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Podcast host and founder of Retail Prophet, Doug Stephens, is joined by 14 global authorities and thought leaders, from fashion and retail executives to futurists and academics, in this second series of Retail Reborn. Guests will share insights on the changing consumer lifestyles and expectations shaping the retail ecosystem, discussing generational expectations as shaped by the pandemic, climate crisis and economic downturns, as well as examining where, how and what next-gen consumers will buy.
Retail Reborn Season 2 launches on 28th March 2022. Subscribe now to never miss an episode.
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For comments, questions, or speaker ideas, please e-mail: podcast@businessoffashion.com
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In 2018, Vanessa Kingori joined British Vogue as its first female publisher. Since then, she has become a mother, received an MBE, and stepped into the role of Chief Business Officer of Condé Nast Britain. At BoF VOICES 2021, Kingori shared her experience and lessons in leadership with purpose coach and founder of 822 Group Mory Fontanez, underscoring the importance of leveraging gut instinct to support data-driven decisions and challenging conformity as the “enemy of progress, creativity and business.”
“Everywhere I've been, I have had to get comfortable with being a bit of an outsider, which often means the decisions I come to — are different to the normal consensus,” said Kingori. “It's OK to be intuitive. It's actually great to lean into your differences rather than try to push to assimilate too much.”
Discover leadership opportunities on BoF Careers across more than 300 of the fashion industry’s leading brands, businesses, retailers and media companies.
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This week on The BoF Podcast, founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed sat down with editor-at-large Tim Blanks to reflect on the fashion month gone by. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began the day Prada showed in Milan, raised questions about whether it was appropriate for fashion week to go on amid the horror and how the industry should respond to the unfolding tragedy and loss of human life.
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While the initial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic manifested in workplaces through budget cuts, layoffs and furlough schemes, the crisis also inspired a widespread re-evaluation of our relationship with work. Amid the so-called “Great Resignation,” Business Insider estimated over 38 million workers quit their jobs in 2021, with many seeking a better balance between life and work, and greater meaning in the work they do.
These evolving expectations are having a profound impact on how leaders have to run their businesses. At BoF VOICES 2021, Kevin J. Delaney, co-founder and CEO of media and Charter and former editor-in-chief of Quartz, examined the qualities leaders need to assimilate today.
On this week’s episode of The BoF Podcast, Delaney says: “One question I hear often from leaders is how do they find the right balance between a focus on operational performance of their business and these new expectations of their employees?”
Explore employment opportunities across more than 350 businesses on BoF Careers,The Global Marketplace for Fashion Talent.
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The traditional fashion value chain is linear: fibres are grown, harvested, spun into fabric and stitched into garments, which are then distributed to retailers, sold, worn and discarded.
“The way we make and use things accounts for 45 percent of greenhouse gases and 90 percent of biodiversity loss,” said Dame Ellen MacArthur at BoF VOICES 2021.
In this conversation with BoF’s Sarah Kent, MacArthur lays out a vision for an alternate “circular” economy where the lifecycle of garments is extended through better design, including the use of more resilient, recyclable materials, and using systems throughout the manufacturing and sales process to facilitate items’ repair, reuse, and eventual transformation into something new.
But this kind of systemic change will require a collective and coordinated push from suppliers, designers, brands and retailers across fashion’s value chain.
“We need to work together to make this happen. You need the entire value chain in the room,” said MacArthur, adding that though such comprehensive change is a challenge, it's also an opportunity. Circular business models, including resale and rental, are on track to become a $700 billion market representing 23 percent of the fashion industry by 2030.
“Business as usual doesn't work,” said MacArthur. “It's not the solution.”
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“We are moving through a decade in which we are proactively looking for the businesses, the brands, the products, the goods and the services that will help us on our journey to become healthier, wealthier and happier,” said Sanderson.
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Designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez speak to BoF’s Lauren Sherman about their journey from one-time fashion wunderkinds to seasoned entrepreneurs, navigating a series of ups and downs.
Fresh out of fashion school — armed with approval from then Barneys New York fashion director Julie Gilhart, who bought their Parsons senior thesis collection in 2002, and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who helped them stage their first show in 2003 — Proenza Schouler designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez followed early 2000s American fashion’s script for success. They took investment quickly, produced buzzy runway shows and an ‘it’ item in the form of the PS1 bag, and began launching new categories and distribution deals — but struggled to achieve sustained commercial success.
“By 2018, the board of directors was quite large and in charge and we weren’t. That’s when, I guess, shit hit the fan,” said Hernandez.
So, 15 years after its 2002 launch and on the brink of bankruptcy, McCollough and Hernandez bought Proenza Schouler back from private equity firm Castanea Partners, installed fashion turnaround veteran Kay Hong as chief executive, and positioned the brand for growth in 2020, just before the pandemic hit. It appears their strategy is working: Proenza Schouler broke even in 2021 and is on a path to profitability in 2022.
On the latest episode of The BoF Podcast, McCullough and Hernandez join BoF’s chief correspondent Lauren Sherman following her feature, “The Nine Lives of Proenza Schouler,” to chat about their experience so far — and the brand’s next chapter.
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An oft-overlooked natural asset, mushrooms are not just infiltrating the fashion industry, but also have the potential to unlock new ways of thinking and healing.
One of the planet’s oldest lifeforms was the centrepiece of some of last year’s biggest stories in material innovation in fashion. But beyond fungi’s potential for shaping the future of materials, its ability to build things and create networks can provoke our imaginations and make us question the way we organise our lives, according to Merlin Sheldrake, biologist and author of “Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds and Shape Our Futures.”
Download our latest Case Study: ‘Fashion’s Race for New Materials’ here
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On the heels of selling a 24 percent stake in his namesake label, valuing it at $2.7 billion, Louboutin spoke with Rozan Ahmed at BoF VOICES 2021 about how his identity and upbringing have shaped his approach to business and life.
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The best-selling author and podcaster shares a powerful equation for defining your purpose and a guided meditation to help you discover it.
At BoF VOICES 2021, Jay Shetty spoke about how his experiences as a monk taught him not only how to find purpose, but how to live with it.
Join BoF Professional for the analysis and advice you need. Get 30 days for just $1 or explore group subscriptions for your business.
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