Loose Threads Inside The New Consumer Economy

On the 15th episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, a show about the intersection of fashion, technology and commerce, I talk with Matt Orley, a co-founder of Orley, a knitwear brand based in New York City that Matt runs along with his wife Sam and his brother Alex. It’s less common for brands to start with knitwear, since it’s much harder to produce and often has a steeper learning curve than cut and sew garments. But Orley intentionally started this way, primarily because it allowed them to realize the brand with a limited number of pieces, and then grow from there. We had a great talk about the founding story of the brand, how it's grown and evolved over the last five years, and how the internet and the direct to consumer market is changing everything. — Show Notes — Orley http://orley.us — About Loose Threads — http://LooseThreads.com Join the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: http://twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz The Loose Threads Podcast explores the intersection of fashion, technology and commer

On the 14th episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, a show about the intersection of fashion, technology and commerce, I talk with Seph Skerritt, the founder of Proper Cloth, a company using tons of data and technology to make customized men's apparel affordable and accessible. Proper Cloth is one of those companies that has both the technical and creative chops needed to thrive today. My talk with Seph focused on the attention to data and detail that makes Proper Cloth what it is and the journey from what some considered a stupid idea to the ever expanding company that exists today. It was really cool to hear about the persistence across all aspects of the business that got Proper Cloth to its current state, and Seph’s determination to power through every new obstacle, be it technical, logistical or creative. — Show Notes — Proper Cloth http://propercloth.com — About Loose Threads — http://LooseThreads.com Join the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: http://twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz The Loose Threa

On the 13th episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, a show about the intersection of fashion, technology and commerce, I talk with Stephan Ango, a co-founder of Lumi. Stephan’s company is simplifying the process of designing and producing all sorts of packaging, with a focus on digitally native brands. Packaging is what I would consider a visible yet invisible industry. It something people see everywhere but often know very little about. Stephan and I had an awesome talk about everything from the founding story behind Lumi to the company’s quest to be a packaging company that eventually sells less packaging. And it was great to dive into how Stephan's design background informed Lumi as it exists today and how some parts of the industry that people find boring are sometimes the most interesting. — Show Notes — Lumi http://Lumi.com — About Loose Threads — http://LooseThreads.com Join the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: http://twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz The Loose Threads Podcast explores the interse

On the 12th episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, I talk with Steven Alan, the founder of his eponymous brand that started as a retail store in 1994 and grew into the international empire it is today. We had an awesome talk about how Steven got started; how he grew the brand over the last two decades, adding stores, a showroom and many different verticals along the way; how the his customers have evolved over time; how direct to consumer brands are changing the landscape; what is was like selling on Amazon in the early days of its fashion play; why the brand entered into the optical market; and how 2017 is the year of reinvention. — Show Notes — Steven Alan stevenalan.com — About Loose Threads — Join the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: http://twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz The Loose Threads Podcast explores the intersection of fashion, technology and commerce. Hosted by Richie Siegel, a fashion and tech entrepreneur and writer, each episode features an in-depth conversation with one guest that span

On the 11th episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, I talk with Vishaal Melwani, CEO and co-founder of Combatant Gentlemen, about the brand's founding; how the team decided to build a suiting essentials brand meant to scale; how they incorporated technology into the company from the ground up; why they decided to vertically integrate to an extreme degree; how the brand approaches its own retail and relevant partnerships; how its products are priced affordably while still being produced ethnically; what opportunities are on the horizon for the brand; and what have been some of the most exciting parts of the journey to build a global apparel brand. — Show Notes — Combatant Gentlemen https://combatgent.com/ — About Loose Threads — Join the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: http://twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz The Loose Threads Podcast explores the intersection of fashion, technology and commerce. Hosted by Richie Siegel, a fashion and tech entrepreneur and writer, each episode features an in-depth conver

On the 10th episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, I talk with Garrett Leight, the founder of his eponymous optical brand. We had an awesome talk about the founding story of Garrett Leight; the path towards building a wholesale-first brand in a direct-to-consumer world; the process behind designing eye-ware; how the optical market has evolved; how the brand approached its initial distribution strategy; how the brand has stayed in tact as its scaled; the role retail plays for a wholesale-first brand; and Garret's predictions on the potential of Snap Spectacles. — Show Notes — Garrett Leight http://garrettleight.com — About Loose Threads — Join the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: http://twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz The Loose Threads Podcast explores the intersection of fashion, technology and commerce. Hosted by Richie Siegel, a fashion and tech entrepreneur and writer, each episode features an in-depth conversation with one guest that spans a range of topics, lasting about an hour. The guests range

On the 9th episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, I talk with Marc Bain, the fashion reporter at Quartz, about his path to covering the fashion industry, which included working for a fashion brand in New York; how he found his reporting beats and how the storylines often intersect; the similarities and differences between food and fashion; how the blockchain might impact the fashion industry; the current state of affairs in the fashion industry; how luxury brands will continue to scale globally; how luxury brands are approaching Amazon; how brands are handling sizing online; how Digitally Native Vertical Brands (DNVBs) are approaching retail; and how malls are being revitalized. — Show Notes — Marc Bain — Quartz http://qz.com/author/marcqz/ The rise of yoga pants has brought on an existential crisis for old-fashioned blue jeans http://qz.com/769320/levis-stretch-501s-are-here-athleisure-and-denim-jeans-are-vying-for-their-place-in-the-american-wardrobe/ Your next item of clothing should be so expensive it hurt

On the 8th episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, I talk with Tull Price, the founder of FEIT. The episode covers the evolution of Tull's career that led him to start FEIT; why Tull is mostly interested in making the best products from the best materials over making money, bucking many trends that ushered in mass production and globalization; the process for building FEIT products and how it differs from a traditional footwear design process; why FEIT sells mostly direct to customers and the importance of retail stores; how FEIT has built immensely strong relationships with the craftsmen who make its products and why this is crucial for the brand's success; and where the name FEIT comes from. — Show Notes — http://feitdirect.com — About Loose Threads — The Loose Threads Podcast explores the intersection of fashion, technology and commerce. Hosted by Richie Siegel, a fashion and tech entrepreneur and writer, each episode features an in-depth conversation with one guest that spans a range of topics, lasting abou

On the seventh episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, I talk with Abe Burmeister, one of the founders of Outlier, a New York label that set out to build the future of clothing. What started as a brand aimed as casual urbanists who used bicycles as their primary method of transportation has morphed into a highly experimental, technical and refined menswear label. We had a great talk about the founding story of Outlier; how the brand planted the seed selling online and grew the business from there; the challenges of scaling a bootstrapped business; why they decided to start producing products in Portugal, in addition to the greater New York Area; how the brand dabbled in wholesale, but ultimately retreated, which ended up fueling the next phase of growth for the company; and the perils of managing a season-less brand without much time for vacation. Abe is an incredibly intelligent guy and it was a pleasure talking with him. We packed a lot into this episode and I hope you enjoy. Also, Outlier's clothes are immen

On the sixth episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, I talk with Chris Morton, the founder of Lyst, the fashion platform that acts as a shopping street on the internet. We talked about Chris' previous career as an investor; how Lyst was started and how it turned into the platform it is today; where the fashion industry is going; the underutilized value of returns and how brands can use them to incite more customer loyalty; where Amazon is taking over and brands should stay away; why he started Lyst in London and not in San Francisco or New York; the powers and pitfalls of fulfilling orders from stores and the real estate implications of doing so; the opportunities for mixing data and human-driven curation to provide the best experience; and what luxury brands need to do to build digital cultures to survive in this endlessly dynamic age. — Show Notes — Lyst.com The Facebook of Ecommerce http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2016/7/6/the-facebook-of-ecommerce — About Loose Threads — Inside the fashion industry and w

On the 5th episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, I talk with Ben Alun-Jones, CEO and co-founder of UNMADE, a fascinating fashion tech company based in London. UNMADE is building a platform that brings legacy knitwear machines into the 21st century, and reimagining the supply chain along the way. Ben and I talked about how UNMADE got started; why they launched a direct to consumer brand to showcase their technology; how they approached personalization and supply chain as the same problem; the difference between proactive and reactive supply chains; how they built early version of the platform; the power of software to abstract away complex problems; how UNMADE seeks to maintain a relationship with the consumer while still being an enterprise company; how they explained a technology in the early days that didn't yet exist; how can fashion tech can be more than marketing; and how UNMADE is working to only produce products that have a buyer. This might be my favorite episode so far because it touches on everythin

On the fourth episode of the Loose Threads Podcast, I talk with Doug Hand of HBA, LLP about navigating the complexities of the fashion industry. We discussed Doug's journey to become a leading fashion lawyer; the reactivity of the law; how IP protection operates in the fashion industry and where to pick your IP battles; the balance between speaking legalese and speaking creatively; the funny occurrence of designers losing the rights to their own name when they depart a namesake brand; private equity's role in fashion; and the looming environmental issues the fashion industry is slowly coping with. — Show Notes — HBA, LLP http://hballp.com — About Loose Threads — Inside the fashion industry and what's next for ecommerce, by Richie Siegel. loosethreads.xyz Newsletter: eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz

On the third episode of Loose Threads, I talk with Jon Schwartz, co-founder of Voodoo Manufacturing, about the recent advances in 3D printing; how 3D printing has evolved since his last startup; the growth of bridge manufacturing; Voodoo's work with Chromat during fashion week; the growth of 3D printed shoes; using recent manufacturing advances to customize fit, not just aesthetics; and building design software that lowers the barrier of entry for 3D design. — Show Notes — Voodoo Manufacturing http://voodoomfg.com Chromat 3D printed dress http://chromat.co/pages/lab Unmade http://www.unmade.com — About Loose Threads — Inside the fashion industry and what's next for ecommerce, by Richie Siegel. http://loosethreads.xyz Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: http://twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz

On the second episode of Loose Threads, I talk with the always astute and articulate Adam Wray of fashionREDEF about the CFDA Report, the under appreciated aspects of Zara, the pioneering release of Kanye West's The Life of Pablo, innovating our way out of fashion's ethical problems, the benefits of athleisure, Brotailers, reimagining the fashion show, and Adam's journey to appreciate Vetements. Subscribe to fashionREDEF, you won't regret it. redef.com/new-subscription — Show Notes — CFDA Report: http://cfda.com/blog/the-results-are-in-examining-the-future-of-new-york-fashion-week Brotailers: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-17/brotailers-are-redefining-how-guys-buy-clothes — About Loose Threads — Inside the fashion industry and what's next for ecommerce, by Richie Siegel. http://loosethreads.xyz Newsletter: eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz

On the inaugural episode of Loose Threads, I talk with the founder of Strike Gently, Charlie Ambler, about why he started a pin company and where it fits within the fashion world. — Show Notes — http://www.strikegently.co — About Loose Threads — Inside the fashion industry and what's next for ecommerce, by Richie Siegel. http://loosethreads.xyz Newsletter: eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz