The Glossy Podcast

Don't tell Drake, but bling doesn't always have to be so pricy. BaubleBar has raised millions from investors confident in its business model of delivering stylish earrings, necklaces, and rings at affordable prices. The company sells its products online, and in over 17 countries via 200 retailers -- some of which, like Target, the company teamed up with to create exclusive lines. "We had been doing our research on the market and felt that there was a huge opportunity at a lower price point than where the main BaubleBar brand sat," says Daniella Yacobovsky, the company's co-founder. That's where Target came in. Yacobovsky also talks about the consumer opportunities opened up by affordable accessories, the data goldmine BaubleBar sits on, and what a difference Julia Roberts can make.

Prior to taking the lead at Schutz International, Marina Larroude was vp and fashion director at Barneys New York, a role she took on after holding fashion director roles at Teen Vogue and Style.com. For this week's episode of the Glossy Podcast, Larroude joins Jill Manoff to talk about her multiple career changes within the world of fashion, the untapped market for good, affordable boots, and the reason brands should consider bucking the usual wholesale purchasing timeline.

In this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast, Jill Manoff sits down with Tommy Ton to discuss his transition from street style photographer to artistic director of fashion brand Deveaux, the evolution of men's style and the importance of inclusivity on the runway.

Renowned designer Thakoon Panichgul is back to work after a two-year sabbatical from the world of fashion: "I traveled -- went to Cuba, went to Mexico City, went to Bali, went to Thailand, Marrakesh. I needed time to open up the mind and figure out what this fashion world is all about," he said. In this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast, Jill Manoff sits down with Panichgul to discuss what today's consumers want in a clothing brand and why he's a firm believer in the DTC model. 

Emily Current and Meritt Elliott have been business partners for 20 years, owning and running at least three companies over the timespan, while collaborating with brands including Kate Spade and Pottery Barn and styling celebs on the side. First came denim brand Current Elliott, which they sold and, soon after, launched L.A.-based apparel company The Great. "We didn't set out to get into the denim industry or disrupt the denim industry; we just knew that we couldn't find what we wanted," said Current, referring to Current Elliott introducing boyfriend jeans to the market during the heyday of "fancy" styles. In this week’s episode of the Glossy Podcast, Jill Manoff sits down with Current and Elliott to discuss how the process of building a brand has evolved, why wholesale still matters and who's really providing influence among fashion fans today.

This week, we bring you a bonus, New York Fashion Week Edition of the Glossy Podcast, featuring Misha Nonoo, founder and creative director of her namesake fashion brand. Editor-in-chief Jill Manoff sits down with Nonoo to discuss the evolution of her company's business model, its plans for physical retail and the downfall of the traditional runway show.

When marketing platform Zyper launched two years ago, brands were just starting to work with influencers and micro-influencers had barely begun to emerge. Since, influencers have become a line item in most every brand’s marketing budget, and the space has expanded to include even nano-influencers, or influencers with fewer than 1,000 followers. But influencer marketing’s heyday may have already come and gone. The reason, according to Zyper CEO Amber Atherton: “Influencer content has become inauthentic.” In response, consumers are relying less on influencers to tell them what to buy, instead turning to peer-to-peer referrals and word-of-mouth recommendations from their inner circle. And brands are strategizing accordingly, shifting their focus from influencers to existing customers. “Brands today want to turn their most passionate customers into brand advocates -- not just to create content, but to develop new products, to provide feedback, to be a focus group 2.0,” said Atherton. “Brands are realizing that we

When Gregoire Baret joined Aldo Group in 2015, “omnichannel” wasn’t the industry-wide buzzword it is today. But even now, there’s some mystery around his unique, trendy-sounding position of senior director of omnichannel experience design. “Omnichannel experience design is about the consumer journey,” said Baret. “It’s about improving the shopping experience through communication, services, tools -- anything that’s going to help someone discover the right and relevant products.” In addition to the in-store and e-commerce experiences, the focus of his role -- which was new when he joined the company -- encompasses customer touchpoints from pre-purchase to post-purchase, including customer service. “I was brought in to be a kind of neutral agent that would connect people across [Aldo] departments, but also to be a voice for the consumer,” said Baret. 

On this week's episode of the Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Hudson Yards CMO Stacey Feder to discuss the planning process that went into building and marketing the new development, the way Hudson Yards works with retailers. and the evolving meaning of 'experiential.' 

Before Aman Advani was the co-founder and CEO of performance-infused businesswear brand Ministry of Supply, he was a consultant. Spending most of his days on a plane, in a boardroom or traveling from one hotel to the next, Advani was exhausted by the upkeep his formal workwear required, including lots of ironing and frequent trips to the dry cleaners. He decided he needed to find a way to make these clothes work for his life. So in 2012, Advani co-founded Ministry of Supply with Gihan Amarasiriwardena. Since, the brand has expanded its offering to include both men and women, opened a total of six stores around the U.S., and launched wholesale partnerships with companies like Stitch Fix and MoMA. In this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Advani to discuss why Ministry of Supply has such a strong emphasis on education, what makes fashion an emotional industry and what's on the horizon for performance wear.

When Monica Zwirner and Lucy Wallace Eustice joined forces to start their own company in 2000, they were on a mission to create beautiful, functional, luxury bags. After carefully sourcing their materials and manufacturers, the pair chose to launch their brand, MZ Wallace, by opening and operating a store, which in turn gave them direct access to the customers and their feedback. Just a few short years later, in 2004, the brand launched its e-commerce operation, continuing to operate as a direct-to-consumer brand years before the concept became buzzy. Now, almost 20 years later, MZ Wallace is continuing to build on its direct roots. It now gets customer feedback largely from Facebook, versus face-to-face; it still believes in brand transparency; and it's kept physical retail a central component of the business. On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Wallace Eustice to discuss how MZ Wallace has evolved since 2000, why the brand won't be sold anytime soon and how technology

When David Fischer started Highsnobiety in 2005, it was a humble blog for discussing all things fashion and culture. Over the years, the brand grew and flourished into a full-fledged media brand, but remained true to its streetwear roots. Now, in the company's latest expansion, it's taking on e-commerce. Highsnobiety's e-commerce business focuses on carefully curated assortments as well as brand collaborations, released in a drop model and launched with an exclusive relaunch of Prada menswear line Linea Rossa. On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Highsnobiety's founder and CEO, David Fischer, to discuss the company's transition to e-commerce, its partnership with Prada, and the future content and commerce.

When Sandra Makarem was working in the buying department at Bloomingdale's, she began to see a discrepancy between shoppers' and retailers' behavior. So she decided to create The Collective Child. The Collective Child's model is similar to that of  other clothing subscription companies: Subscribers share their preferences, they receive a curated selection of items to suit their needs, and then they keep what they want and send back what they don't. What makes The Collective Child unique is that it targets a very specific audience: moms wanting to buy luxury children's clothes. On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with The Collective Child's founder and CEO Sandra Makarem to discuss why she wanted to create a product for high-end moms, how important a unique curation is for a subscription business and how she grew a waitlist of 1,500 people without any paid marketing.

Sam Lobban has been working in men's fashion for nearly a decade. His career has taken him from the shop floor of a boutique in the U.K. to his current post, vp of men's fashion at Nordstrom. Throughout his expansive career, Lobban has had a front-row seat to the rapidly changing fashion industry. As he sees it, understanding the evolution of the industry is pretty simple: Things are moving faster, and more people are watching. Since joining the team at Nordstrom in 2018, Lobban has launched a handful of New Concept pop-ups in stores, which offer a carefully curated assortment of products tied to a central theme. Some previous concepts include Concept 001: Out Cold, which was designed to showcase cold-weather performance wear, and Concept 004: Patagonia, which was in collaboration with the popular outdoor brand and hosted a wide variety of sustainably produced, fair-trade products. Now, following his fifth and most recent New Concept launch with Nordstrom, Lobban wants to continue to push the boundaries of wh

When Rachel Schectman founded Story, she wanted to create a space for experimenting with retail. At a time when many people were skeptical about the future of physical retail, Schectman believed, and proved, that a carefully curated retail experience could be successful. But a few years into a continuous cycle of revamping the store every other month, she wanted to find something bigger. So in spring of 2018, after weighing a few other possibilities, Schectman agreed to an acquisition by Macy's and, at the same time, became the retailer's first brand experience officer. Macy's inaugural Story pop-up, which was color-themed, launched in 36 Macy's doors earlier this year. This week marks the launch of their second concept, Outdoor Story, which includes brand partners such as Dick's Sporting Goods and Miracle-Gro and can be found in select Macy's stores through September. In this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Schectman discusses why Macy's was the right partner for her, what it's like running a new conce

When celebrity stylist and author, Micaela Erlanger started her styling business in 2013, the fashion world was a much different place than it is today: Instagram was still in its early days, collections came out according to a strict fashion calendar, and lookbooks were sent through snail mail. Today, Erlanger is working faster and has more access than ever before to new designers and brands. On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Erlanger to discuss how the role of the celebrity stylist has evolved, the importance of Instagram and why Fashion Week is still relevant to her.

With the rise of the internet forcing major changes across the fashion industry, the role of the buyer has remained largely the same. The curated assortments for ecommerce and in-store can vary and more brands are moving away from the traditional fashion calendar, but the buyer's focus has gone unchanged. For Alexandra Willinger, buying manager of designer secondary, sportswear, denim and outerwear at Intermix, her role over her 10-year buying career has only evolved in that it's expanded. For the final episode of  Glossy Trend Watch: Buyers Edition, editor-in-chief Jill Manoff sits down with Willinger to discuss the evolution of her role, the importance of exclusive collections and the difference in curating online and offline assortments.

Founded in 1996, Lafayette 148 has steadily grown to become a massive contemporary brand. Recently, co-founder and CEO Deirdre Quinn decided it was time to introduce change to the SoHo-native company. Following a headquarters move to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Quinn spent her time and resources reinvesting in the company. After decades of building out different departments and teams, her focus was shifted to finding a way to bring all parts of the company together, and to use these new efficiencies to begin international retail expansion and experimentation with technology like AI. On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Quinn to discuss where the company is going, what she's learned about physical retail and how Lafayette 148 is creating a focused lifestyle brand.

Sneakers are 60% to 65% of Saks Fifth Avenue’s men's business. Come July, the NYC flagship store will combine men's shoes on one floor as the luxury department store attempts to rebalance its formal and casual assortment. Louis DiGiacomo, svp and men’s general merchandising manager, joins Jill Manoff on the buyer edition of Glossy Trend Watch to discuss the biggest shifts in men’s fashion and the renovation of the men’s shoe department in Saks' New York flagship.

On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Sarah Benady, ba&sh's CEO of North America, to discuss the difference between the French and American consumer, using unique offerings to connect with customers and fostering the perfect brand-investor partnership.