The Glossy Podcast

Influencer marketing is far from a new concept. Online fashion and beauty retailer Revolve has spent nearly a decade building a massive influencer marketing program, eventually creating an in-house team dedicated to influencer strategy. For Raissa Gerona, Revolve's chief brand officer, it's exciting that the rest of the retail world is beginning to catch up. On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Gerona live at Shoptalk 2019 to discuss how Revolve built its brand through influencers, why Snapchat isn't for the company and what untapped potential remains in the influencer marketing space.

As any sneakerhead or streetwear fanatic will tell you, the drop model is part of the fabric of the streetwear retail industry. The drop model, which is shorthand for a brand releasing a limited amount of highly sought-after product all at once, developed out of the fact that some retailers simply couldn't afford to produce massive quantities of product. Fans began to scheme to grab the latest and greatest styles before they were no longer on the shelves. The retail strategy has since been introduced to the mainstream consumer, adopted by major brands including Gucci, Nike and Louis Vuitton. But as these drops continue to hit the mainstream market, some retailers are starting to fear that consumers are growing weary of the never-ending chase for ultra-hyped products. Others are making the shift to an online drop model to avoid the hazards that can come with having lines of hundreds of people outside their stores. In episode two of Glossy Trend Watch: Streetwear Edition, Danny Parisi sits down with Wil Whitney, who was one of the original founders of Nom de Guerre and now manages U.S. brand relations for Sneakersnstuff. Whitney discusses how sneaker retail and the drop model has evolved over time and why the hype bubble will inevitably burst.

When Michelle Cordeiro Grant founded Lively in 2015, she wanted to create a lingerie brand that fit into the lifestyle of the modern woman. In combining design aspects of traditional lingerie, swimwear and athleisure, Cordeiro Grant said Lively has created a new category altogether, which her team refers to as 'leisurée'. Since the company's launch, it has built a massive ambassador program, launched a podcast and started experimenting with physical retail. Cordeiro Grant said the company's move into retail is still in its beta phase, and her team is constantly learning and evolving its retail strategy. On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Michelle Cordeiro Grant, the founder and CEO of Lively, at Shoptalk 2019. They discuss how to break into a crowded market, how Lively's social media channels have become a major part of its content strategy and where traditional retailers have gone wrong.

Ryan Babenzien, the founder and CEO of Greats, has a long history with sneakers and streetwear. When he was growing up, streetwear was a type of fashion that celebrated the rebellious spirit of 1980s youth; it pulled inspiration from luxury brands and flipped them into styles the majority could afford. Nowadays, streetwear has moved up and onto major runways, and for Babenzien, it has morphed into something that can no longer be defined by the same term. On the first episode of our limited series, Glossy Trend Watch: Streetwear Edition, fashion reporter Danny Parisi sits down with Babenzien to to discuss the evolution of streetwear, including the reason he believes it's now dead.

When Anine Bing decided to turn her successful fashion blog and social media presence into a brand, Annika Meller was there. In the early days of the influencer's fashion brand, Meller helped Bing with everything from stuffing boxes to fulfilling orders, as they worked to build the company from the ground-up. In the years that followed, Anine Bing continued to grow its following and its business. The brand now has 10 stores, with four more on the way, and is experimenting with social and traditional marketing. The hope is that one day, the brand will be everywhere its customers are. On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Annika Meller, COO and co-founder of Anine Bing, to discuss what it was like to build a brand on Instagram in 2012, why paid promotions can be dangerous and why investing in more traditional marketing channels like billboards and magazines makes sense.

For most digitally-native brands, a retail concept is nothing more than a pop-up shop in a major city, but for Untuckit's co-founder and CEO Aaron Sanandres, a modern retail strategy demands a permanent physical footprint. Untuckit now boasts 50 retail doors across the United States and Canada. For Sanandres, it is vital to meet the consumers where they are. That's why you can also find an Untuckit shop on Amazon, which operates more like an outlet and is used to sell products that are from seasons past. On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Sanandres live at the NRF Big Show to discuss how customer data is being used to improve in-store experiences, what his approach is to selling on Amazon and why retailers need a physical footprint.

When Joanna Griffiths launched her brand in 2013, she wanted to reinvent intimates. Knix, Griffiths’ brand of functional intimates, was built on the premise that women of all shapes and sizes deserve to be catered to. But while selling the brand through wholesale retailers, Griffiths found the industry didn’t quite share her vision. Stores refused to carry the brand’s extended size range, and Griffiths felt that buyers were more interested in filling a hole on their floor than representing the brand. On this week’s episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Knix founder and CEO Joanna Griffiths, live at NRF 2019, to talk about how making the switch to direct-to-consumer empowered Knix to create more products on its own terms, how the change affected the brand’s marketing strategy and how the company is approaching physical retail.

Disrupting an industry as long-standing as fine jewelry is a tall order for any company. Vrai & Oro, a 5-year-old, DTC company promising fine jewelry with a side of transparency and sustainability, is attempting to do just that. In the years since it's launch, Vrai & Oro has been on a mission to modernize fine jewelry through product transparency and sustainably growing its diamonds. The goal, Stofenmacher said, is to de-stigmatize the process of purchasing diamonds and to empower more people to be a part of the conversation. On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Stofenmacher to discuss how Vrai & Oro makes the complex subject of diamonds easy for customers to understand, how the company has reimagined manufacturing systems and how Stofenmacher balances data and intuition when making business decisions.

As Marie Kondo has everyone rooting through their closets for the items that spark joy and consumers are becoming more conscious of sustainable buying practices, resellers like ThredUp are hitting their stride. The online secondhand marketplace is based on a model that serves both suppliers and customers: Suppliers are able to send in their items free of cost and get paid for them, while buyers have access to an inventory that is always growing and changing, with products listed for significantly less than traditional retail. "I don't want to make it sound like we're bleeding heart activists, because we have to run a profitable business, too," said Marino. "So we're trying to create the ultimate business, which is one that makes money and does good at the same time." On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with ThredUp president Anthony Marino to talk about what's unique about the online resale market, how the company manages its massive and ever-changing inventory, and why its partnerships with outside retailers are a win for all involved.

When Karla Gallardo co-founded Cuyana back in 2011, she was driven by 2 things: a true love for fashion and a desire to impact the bottom line in a real way. In the years since it's launch, Cuyana appears to be one of the few direct-to-consumer brands that has real staying power. Gallardo credits a lot of this success to the fact that the brand has scaled steadily and remained profitable. Now, with a $30 million round of funding under their belts, Cuyana is on track to ramp up its growth efforts in the US. According to Gallardo, this cash injection means that they get to do more of what they already do really well. This means growing their retail footprint with both permanent and pop-up stores, expanding customer acquisition efforts and continuing to produce high-quality product. On this week's episode of The Glossy Podcast, Hilary Milnes sits down with Cuyana co-founder and CEO, Karla Gallardo, to talk about their newest round of funding, building a billion dollar brand and why their north star is profitability.