Yahoo Finance How the CFDA and W Hotels Are Shaping the Future of American Fashion
In an increasingly crowded fashion market, building a brand that’s both successful and sustainable is no easy task — just ask the many labels, from big-name startups to indie ventures, that fail each year. But since 2010, emerging New York City-based designers have found a champion in the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s Fashion Incubator, a two-year business development program that brings together 10 emerging designers for intensive business planning, mentorship with industry experts, and low-cost studio space.
But it’s not all work. As a glam counterpoint to all that nitty-gritty business-building, W Hotels also treats Incubator participants to bonding and inspiration trips at its portfolio of luxury resorts at destinations like Bali, Vieques, and W’s newest property in Punta de Mita, Mexico. Altogether, the Incubator functions sort of like the world’s most fabulous MBA program — only with tequila shots, and without a $150K IOU to Sallie Mae.
Another crucial part of the Incubator program is introducing the designers to markets that are important to building their brand. Recently, the designers behind the labels Brother Vellies, Haus Alkire, Charles Youssef, Ji Oh, and Thaddeus O’Neil traveled to Dallas to meet with local business owners and retail buyers, take in the gallery scene, have high tea at the original Neiman Marcus, and snap lots of Instagrams, naturally. On the final night, they showcased their designs at the W Dallas Victory hotel for an audience of buyers, influencers, fashion fans, and press, including Yahoo Style.
In this, the first of two articles, we speak with CFDA president and CEO Steven Kolb, and Suzanne Cohen, the director of brand marketing for W Hotels, to learn about how the Incubator is building smarter fashion brands. Check back tomorrow for our interviews with the designers on the impact the program has had on their business.
Steven Kolb, president and CEO of the CFDA
Yahoo Style: How do you see the CFDA’s role in developing fashion talent?
Steven Kolb: The whole mission of the CFDA is to support designers, because we realize that the power and success of the American fashion industry lies in supporting them at every stage of their career. For emerging talent like these Incubator brands, there’s so much knowledge and expertise we can share with them, from people who may have made the mistakes and been through all the challenges, and can help them avoid pitfalls and take the right path. We believe an investment in young talent is an investment in the industry overall.
The Incubator program is just one of the ways CFDA supports the American fashion industry.
Everything we do looks at the lifeline of the designers. So we start with students — offering scholarships, helping them establish themselves with jobs in American brands, or helping them establish their own businesses. Then we look at emerging designers, like those in the Incubator — people who have been in business for three years or so. They have distribution, they’re getting editorial [coverage] — they’ve built something but are still in need of development. After that comes the small-business owner who can share ideas, job opportunities, information on policy, new trends, and so on. And then there are the really big guys, the established designers, who work with us to promote the industry overall, and help upcoming designers.
What impact have you seen the Incubator have on participating designers’ businesses?
We’ve had designers who expanded their use of color following a discussion with retailers, based on what they know customers respond to. We’ve had buyers come into the shared studio space to pick up one designer, and they end up picking up another one for distribution too – that’s something that wouldn’t happen if the designers were all isolated from each other. There’s probably hundreds of examples. Overall, the Incubator helps designers develop clarity on their ideas, and confidence on those ideas.
The program has been around since only 2010, but have you already found you’ve had to adapt it around changes in technology and the rise of social media?
This is our fourth Incubator group, so, yes, seven years later, the business is very different than when we started. It changes so fast, it’s different tonight than yesterday, and that’s true for all parts of the fashion business, from design to editorial, retail, manufacturing. So we’ve definitely adapted over the course of the program to fit the needs of the participants. The Incubator group in 2010 was focused on distribution — building a wholesale model. Now, that’s less important. Now we’re helping designers understand and develop different distribution channels, like direct to consumer, or helping them think differently about how to present a collection to the industry, which may not always mean a runway show.
The Incubator participants go through a rigorous selection process. Is choosing the right mix of designers important to the CFDA?
It’s a roll of the dice, really. We pick them carefully, but individually, not by categories. It’s not like we need X number of women’s wear, Y number of accessory designers. It’s more about who is talented, who has a point of view, and who can we help go to the next level in their business. The group ends up being pretty diverse, which is great, and reflects the number of disciplines within New York fashion.
How do you see the Incubator participants interacting as a group?
It’s so interesting watching those relationships form. With the third [Incubator] group, one thing we started with W Hotels, which has been incredibly powerful, is the whole group went to Punta de Mita, Mexico, for a two-day off-site intensive. We were the first ones to stay at this incredible property the W had just opened. The designers were spending intensive time with the CFDA, with the W team, beginning to define their priorities within the program — mapping out their inspiration trip, what cities are of interest to them for these showcases. And beyond that, they’re going surfing together, doing yoga together, taking tequila shots together. For another group, we had a similar trip to the W in Vieques [Puerto Rico].
I stayed there this summer — it was unreal.
Then you know what an incredible experience that is. So it’s on these trips where those relationships and bonds start to form. I think it was group two where Prabal [Gurung] and Maxwell [Osbourne] and Dao-Yi Chow of Public School were in it together, and they’re still friends now — you see them at each other’s shows and events. We’re in the early stages of that with this group, but that bond is something that’s for life. It’s so valuable to have someone to vent with and share knowledge with. Whether it’s where do you do knits, or where did you get that fabric? How do you get in touch with [Harper’s Bazaar’s] Glenda Bailey? It becomes this really exciting group of shared ideas. That’s what we’re building on these trips with W.
What specific services does the program offer?
One of the first things they do is spend a semester working with an MBA student from NYU’s Stern School. That’s like having a McKinsey [consultant] working with you. So right away, they’re refining their business strategy and learning to be fiscally responsible, things that aren’t always front-of-mind for creatively focused people.
From talking with designers, it seems like the program helps them think critically about the costs associated with their business.
Bringing that into their business is so important. It’s easy to be seduced by the glamour of a big fashion show and feeling like you have to one in order to be legitimate. If nothing else, the designers come out of the Incubator knowing — don’t do things you can’t afford, do it the best you can, and focus on the product. That’s the biggest part of what they get out of this.
What advice do you find yourself giving to every young designer?
It’s funny, the one thing everyone asks is ‘How do I find an investor?’ And sometimes, that’s not a realistic question, or the person asking isn’t ready for that. So I tell everyone, focus on product. Build a strong financial business. Have a core item — with Ji [Oh], it’s shirting — and really focus on that, don’t worry about being a lifestyle brand. You have to build the business and be smart financially, because getting investors take time. We teach perseverance and how to be ready when those opportunities come along.
Suzanne Cohen, director of marketing for W Hotels Worldwide
Yahoo Style: How does W Hotels see its involvement in the CFDA Incubator?
Suzanne Cohen: W Hotels’ role is to give designers the chance to get the global exposure they need to help grow their businesses. That can mean anything from the budget and space for tonight’s showcase, trips to get inspired, exposure through our hotels worldwide — things that wouldn’t otherwise be possible for an emerging brand.
W has built its brand around being the hip person’s hotel — how does this partnership build on that?
We’re about providing our point of view on what’s new and next and offering insider access to all our guests, so it’s natural that we’d want to nurture this emerging talent and bring it to our guests.
Tell us more about the showcase and inspiration trips that W provides.
There’s actually is a business reason for everything in the program — so at the beginning, we meet with each designer to map out how each part of the plan can be beneficial to their business, from the showcase to the inspiration trip. With showcases like the one here in Dallas, each designer gets in front of a market, which is crucial — meeting buyers, retailers, editors, stylists, the local community. All the designers agree getting that feedback and hearing what consumers think is so valuable.
Inspiration trips are another thing a busy young designer may not take time for.
Everyone in the creative industry is so busy, and taking the time to get inspiration is so valuable and coveted. We have the designers look at our locations around the world and decide which one will be beneficial for them, not from a business-building perspective but for their creative process. It’s about having that time away from home, where you’re seeing things, meeting people, tasting the local cuisine, touching fabrics, just taking it in. All those things you don’t get to do in your daily life and the kind of experiences you don’t typically have when you’re on a production or a sourcing trip.
How are the inspiration trips reflected in the designers’ work?
They actually have to do a little homework beforehand on their destination — so say they want to go to the Great Wall of China, or get to know the local markets, taste the cuisine of Beijing or Shanghai. They create an itinerary where they may be visiting boutiques, or seeing what’s selling in that area. And they get five days of complete inspiration. Their inspiration trips become part of their next collection while they’re in the Incubator program, and then W guests can purchase them. So it comes full circle.
Is tagging along one of the perks of the job?
Unfortunately, I don’t get to go!
What aspect of W Hotels’ involvement with the Incubator program are you most proud of?
I feel so much pride when the designers tell me that the program is making a difference in their business — that they’re getting in front of the right consumers and getting marketing exposure that they couldn’t pay for at this stage of their business. And that we stay friends with all the past Incubator designers, and a lot of them stay at the W on their own, because they feel like we supported them in a crucial time for their brands. It really feels like a friendship more than a business relationship.
Stay tuned for our interview with the Incubator designers, coming tomorrow.
