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Clear, prompt and concise reporting style

Excellent communication skills both written and oral

Ability to multi-task and work in a fast-paced environment, being flexible to the changing needs of the business

Positive, ‘can-do’ attitude and willingness to be involved with all nominated projects

Excellent attention to detail

Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint is essential

Strong interest in beauty market

An ideal role for a recent graduate or someone with POS/Field experience in luxury retail

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Jo Malone London hiring Jo Malone London - Marketing Assistant in London, England, United Kingdom | LinkedIn

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Posted 2:15:02 AM. Job DescriptionJo Malone London – Marketing AssistantPosition SummaryThe Jo Malone London Omni…See this and similar jobs on LinkedIn.

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GENERAL

On hand to support with all ad hoc requests for support across the total marketing team, Product, Retail Experience, CRM, Media & PR/Comms,

Raise all marketing FOCs and POs for the team.

Establish and maintain excellent relationships with cross-functional groups (Sales, Online, Corporate & Education).

Help manage Marketing team comms on Workplace and be the main contact for all Boutiques and Stylist queries on behalf of the total marketing team

Ensure strong awareness of website activity and ensure regular feedback are provided to the Digital team.

Maintain strong awareness of boutique activity and build effective relationships with store staff and field personnel.

Maintain Marketing department stock and props cupboard, including Pre-launch and samples.

Support the organisation of Retailer Strategy meetings, room set ups, gift, vm, comps and testers

Support cross functional when and if needed across the marketing team including PR and digital marketing (particularly over peak period)

Support with all room booking ensuring all Marketing meetings are scheduled efficiently

MARKETING CAMPAIGNS & NEW LAUNCHES

Day to day support in executing 360 marketing campaigns. Work cross-functionally to assist in creating launch packs and launch reviews.

Develop and maintain good relations with boutiques and ASEMs to support with any queries from the field

Support the marketing team & wider Jo Malone London team with brand presentations & editing inline with brand guidelines

Work with the whole Marketing team to arrange brand conferences, retailer strategy meetings, social activities, presentations (from deck creation to meeting preparation)

Supporting with product send outs to retailers and key partners in a timely manner to secure visibility.

Support the operations and marketing team with the merchandising of new stores & pop-up sites

Support with the communication & cascading copy/assets to retailers, centers and landlords

Events & Retail Experience

Assist the Omni channel Retail Experience Manager with executing the in-store events strategy including event briefs, general event admin

Support with gifting strategy implementation, including birthdays and everyday gifting

Assist with monitoring competitor events and retail experience, supporting the marketing team identify opportunities and make recommendations for future campaigns.

Collating & sharing monthly newsletter of key competitor highlights to wider Jo Malone London team

Assist with collating event results & images to complete post campaign analysis

Assist with Personalisation & localisation strategy across all channels, including replen orders to stores & continuous review of performance

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SEOs, Copy writing, Fashion terminology, Written communication, Trend forecasting, Storytelling,

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Digital SEO & Product Copywriter at Stella McCartney in London | Vogue Business Talent

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Apply now at Vogue Business Talent for the Digital SEO & Product Copywriter role at Stella McCartney in London

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Bloomingdales

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DFYNE

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House of CB

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Communication, Leadership skills, Interpersonal skills, Flexibility

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Programme management, Microsoft Office skills, Strategy planning, Strong financial acumen, Attention to detail

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Social media strategy, communication, organised, paid social ads, Google Analytics

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Strategy planning, Strong wide marketing knowledge (Digital, Shopper, Content, Copywriting, Print, Social Media, Brand and Campaigns), Leadership skills, Marketing budgeting skills

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Interpersonal skills

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Strategy planning

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Creating compelling copy with an eye on sales, SEO and storytelling

Be a savvy writer capable of speaking confidently to target audiences, you will drive and edit copy for our multiple social media accounts

Writing engaging copy across digital platforms and transcribing and editing captions for videos

Continually checking and updating existing website copy, connecting with relevant stakeholders to ensure everything is in line with the current tone of voice, latest sustainability information and designs/materials

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Assists in the planning and full execution of all aspects of in-store events and animation that support the direction of the Central strategy. Track post-event results and provides feedback to Central partners

Enhances Central strategy by supporting secured sponsorships, co-branding opportunities and/or community initiatives that build productive local relationships with the intent to build customer base and commerce

Partners with the Store Leadership team in creating curated experiences to build loyalty and share among Bloomingdale's top spending "Top of the List" (TOL) clients. Maximize opportunities to delight top clients through experiences and special events. Monitor frequency of visits, engagement and spend

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Liaising with internal stake holders/ regional market leads to create info including brand strategy data, market research, competitive positioning

Define customer offer

Work with Customer Insights team to deliver market research plans to support key gateways and whole life planning

Work closely with Design, Brand Communications, Product Engineering and Customer Services teams

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Developing a full strategy for newer platforms and identify opportunity

Executing relevant social first campaigns, ensuring all social output is on engaging, on-brand and aimed at our target audiences

Launching engaging, on-trend, innovative content across the social platforms to increase engagement and brand awareness (e.g. social challenges)

Plan, evaluate, monitor and be re-active to Gym/Fitness/Health trends

Working closely with the partnerships team to secure impactful social partnerships for increased brand awareness/credibility

Leading weekly trading meetings from a social media standpoint, for both paid and organic social media

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Develop and maintain annual marketing calendar, working with founder and stakeholders to outline strategies that expand reach and build brand affinity

Working closely with the creative, marketing and sales teams to create advertising campaigns and promotions and ensure team leads are executing to drive results

Develop go-to market strategies and tactics to drive meaningful launches that deliver on key KPIs scaling to key business priorities

Ideate and lead global marketing strategies across creative campaigns, partnerships, and retail to expand international market presence and awareness

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Communication skills

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Social Media campaign planning

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Attend network events and webinars, led by industry experts covering tips on how to stand out within the marketing industry and the different roles available within marketing. For example, continue attending the online CIM webinars.

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Resources from research insights and trends within the fashion industry (Vogue Business, Business of Fashion, WGSN, McKinsey)

Resources for future job opportunities (LinkedIn jobs, BoF careers, Fashion United, Milkround, Indeed)

Create a strong network of professionals and industry leads (Predominantly using LinkedIn to make new connections, build my professional profile, and find out about marketing events/webinars I can attend)

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Dear BoF Community,

In 2007, BoF began as a blog in the same year that the iPhone launched and just as social media was about to explode into the global consciousness. BoF took part in a wave of innovation that irrevocably transformed the way we connect, communicate and engage with each other - and with the brands that we love.

Now, we are on the cusp of another wave of innovation. In the last year, the interest in AI has dramatically grown, spurred by the rise of ChatGPT, Dall-E, Midjourney and other generative AI tools.

But there is so much more to AI than this. We still do not know how it will evolve, and how it will change the way we live and work. All we know is that the underlying technology has reached an exciting inflection point in terms of application and adoption.

Today, The Business of Fashion is excited to share our first experiment in using AI to solve a set of industry problems that we have been thinking about a lot. As the industry continues its inexorable shift from analogue to digital marketing channels, new marketing challenges - and opportunities - are emerging for fashion brands:

Marketing spend is increasing, but measurement tools are still insufficient: Fashion brands are spending more on digital marketing, but the tools they are using are unable to assess the quality of the ensuing social conversation.

Brands are communicating across a growing number of channels: The number of channels that brands are using to reach customers around the world continues to grow, making it harder to measure impact and success.

Customers have a higher share of voice in determining brand narratives: Brands once unilaterally controlled their brand narratives. Today, brands engage in a multi-directional dialogue that is often driven by customers themselves across a variety of social media platforms.

This means there is also more data than ever to understand what customers are saying and thinking about fashion brands. However, most of the data available in the market is still focused on the volume of the conversation - reach, impressions, engagements - and less on the quality of that conversation.

BoF Insights and Quilt.AI co-created The BoF Brand Magic Index as a novel, quantifiable and trackable metric to evaluate a brand's marketing efforts by measuring the distance between brands and their customers. The Index is powered by proprietary AI models from Quilt.AI that are trained on hundreds of millions of cultural expressions to evaluate content shared by brands and their customers on social media.

We first assess the ideals and values that a brand conveys in its own content, leveraging 12 archetypes developed by Carl Jung, and then analyse if customers express the same archetypes when they share content about a brand.

Ultimately, Brand Magic is an AI tool that measures whether customers see a brand in the same way that the brand sees itself. We believe Brand Magic is one forward-looking performance metric into how a brand will perform. Our thesis is that most aligned brands will outperform over the long-term.

For our first iteration of this analysis, we have quantified a Brand Magic score for 50 global luxury and fashion brands. We analysed over 70,000 posts from around the world across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Weibo between May 1 to July 31, 2023. Brands that score highly in our Index are in lockstep with their customers, while brands at the opposite end of the spectrum are likely in transition.

The most aligned brands are in lockstep with their customers:

Miu Miu (Score = 95) Sometimes known as Prada's little sister, the directional Italian brand has experienced a growth spurt after Miuccia Prada injected new creativity into the brand, exuding individuality and confidence that has translated well on social media. Sales were up 50 percent year over year in H2 2023.

Giorgio Armani (Score = 92) The Armani empire remains under the steady creative leadership of its founder, with a brand image that has remained understandable to his customers. Although Armani is not a "hot" brand, it is unfailingly consistent in its brand expression.

Boss (Score = 92) The brand once known for its tailoring is undergoing a significant turnaround led by CEO Daniel Grieder. He has clarified the positioning of its two brands, Boss and Hugo while leaning into a successful influencer-led strategy to drive awareness and push into more casual styles. The company raised its 2023 guidance for the second time in August.

The least aligned brands are in transition:

Lanvin (Score = 62) The venerable couture maison is still searching for a new identity post Alber Elbaz. Bruno Sialelli, who replaced Elbaz, left last year. The search is on for a new creative director.

Michael Kors (Score = 62) The "jet set" brand known for its charismatic and energetic founder has become over-reliant on discounting, which has diluted the brand's appeal.

Gucci (Score = 58) Performance at the historic Italian house has flatlined following the exit of Alessandro Michele, who oversaw an unprecedented growth spurt. Customers are awaiting a new creative vision from Sabato de Sarno, who debuts his first collection at Milan Fashion Week in September 2023.

Diesel (Score = 56) The provocative denim brand has created new buzz with industry insiders who are taken with Glenn Martens' designs and ideas, but our data suggests customers have not caught up with his new vision, reinforcing the fact that evolution takes time.

If you find these insights to be thought-provoking, BoF Insights and Quilt.AI can deliver detailed and proprietary analysis for your brand based on thousands of data points on social media, broken down by geography, demography and social media platform. If you are interested, please contact us at insights@businessoffashion.com.

For in-depth analysis across the 50 brands in the index, as well as more detail on the methodology, download the complete report on The BoF Brand Magic Index.

Imran and The BoF Insights Team

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BoF Insights and Quilt.AI co-created The BoF Brand Magic Index to examine if customers see a brand the same way a brand sees itself. The Index quantifies and ranks 50 global luxury and fashion labels using AI-driven analysis of tens of thousands of social media posts by brands and their customers.

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Why London Is the World's Most Exciting Creative City

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Listen to this episode from The Business of Fashion Podcast on Spotify. As London Fashion Week kicks off, BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed sits down with four London-based creative talents to explore how the city's rich creative scene stems from its unique cultural diversity and the sense of community and collaboration this provides.Background: With over 300 languages spoken within its city limits - more than any other metropolis - London has cemented its place among the world's most global cities.

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Vogue Business brings you weekly exclusive data from TikTok, unpacking the latest creators and biggest trends sweeping its Gen Z user base.

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Whichever industry you choose, marketing is about understanding what's happening around you through the research you do. It's about knowing what your customers want, what your competitors are doing, and ultimately selling and promoting your product the best way you can.

Have you ever been looking at a pair of shoes on the internet or another product which then pops up on your social media feed? This is not a coincidence. It is a marketer's job to pick the best ways to reach their customers to promote and sell their products.

So, whether you see that TV advert for a new car, that newly released burger displayed at the bus stop, or an influencer promoting something on TikTok, all of it is connected to marketing.

A successful career in marketing requires a lot of different skills and knowledge. Whilst not all of these skills are necessary, if you can pick out a couple that you're good at or if you're studying any related A-Levels, this will really help you when applying for marketing roles or courses.

Art and Design

If you have a creative flair, a career in marketing would suit you well. The ability to create and communicate products in a compelling way, will help you to succeed in the industry. And an interest in how brands visually differentiate themselves, will make you stand out against others looking to get into the industry.

English and Humanities

Effective communication is key to marketing, so if you're good with words and language, marketing could be perfect for you. Whether it's a magazine article or social media advert, you'll be talking directly to your audience and unless you get the important points across clearly, you'll never persuade them to buy your product.

Maths

If you're good with numbers, lots of elements of marketing require a good grasp of maths. From analysing customer data, to calculating whether a promotional campaign has been profitable, there are various roles within the industry that you could be right for.

Computer studies and IT

Technology has become increasingly important to marketers in helping them deliver and promote their products in the market - just look at the rise of programmatic advertising and augmented reality. The forward-thinking people with the technical skills to make all of this happen, are among the most successful marketers.

Languages

Marketing is an increasingly global business. The ability to speak foreign languages and understand other cultures gives you a major advantage when working for multi-national companies. This could also give you the opportunity to live and work abroad.

Why a career in marketing?

If you're looking for a job:

Where your day is never the same, full of different activities and working with different people

Which is exciting, something you can be passionate about and actually be able to show this passion through your work

Or have a career that could go in many different directions depending on what you enjoy, and learn skills that you could use to set up your own business one day.

Then marketing could be for you!

Marketing is present in every organisation in some way, across all industries. So whether you're interested in fashion, sports, gaming, or whatever your passion is, all of these brands need marketing. This means as a marketer you can not only work for a brand you are passionate about, but you can also make a real difference through the work you do.

No matter where you work, marketing is always changing. In recent years we've seen social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat or TikTok take off, and marketers have had to adapt. Nothing stays the same for long, keeping your career different and interesting, but you will always need to be learning to keep up.

Marketing is a department full of people who have different job roles and responsibilities. You could have the creative flair, the strategic mind set or numerical skills, there is something for everyone.

As an aspiring marketer, getting into the industry can seem daunting, but finding your true potential in marketing isn't limited to one specific route. If you haven't figured out your route into the industry yet, you still have a range of options to choose from. Whether you want to earn and learn, have your heart set on university or want to gain a recognised qualification, the choice is yours. Click on each route to find out more.

If you have any questions regarding our qualifications or other routes into marketing
Call +44 (0)1628 427120
Email qualifications@cim.co.uk

Don't forget to follow us on social media to find out more about marketing.

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Get into Marketing - start your marketing career with CIM

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There are various routes to start your marketing career. Find out how The Chartered Institute of Marketing can support you no matter your journey.

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Grace Beverley is someone who inspires me as she has grown from a fitness Influencer on Instagram to a very successful business women and CEO. I am interested to read this article as it describes how she has grown her activewear brand 'Tala' from an influencer brand focused solely on driving sales, to a brand that brings Gen Z's luxury and quality at an accessible price point. Tala's USP is that it is a womenswear brand run by mainly women, meaning that they know exactly what their target audience need. After scanning the article, I can see that the brand has used social media and paid performance marketing to drive sales and reach new audiences. Furthermore, Tala have responded to current consumer trends with the inclusivity of their sizing and their sustainability practises.

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Activewear brand Tala may have started out as an influencer label. But founder Grace Beverley was keen to break the mould with product innovation, responsible materials and, more recently, size inclusivity.

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Last Thursday, entrepreneur and influencer Grace Beverley's London-based activewear label Tala launched its third outerwear drop on its website. An hour later, Beverley posted a screenshot to her Instagram feed: the puffer jackets, retailing up to £199, had hit £1 million in sales.

Beverley launched Tala in 2019, when she was aged 22 and making her name as a fitness influencer under the handle @GracefitUK. She had already founded online fitness platform Shreddy (where she remains CEO).

Originally launched as a licensed brand with a manufacturing partner, Tala did £6 million in sales in its first year. However, for Beverley, the real launch of the brand was April 2021, when she severed ties with the initial licenser and manufacturing partner, known for launching influencer-led labels, and struck out on her own. "I haven't talked about this much because at the time it was sensitive," Beverley says, speaking from a meeting room in her central London headquarters, "but having to rip it all down and start from scratch in order to build a brand with [longevity] was incredibly hard, it was incredibly expensive and incredibly tough emotionally. It required a huge amount of conviction."

The previous partners wanted Tala to be an influencer brand, focused solely on driving sales via Beverley's own Instagram and creating viral drops or heavily branded merchandise. Beverley was keen to invest in product innovation and build a business to last. "Being an influencer merch brand is fine and it has its value. But capping the brand's growth at myself and my own reach, where being an influencer actually isn't even what I want to do, wasn't what I wanted for my future or for the brand," she says.

Beverley already had a devoted consumer base, but without partners, she needed internal and financial support to rebuild her brand, which she was self-funding in the interim. She appointed Morgan Fowles as managing director of Tala in May 2021, to help her find investment, bolster the teams and set up a whole new manufacturing network. Previously COO of direct-to-consumer menswear label Spoke, Fowles has held product and merchandising roles across fashion, from PVH to LVMH. This year, Fowles was named CEO, while Beverley holds the founder title. The brand declined to share exact revenues, but sales were in eight figures for 2023, up 100 per cent from 2022.

Tala went into its first fundraise in 2021 with "little to no infrastructure", Fowles says. But its consumer base was enough for investors, who saw the potential in the brand's vision for ethically sourced activewear with mass appeal. Tala raised £4.2 million in February 2022, led by Active Ventures and Venrex. "No one had done more ethically sourced [athletic wear] anywhere near an affordable price point," Beverley believes. "And no one wanted to because they looked at the margins and they were like, 'Woah! We could sell it for 2.5 times the price.'"

Tala specialises in activewear and athleisure made with recycled or upcycled materials, including Tencel or organic cotton. Its offering includes its Formtech leggings, made from 75 per cent pre-consumer recycled materials, like factory offcuts. Its sculpt seamless activewear collection is made with recycled post-consumer waste such as fishing nets or plastic bottles. Pieces are priced from around £30 for tops to £199 for a full-length coat.

"Tala is one of the few brands bringing luxury and quality to the Gen Z and millennial customer at an accessible price point," says Sasha Trower, partner at Tala investor Venrex. "The team is laser focused on the value equation of their products and I think this is one of the things that resonates so well with their audience. The sky's the limit."

Instead of competing with premium players like Lululemon or Alo Yoga, Beverley and Fowles were keen to take on the mass market with product innovation to improve comfort and fit and design entirely with women in mind. It's a hot segment today: from Nike and Adidas to challenger brands like Lululemon, sportswear labels have invested in women-focused design and marketing over the last year. Beverley is keen to point out that unlike a lot of major labels, Tala isn't just made for women, but also women-run. The brand is 71 per cent women-owned, 75 per cent of board seats are held by women and 75 per cent of leadership positions are held by women. "That's probably why we get the product so right again and again, because we will sit there and we will argue about a gusset for literally an hour."

Following the investment, Beverley and Fowles scaled the team from nine to 40 people, bolstering every team from marketing to design. Tala went from a product roadmap of two activewear fabrics and sweats, to five recycled and upcycled activewear fabrics, a new "second-skin" athleisure line, swimwear, resort wear and outerwear. Hardly any of the pieces were heavily branded, moving away from the "merch brand" model.

Reconciling responsibility with driving consumption

When Tala started out, it was pitched as an ethical activewear label, with sustainability centred in brand communications and marketing. Fifty per cent of Tala's customers each week are returning customers. That's positive business-wise, but for a label that pitches itself in the ethical fashion space, that's a lot of consumption. Tala might work with majority upcycled and recycled materials, but when you're still pushing product, it's hard to say you're sustainable, Beverley concedes. "We've moved away from that messaging." Tala's responsibility page explains that it's not a sustainable brand, but a more responsible choice than competitors in the same price bracket.

"Starting a fashion brand is not sustainable, and I will always, always own that. I will always say sustainable fashion is an oxymoron," Beverley says. "Consumption is always at odds with sustainability. However, we know that our customers, with all the convenience in the world available to them, with all of their best intentions, are not going to stop consuming activewear. You have to create solutions at a mass market level that are better, not perfect, in order to be able to create change." She adds that her laser focus on product, quality and fit is to ensure the garments are preferred to fast fashion equivalents.

Producing activewear sustainably is extremely difficult, because performance fabrics have always required synthetic fibres to provide adequate stretch, temperature control and sweat wicking. Like all synthetic clothing, synthetic activewear fibres shed microplastics into the water supply when washed. And, even upcycled and recycled activewear like that used by Tala, though it uses less natural resources, still emits microplastics like regular synthetic garments, which the company explains on its responsibility page.

Tala does encourage use of microplastic catching guppy bags on its social media, which customers can use to prevent fibres getting into the water supply. And Beverley notes that when Tala doesn't have to use performance fabrics, it has used biodegradable wood pulp textile Tencel or organic cotton.

Some labels are experimenting with non-synthetic performance wear. Mara Hoffman released a swimsuit made from dissolved wood pulp last year, while last month, Sail racing league SailGP partnered with plastic-free apparel startup Mover to create technical sportswear made from 100 per cent natural fibres. However, it took two years to develop the six piece collection, which might not work for brands at scale like Tala. Tala is keen to keep experimenting with new textile options looking ahead, as they become available at scale.

Social drives scale but product comes first

Beverley doesn't want to be categorised as an influencer brand, but social media is still a huge revenue driver for Tala, across the label's own channels and Beverley's accounts. The brand has also invested in performance (paid) marketing to reach new audiences this year, particularly on TikTok. Tala's TikTok has almost 60,000 followers and over 700,000 likes.

The tone of the content across both pages is focused on how Tala products look, feel and perform. "When I talk on social media about Tala, I do it as if I'm talking to a friend. Rather than saying, new, new, new, we say, here's a seam, here's a cuff, this is cut this way to give comfort around the stomach," Beverley says. "The reason we have so many things to tell them is because our market strategy starts from the solutions we provide with product." This method aligns with the hauls and unboxings trending on TikTok, as young people do more research than ever before they purchase fashion, to better understand the product quality and fit. Beverley also avidly reads Tala reviews, social media comments and messages from the consumer base, to learn how products are received. And, she says Tala won't rerun a product if it's had negative reviews, without making adjustments based on feedback.

Beverley is used to taking feedback. As a prominent figure and a female entrepreneur on social media, the young founder has been met with a lot of scrutiny online. Just this week after the successful outerwear launch, the founder was criticised by one TikTok user for not tagging #ad on her posts wearing the pieces before the sale. The posts received thousands of comments and likes. Tala declined to comment on the accusations but Beverley responded to the video directly on TikTok saying she'd sought advice from regulators on this issue.

Having Fowles on hand helps Beverley weather the storms. "What I've been told from a lot of founders is the hardest thing is finding someone who is able to join you in the journey," Beverley says. "We have been through hell and back and even from a very early stage together and to be able to have that and not want to kill each other is pretty impressive," she says.

Looking ahead, Tala remains focused on its UK business, but Beverley says the brand is steadily growing in the US and Europe without any marketing spend, after the company made shipping and logistics easier this year. "I think we're at another inflection point, based on the numbers we're looking at," Beverley says.

To broaden its mass market appeal, Tala launched plus sizes up to 4XL in February this year, after planning the collection for almost two years and holding several focus groups with groups of 20 plus-size women, to understand their needs. It promised that roughly three-quarters of all new styles and colours would be available in extended sizing within the following six months. The brand explained that it couldn't launch plus sizes across 100 per cent of products just yet, as it gradually scales fits and finds new machines to make its seamless garments in bigger sizes, for example.

"Since we started the business, not having plus size has been a niggle of mine," says Beverley. "We'd said we were providing recycled activewear to more people by taking it to the mass market, but without doing plus size, we were excluding half the population," says Beverley. (The average size in the UK is 16, equivalent to US 12.) And, when it comes to activewear, plus-size customers have typically only had fast fashion to choose from, apart from smaller capsules by major players. Tala gradually is launching plus across its ranges to understand demand, trying to avoid overstock and testing how popular certain styles, shapes or colours are with this audience.

Tala will continue to invest in new categories and product innovations to scale the business. "Activewear is hard to get repeat purchases on because most people come to your site to buy black leggings. But, if you're buying back into new categories like trousers or swimwear because of how good those leggings are - that's the space we want to get into," Beverley says. "I want people to always think of Tala and I think hopefully in the next few years, they will."

Key takeaway: Grace Beverley first launched Tala with a licensing and manufacturing partner, which was keen to leverage her influencer status to build a social-media driven merch brand. Beverley wanted to build a more responsible activewear and athleisure business to last, focused on design innovation, so she took the leap to strike out on her own. After a challenging first year securing funding and building a team, she's now built a label with an avenue for growth.

Comments, questions or feedback? Email us at feedback@voguebusiness.com.
More on this topic: Plastic-free technical sportswear is here. What's next? Lululemon CEO unpacks plan to hit $12.5 billion in revenue by 2026 Gymshark CEO on building an athleisure unicorn

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Vogue Business in partnership with UK Department for Business and Trade

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Grace Beverley's Tala is growing up. Just don't call it an influencer brand

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Grace Beverley's activewear brand Tala may have started out as an influencer label. But the founder was keen to break the mould with product innovation, responsible materials and, more recently, size inclusivity.

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When Toronto-based designer Spencer Badu was accepted into a well-known showroom in Paris, he was sure it would be his ticket to fame - or at least recognition from buyers and key editors during fashion week.

But Badu soon realised the showroom's sales agents were too busy steering buyers to the higher-profile brands on display than to his own. So he took matters into his own hands the next year, renting an Airbnb and a couple of clothing rails before reaching out to buyers directly, inviting them to check out his genderless ready-to-wear line, which today includes cargo pants, track jackets and other staples.

His DIY approach, during the Autumn/Winter 2018 season, yielded instant results. Ssense - the Canadian retailer known for often being first to stock buzzy emerging labels - placed one of the brand's first-ever wholesale orders. The designer's sharpened pitch also appealed to niche retailers including Opener in South Korea, known for its curation of young luxury brands including Martine Rose and S.S. Daley, which also placed orders that season.

Badu found a way to catch the attention of buyers, editors and consumers without relocating his brand to a fashion capital like New York or Paris. That's rarely easy: industry gatekeepers have less power than they used to, but they're still more likely to give a leg up to brands they've already encountered. Few are making regular scouting trips outside the usual circuit of global fashion capitals. Without the prestige of "designed in Paris," or "made in New York," founders end up having to work harder to build credibility.

"When you're not coming from a city with a long history of famous designers and loads of well-known stores, you have to find a way to carve your own lane," Badu said.

But the changing dynamics of the industry has created new opportunities. During the pandemic, brands were forced to embrace virtual appointments for buyers and VIP shoppers. For many, these Zoom meetings have persisted, levelling the playing field for small remote brands that may not have the means to travel for every potential order. Meanwhile, consumers' growing comfort in shopping online meant lesser-known brands with eye-catching social media feeds were able to attract shoppers far beyond their immediate locales.

The activewear brand Castore started out from a tiny town in the UK called Bebington, near Liverpool and now manufactures apparel for elite teams across football, cricket, rugby and F1; Story mfg, a husband-and-wife run ready-to-wear brand is based in Brighton, UK but has attracted a high-profile clientele that includes Gigi Hadid, Hailey Bieber and Kyrie Irving. Meanwhile, Manchester-based sneaker brand Clints has seen its popularity soar after a high-profile collaboration with Dutch streetwear giant Patta, followed by the opening of its first flagship store in its hometown last summer.

These brands have been able to grow since the pandemic through a combination of gritty hustle, leveraging with local as well as international celebrity fans, and choosing strategic wholesale partners to garner credibility and exposure abroad.

"It's about doing everything you can to grab the attention of key people in key markets, whether that's by spending more time creating compelling social media content, or reaching out to press or buyers who may have a personal connection to the city you're from," said Harry Fisher, whose agency, Htown, has launched the wholesale businesses of brands such as Nensi Dojaka, Maximilian and Mowalola. Htown also works with Badu.

The Wholesale Hack

For indie brands, wholesale isn't just a revenue stream; if done correctly, it's a way to show up in front of tastemaking consumers, stylists and other professionals in the industry with just a few retail partners, Fisher said. The key is to select stockists that punch above their weight in terms of cultural cachet and reputation.

Badu said his tightly managed roster of seven wholesale partners has helped win over a discerning but influential consumer group, including K-pop sensation New Jeans, who came across his line while shopping at Opener, a boutique in South Korea, and DJ Peggy Gou, who found Badu's brand in Htown, Fisher's east-London boutique run alongside his agency.

"Now we're in stores in Korea, China, the UK and US, certain people see us adjacent to these big brands and suddenly think of your clothing as valuable, therefore you've made it in their eyes and you're a real fashion designer worth paying attention to," he said.

Each New Jeans' appearance in his clothing - including a $120 American football-style jersey and several of the brand's $135 "Youniform" T-shirts - has resulted in a flurry of new followers on Badu's social media accounts.

At respected stores, brands also have a higher chance of exposure to celebrity stylists. Thanks to this, Badu's clothing has found fans in high places, and in recent years has been spotted on the likes of American rapper Kendrick Lamar and NBA fashion icon Kyle Kuzma.

Hometown Advantage

Some designers see their provincial origins as an advantage.

This is certainly true in the case of Bertony Da Silva, the designer behind the fast-growing Belgian streetwear label, Arte Antwerp, who was able to build a loyal base of local shoppers by marketing his brand's sports-inspired streetwear offering to fans of the the city's nascent hip-hop and youth culture scene.

While it's well known for the "Antwerp Six" - the collective of luxury designers that included Dries Van Noten and Ann Demeulemeester, who graduated from the city's Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the 1980s - Antwerp wasn't a streetwear destination when Da Silva first started experimenting with T-shirt design projects in 2009.

Arte Antwerp's collections of puffer jackets, hoodies and knitwear rapidly spread in popularity and quickly became a symbol of pride among young fashion-forward consumers in Belgium, as well as young kids from the African diaspora who previously weren't able to turn to many local brands they felt represented their cultural interests (Da Silva is of Angolan heritage). Da Silva's connections to local high-profile hip-hop artists and athletes also helped spread the brand's cool factor and gave its sports-inspired streetwear credibility.

"Creating this crossover between Antwerp's high-fashion traditions with Arte's elevated streetwear and hip-hop and sporting connections was exactly what helped us stand out when we first started," he told BoF.

Coming from a smaller town or city certainly has other advantages. Badu said being in Toronto means there isn't a relentless schedule of industry events. Rents are also cheaper, which means brands can afford to open a store sooner than their big city counterparts, Fisher added.

A Local Destination

Opening hometown flagship stores allows emerging designers to emphasise their regional identity, creating not only a retail destination but also a gathering point for local fashion fans. Meanwhile, there are often far fewer "cool" brands than in major cities, meaning when one does enter the scene, it can quickly become a mecca for fashion-forward consumers.

Clints, the Manchester, UK-based label known for its thick-soled retro sneakers, was able to turn its sleek, minimalist store into a regular hangout for the local streetwear community, according to founder Junior Clint. As the only store of its kind in Manchester, Clints has also become a destination for fashion-forward visitors to the city.

Arte's two flagship stores in Antwerp and Brussels, which opened in 2016 and 2021 respectively, also have become hotspots for the streetwear and music communities for events, such as shows or exhibitions. It's also where young consumers and fans may go to spot high-profile friends and collaborators of the brand, including footballers such as Belgium's Michy Batshuayi and Rafael Leão of Portugal.

"It's so important not to forget about catering to your local community," Da Silva said. "These are the people who will automatically spread the word about your brand worldwide."

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Labels that get their start outside of major fashion hubs are leveraging their local identities and a strategic approach to wholesale to gain international followings.

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Discover the most relevant industry news and insights for fashion professionals working in retail, updated each month to enable you to excel in job interviews, promotion conversations or perform better in the workplace by increasing your market awareness and emulating market leaders.

BoF Careers distills business intelligence from across the breadth of our content - editorial briefings, newsletters, case studies, podcasts and events - to deliver key takeaways and learnings tailored to your job function, listed alongside a selection of the most exciting live jobs advertised by BoF Careers partners.

Explore global job opportunities in retail on BoF Careers today, from a digital learning and retail excellence specialist at Maison Margiela in Paris to an assistant store manager at Paul Smith in London, a sales assistant at Carhartt WIP in Berlin, a men's tailored clothing expert at Bloomingdale's in New York, or an associate store leader at On in Hong Kong.
Key articles and need-to-know insights for retail professionals today: 1. How Matches' Collapse Could Impact Independent Fashion

The closure of Matches, announced after Mike Ashley's Frasers Group abandoned plans to turn around the loss-making e-commerce site, blindsided employees and brands. The move occurred just days after the retailer's buying directors flew back from placing orders at Milan Fashion Week, and less than three months after Frasers acquired the site.

Matches' downfall has compounded an already punishing climate for independent fashion businesses, whose limited funding and niche offering often make it impracticable to operate retail stores, but for whom the path to profitability at wholesale is increasingly narrow. [...] Turmoil at larger rival Farfetch, which sold to South Korea's Coupang in a December deal that wiped out most shareholders, provided another signal that brands should rethink their dependence on luxury e-commerce. Still, for many independent labels, the changes may have come too late.

Some longtime observers of companies such as Macy's, Kohl and Nordstrom fear the endgame may be approaching. Last month, Macy's announced it will close another 150 stores by 2026, effectively halving its footprint from 2018. Kohl's and Macy's have both been targeted by activist investors more interested in selling off their real estate assets than revitalising retail.
3. Visa, Mastercard Reach $30 Billion Deal With US Retailers
Right now, department stores cannot compete with Instagram and TikTok as engines of product discovery, said Andrea Wasserman, a retail veteran and former executive at Nordstrom. But they have something online platforms do not: a physical footprint. "For inspiration and for convenience, you still have to go into stores," she said. "You can follow any influencer on TikTok but you still need a place to go to see a new style or brand."

Visa Inc. and Mastercard Inc. agreed to cap credit-card swipe fees - a deal that US merchants say will save them at least $30 billion over five years - in one of the most significant antitrust settlements ever, following a legal fight that spanned almost two decades. The deal, which is subject to court approval, also would allow retailers to charge consumers extra at checkout for using Visa or Mastercard credit cards and use pricing tactics to steer customers to lower-cost cards.

In recent years, merchants have grown increasingly vocal about their opposition to these fees, which typically amount to about 2 percent of a purchase and totalled more than $100 billion last year. While Visa and Mastercard set the level of these fees, it's the banks that issue the cards that actually collect most of that revenue.

When Daniel Ervér was named chief executive of H&M Group in January, the appointment was widely received as a surprise, and not necessarily a good one. The company's problems are well-documented at this point: H&M has struggled in a post-Shein world, occupying the rapidly shrinking middle between ultra-cheap online competitors and Zara's "upscale" fast fashion. In interviews after his appointment, Ervér spoke to the need to "react quicker" to new trends, à la Shein, but also sell more high-priced items, like Zara.

While the chain has been closing stores to cut costs, its many brick-and-mortar locations remain a key advantage over the online-only competition. Zara-owner Inditex demonstrated as much earlier this month when it reported record sales of €35.9 billion ($39 billion) in 2023, up 10.4 percent. It also remains to be seen whether Ervér will have the same commitment to sustainability as his predecessor, Helena Helmersson, who aimed to pitch H&M as an unlikely (and often controversial) champion of green fashion.

Nike beat Wall Street expectations with its latest earnings results, posting flat growth in the quarter ending Feb. 29 compared to the same period last year, with sales of $12.4 billion. Analysts were expecting a slight decline. It's hardly a robust sign of recovery for the beleaguered sportswear behemoth. But it will provide breathing room for a company which faces a deepening identity crisis under chief executive John Donahoe, who announced a $2 billion cost-cutting plan late last year amid stagnant sales.

But it's important to note that Nike still dwarfs Adidas: the former's annual revenue of $51 billion is more than double its German counterpart's €21.4 billion ($23.3 billion). But investors favour Adidas, whose shares are up 40 percent in the past year. So too do consumers, who in recent years have flocked to get their hands on the brand's booming retro sneaker franchises including the Gazelle, Samba and Campus - a trend that has eclipsed the appeal of Nike's chunky basketball sneakers such as Jordans, Air Forces and Dunks.

Today, there are a number of brands on the auction block, but few interested buyers. Last year, there were 118 acquisitions globally in the category, the lowest count in at least a decade, according to Dealogic. Ganni, A.L.C., Proenza Schouler and Isabel Marant are just some of the brands that have courted buyers or investors in recent years without securing a deal. When offers are made, they are more likely to follow the more conservative measure of multiples of EBITDA, or earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Today's market is a return to a sleepier era, before the days of ZIRP, or zero interest rate policy, a period lasting roughly between 2008 and 2021, when central banks globally slashed borrowing costs as a form of economic stimulus. Investors and large companies borrowed billions of dollars, which they poured into fast-growing, often unprofitable brands, such as Allbirds, or retail start-ups like Farfetch and The RealReal, in the hopes of generating big returns down the line as those businesses matured. For brands the options are stark: accept a lower price and a wider potential pool of buyers, or wait and hope today's market conditions are temporary, and not the new norm.

There's a reason brands spend millions of dollars on 30-second ads during the Super Bowl - they work. Temu's 90 seconds spent telling American football fans to "shop like a billionaire" last month cost the Chinese shopping app an estimated $21 million. That was a drop in the bucket in a global marketing strategy, which according to JPMorgan is expected to total $3 billion this year alone and will encompass television ads, digital marketing and influencer partnerships. That effort appears to have succeeded. In January and February, Temu generated sales of $346 million - up from $77 million in the same period last year, according to Facteus, a data insights firm that tracks debit and credit card spending.

US consumers directed 0.65 percent of their online spending toward Temu, surpassing Shein, the previous Chinese-owned app to storm the US market, which held a 0.47 percent share, according to data provider Consumer Edge. (Amazon still has a healthy lead, at 16.5 percent). [...] However, analysts believe Temu is losing billions of dollars annually, between the cost of advertising and subsidising those low prices.

Since TikTok Shop's roll out last year, it has quickly become a player in the crowded e-commerce space, despite backlash that it hurt user experience on the app, filling feeds with ads. According to TikTok, 5 million people made purchases on the platform during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. By February, the Shop had the same number of active users as Shein - and even began taking wallet share from the fast fashion behemoth, according to Earnest Analytics' analysis of credit card data.

Gen-Z may have been the generation that put TikTok on the map during the pandemic, but they're hardly the only people on the platform today - in particular, on TikTok Shop. Since September, TikTok's favourability among Gen-Z has fallen 7 points, according to brand intelligence firm Morning Consult. In fact, it's sales among Millennials and Gen-X, who have more spending power than younger shoppers, that are growing the fastest on TikTok Shop.

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What Fashion Retail Professionals Need to Know Today

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BoF Careers provides essential sector insights for fashion professionals in retail this month, to help you decode fashion's retail landscape.