Loose Threads — Consumer, retail, fashion and commerce

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 from being fashion-focused to technology-focused to somewhere in between, but the unifying thread is always the rapid change facing the industry and how entrepreneurs are responding. You can listen to the podcast on any player of your choice, in addition to on http://LooseThreads.xyz

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 hurts http://qz.com/507904/your-next-item-of-clothing-should-be-so-expensive-it-hurts/ Provenance https://www.provenance.org/ Post Imperial http://post-imperial.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 from being fashion-focused to technology-focused to somewhere in between, but the unifying thread is always the rapid change facing the industry and how entrepreneurs are responding. You can listen to the podcast on any player of your choice, in addition to on http://LooseThreads.xyz

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 about an hour. The guests range from being fashion-focused to technology-focused to somewhere in between, but the unifying thread is always the rapid change facing the industry and how entrepreneurs are responding. You can listen to the podcast on any player of your choice, in addition to on http://LooseThreads.xyz Join the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: http://twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz

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 immensely comfortable, just saying. — Show Notes — http://outlier.nyc — About Loose Threads — Exploring the future of fashion, technology and commerce, by Richie Siegel. http://loosethreads.xyz Join the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: http://twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz

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 what's next for ecommerce, by Richie Siegel. loosethreads.xyz Join the newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: http://twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz

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 everything that makes Loose Threads what it is: exploring the intersection of fashion, technology and manufacturing in the same conversation, and using this mindset to reimagine traditional problems that have plagued the fashion industry for decades. — Show Notes — UNMADE http://unmade.com — About Loose Threads — Inside the fashion industry and what's next for ecommerce, by Richie Siegel. loosethreads.xyz Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buLQY9 Twitter: http://twitter.com/loosethreadsxyz

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