instagram, including the likes of Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, and Drake. In the "State of Mind" campaign photographed by Nikko La Mere, Baddie Winkle wears Dimepiece's signature streetwear, including slogan tees, mesh tunics, sexy swimsuits, and cat-eye sunglasses. She models poolside and poses with pineapples with that same ‘tude she’s become known for, proving you're "never too old to be the baddest bish in the room.”

Although the brand’s primary target market is females in their teens and twenties, BaddieWinkle captures the same fashionable but sassy attitude in a new and captivating way that is creating buzz everywhere, and proves once again that age is just a number.

Style That's 100

On Tuesday, Time hosted their annual TIME 100 Gala at the Lincoln Center in New York City; in which they select and honor 100 of the most influential people in the United States. These aren't just people who volunteer their time to help others or head a local/national/global nonprofit. In fact, there are many celebrity honorees among these individuals who measured up to Time's standard of changing the world despite possible consequence. Here were a few of the impressively styled guest and honorees.

Dior and Em: Emma Watson in Dior (pay attention, because the film “Dior and I” featuring Raf Simons will be screening this weekend. Be sure to check it out here!)

The Power of Three: Lavern Cox looking stunning in her dress by Marc Bouwer // Kim Kardashian working a dress by Sophie Theallet // Naomi Campbell looking no less than fabulous in Jean Paul Gaultier

Vibrancy of Red: Diane von Furstenberg in her own design // Julianne Moore rocking a dress by Givenchy 

 So Perfect It Could Be A Sin: Kenza Fourati clearly also belongs in Style 100 as she captivates the cameras in a suit by The Row // Karlie Kloss gorgeously representing Alexander Wang

  

Catch the rest of the inspiring moments here

Social Commerce & Digital Malls

What are retailers concerned with? Two things: 1. Reaching the millennials 2. Mobile conversion

How do you do that? Social Commerce

What is Social Commerce? It is a subset of electronic commerce, involving social media networks to assist in online buying and selling of products in services.

Do you mean like shopping from Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram? No, they simply were not designed to be shopping platforms. Deena Varshavskaya, founder of social commerce shopping platform, Wanelo, says “We don’t go to there to shop.” She claims “If a user stumbled upon a desired item on Pinterest, for example, it’s hard to find if the product is in stock, if the store has it in their size and if it’s on sale.”

What is Wanelo? Think of Wanelo (“wah-nee-loh,” short for Want, Need, Love) as a digital mall, where people can curate, discover, and buy products on the internet. Wanelo has over 12 million products from over 350,000 stores, including independent boutiques and sellers you have never heard of.

Digital Malls vs. Regular Malls?

• A regular mall has only 150 stores, while the number of online stores is endless.
• In the Nineties, consumers visited malls about two times a month for about four hours at a time, driving $1 trillion in sales (Strugatz)
• Today, 15% of malls are expected to shut down over the next decade (Strugatz)
• 87% of Millennials never leave their phones and can spend up to three hours on social networks every day. One third of them don’t frequent malls, 84 percent hate advertising and 50 percent shop online nearly every day for at least an hour. (Strugatz)

How does this bridge the gap between online and store? To be determined, but Nordstrom recently rolled out Wanelo wall displays in 107 doors, featuring styles it already carries that were rated most popular by Wanelo’s users.

Why Wanelo?

• The average product on Wanelo gets 140 saves and 19 buy clicks, versus Pinterest, where a pin typically sees about 10 repins. (Strugatz)
•  Urban Outfitters’ Wanelo shoppers convert at a rate four times greater than any other social network (the store has implemented a Wanelo button alongside other social media action buttons on product pages). (Strugatz)
• Sephora called the platform its “fastest-growing social platform.” (Strugatz)
•  Farfetch said Wanelo converts five times greater than Pinterest. (Strugatz)

Why is it useful for users and retailers?

•  Users èThe content on Wanelo is user-generated and users can only post items from verified retailer sites. Therefore, users go on Wanelo to shop accurate information on product availability and pricing. 
• Brands èA brand can claims its page and once it does this it can editorialize collections to engage with fans. Brands like Urban Outfitters have more followers on Wanelo then they do on any other social media platform.

How does Wanelo successfully solve the two concerns of retailers? 1. With over 10 million users, it has continually reached Millennials 2. The website is primarily accessed via its mobile app and conversion is also completed here

Check out my virtual store: http://wanelo.com/anaprodanovich :) 

Coming Soon: Until S oon

   

My co-op experience was with my life-long favorite brand, Anthropologie. The way I got my co-op is a true networking success story. In 2012, I found out that the Chief Design and Merchandising Officer of Anthropologie, Wendy Wurtzburger, would be the alumni speaker that year at my little high school in Memphis, Tennessee. At first, the connection seemed too good to be true. After multiple phone calls and email exchanges, I managed to schedule a one-on-one meeting with Wendy at URBN’s headquarters. By the time my co-op cycle rolled around, Wendy had become the Head Curator for Anthropologie and I worked on her team with two others. Three months into my co-op, Wendy left the company. The experience was like watching a monument fall, but we all knew this wasn’t the last we would see of Wendy Wurtzburger.

On March 4, 2015, Womenswear Daily published an article titled “Wendy Wurtzburger Unveils Until S oon.” The article explains that Until S oon is a high-end sweater collection that Wendy created with designer, Linda Trau, and producer, Michelle Gondolini (wwd.com). The 32-piece collection is partly inspired by ballerina dancewear and is made of luxurious materials such as cashmere and lambs wool. Wendy is quoted saying, “we wanted to create a collection that appeals to women who are culturally curious and passionate about good design” (wwd.com).  There is also an appreciation for artisan work seen in this collection. The space between the S and O in the brand’s name is meant to imply a dropped stitch or a similar imperfection that comes with handmade clothing. The name is also how Mitzi Wong, the previous Creative Director of Home at Anthropologie, signs letters. I smiled at this, as Mitzi signed her emails to me with “until soon” when we corresponded about must-see museums and boutiques while I was studying abroad.

I couldn’t have been happier reading this article about my old boss and her new project. As graduation fast approaches, I believe many of us D&M’s (myself included) feel that large corporate design and fashion brands are where we need to be. It is easy to forget about small operations, such as Until S oon, that are doing unique and exciting work. While I may want to work for a big brand name now, I see the appeal in working intimately for a small label with a different approach. This story also teaches me that hard work and vast experience can prepare someone to launch their own company. It is a difficult thing for me to imagine at this time, but who knows what could happen 25 years from now.

If you're curious, Until S oon will be in stores next fall at a price point ranging from $300 to $600. According to the article, the collection will be found in designer departments when it has its limited distribution. The complete lookbook can be found on untilsoon.nyc.

Works Cited:

http://wwd.com/retail-news/specialty-stores/wendy-wurtzberger-unveils-until-soon-10084914/