Hello and welcome back to Fashion Founders the Podcast. My name is Victoria Smith and this week I'm doing a solo episode, which I don't normally do in the studio. So it's a little weird for me to be sitting here not looking at someone and like seeing myself up here. So bear with me if that comes across. But I asked you guys to send in questions for this week. So it's a little bit more conversational. So I'm gonna get started with some of those. But before we get into that, if you can leave a rating and review or follow the show, it helps it grow so much more than you would honestly think. And I just so appreciate you listening and being here. So the first question that I got was how to pivot into fashion if you work in a different industry and don't have five years of experience. I think the biggest thing is your skills are so much more transferable than you think they are. Whether you are a data analyst and in tech, whether you're in finance, an accountant, a fashion brand and a company needs all those different roles. Almost anything that you could be doing right now, a brand will have. And it's more about the transferable skill that you can bring to the table. You could even put into Chat GPT what the brand is looking for in that role and say, this is what I do now at my company. What do you think transfers? And help me just say that my passion is for fashion and I already have the skill set. I've been trained in XYZ things, and I can do this for you and your company. I think for a lot of fashion brands, it's more about really wanting to be in fashion. I think you hear so many people say that it's their dream to work in fashion, but they don't have those specific things on their resume. So I think going to events, networking a ton, tech week is now and there's a ton of fashion tech events. I would definitely try to go to some of those. And just building those relationships. If you're in school, joining a fashion club, if you're out of school, even just like starting a Substack would be, I think, something. There's also free courses online, which kind of brings me to the next question. What skills should someone have to be working in luxury fashion specifically? So there's actually two courses and programs I found that I would recommend. One is the Inside LVM Age certificate. It's a free online course. I've seen a couple people post about this, add this to their resume as well. I think the most recent one close, but I would just keep an eye out and join the next one. And then there's something called the Women at Dior and UNESCO group. And I think applications will open in the fall and close in December, but it's kind of just a program that they have. Then you can get paired up with someone and a mentor at Dior. And I feel like that's a great in. Again, I don't think there's that many like hard skills that are different for a luxury fashion brand than a normal like high street fashion brand. I think it's more about the relationship building and showing how much you care, how much you know about that brand specifically. I know at the school I did my master's in in London, one of my friends did the specific luxury fashion strategy course and ended up working at Armani. So I think it's just understanding the heritage, the culture, and showing that you specifically want to be in luxury fashion. Okay, the next on the fashion industry, can you get into the fashion industry with a poli sci degree? Yes, I actually have a poli-sci degree. I think I've mentioned that before. I studied government, but it's essentially the same thing. And to this, I also want to point to past episodes with guests. So, first, the episode with Ghani, the chief sustainability officer, Lauren Bartley, she didn't even go to college. She applied to the London College of Fashion and didn't get in. And she started by working at a retail store on the store floor and is now the C-suite exec for an internationally recognized and loved brand. So listen to that one. For Align, Jenny, the CEO and founder, talks about how when she just started out in fashion, the execs at SACS talked at how they didn't hire anyone for this program with a fashion degree because they wanted different types of thinking and how that plays into how she hires for align as well. And then Cynthia Rowley, a designer, she's been showing at New York Fashion Week for decades. She was on the podcast and talked about what she looks for when hiring and specifically talks about how most people don't have fashion degrees because I think a lot of schools don't even offer them, honestly, unless you're going to a specific like FIT or Parsons or art school. And then Sarah Walker as well. She came on, she's now a content creator, but before that, she worked at Revolve as a buyer and talked about how she studied communications and marketing. And essentially, like her school just didn't have a fashion program. And she, so she did like adjacent degrees and still was able to work at Revolve by being in a ton of extracurriculars. So just all that goes to say whether it's poli sci or biology or accounting, absolutely. And in my case, I did study government. I was poli sci. And I do think my master's, like not to discredit fashion school at all, it helped me a lot in terms of networking and just putting me in the right spaces and making it my absolute focus. But I think, and I've seen it for so many other people, it won't stop you. It just won't be as much of a barrier as I think people feel it might be. So definitely don't be discouraged by whatever degree you have. If you want to work in fashion, just kind of get your foot in the door. This kind of brings me to a lot of array of questions were under the umbrella of just like networking tips and getting more out of an event. And now that it's tech week, but I think it can apply to almost anything. My biggest tip, and I used to do this when I was starting out, is volunteer at events. Don't just go to an event, reach out to the founder or whoever is putting on the event and say, like, hey, do you need help checking people in at the door? I can take content for you for behind the scenes and send it to you later. Do you need an extra help of hands setting up or breaking things down at the end? Because one, it gives you a purpose at the event. It gives you a reason to go up and talk to someone. And I'm not some like very extroverted person. So I, it wasn't natural for me at events like this to just go up to someone I didn't know who was talking to somebody else and like get their LinkedIn or whatever it was. But having a role, having a purpose kind of breaks down that weirdness and barrier, especially a lot of these like fashion tech startup events, they do need the help. And I think they love when other people get involved. They have another user on their hands. I used to do this a ton and someone recently told me they did it, and they came out with way more connections and they just felt so much better about going to the event. Cause I think we've all been there where you make yourself go to a networking event and you talk to like one person and you probably never talk to them again. And you just kind of like are connected on LinkedIn and you feel a little bit like you didn't get enough out of it. Also, you won't have to pay to attend the event. Usually they're like a $20 ticket to kind of ensure that you show up. But if you have a role, they're not gonna make you pay. So this is my biggest tip. I think no matter what age you are, also, like I know people who are 30 doing this because they want to start into a new industry, and also people who are 18 and doing this. Okay, what fashion tech apps do you actually use? I will only use things honestly, especially on like a day-to-day basis that will make me or save me money. And a lot of them are so cool to learn about. I think it's so fascinating that so many things in this space are even possible, that people are innovating it. But on a day-to-day basis, it has to like make my life easier or better. And the financial component is probably the most important to me. So, for example, pickle for renting out my clothes. I've made thousands of dollars doing that. And I can save thousands of dollars by either making a video for credit and then using it on the platform to rent something out or just getting it at like a 10% of what it retails for. ShopMai, you can get gifting, you can get paid, you can save money by using your own link, which I just had someone on from ShopMai, and I asked her if it is bad to buy things from your own link. And she said that she does it too, but some brands might care. So side note for that episode coming out soon. What else do I use? Oh, it's probably another category I should have added. Oh, and then Rent the Runway as well. I did some of the math here to share, and it saves you so much money. And it kind of just like scratches that shopping itch because you can get things every single month on a rotation. For lack of a better term, it's kind of the ultimate girl math for a fashion tech company. Rent the runway starts at $129 a month for five pieces. And then if you add in the code that you can get from the podcast for 50% off, now it's a total of $64 and 50 cents. So that brings it to $12.90 a piece. So now you get to wear a $1,000 dress for $13 from thousands of designer items. Plus, they constantly offer discounts if you have something at home that you're renting to buy it for 50% off. And I often get things new with tag. So I love a deal. This is another one of my hacks I use to save money. And I think they're kind of like an OG company in this space. And I think it's just such a great way to make yourself not impulsively shop because you know you can just kind of try things out on a rotation. And it's helped me experiment with my style, have new pieces for events, different seasons, and just like scratch that shopping itch. So that's another one I would definitely recommend. The code is in all caps RTRX V Smith50. On a similar note with fashion tech, someone asked, What are you watching in this space? A few things. I've been really looking at what luxury fashion brands are participating in, specifically because there's a lot of EU laws that will then require companies to adopt a specific practice. For example, the EU passed a law a couple of years ago requiring digital passport products so that every garment has a digital ID. A customer can scan it and learn about the fabric. If you resell it, the company can still track where it is, where you sold it on, how much it's sold for, a lot of really interesting information. For example, a brand that I really admire in this space is Chloe. They are the first luxury fashion house that signed on to be a B Corp. And they're really innovating more than I think I see a lot of these other companies doing. And I think fashion brands, specifically the legacy houses, can be slower to adopt technology and innovation. Chloe is working with Eon, where they make these digital passport products, and then also Vestier Collective to do instant resale. And I think it's almost this combination of okay, they sell in the EU. Most of these luxury fashion houses are based in Europe, like France, Italy, London. So they have to abide by these requirements. But then it also gives them now the capability to do things they weren't required to do before, but are cool and interesting and give them data that can actually really benefit their bottom line. So because they had these passport products, they could partner with Vestia Collective and do the instant resale. So I think because that regulation, maybe this is the government major in me, they have that regulation. It is now requiring new businesses to pop up. You see it a lot in Europe. And I did an episode about attending the Global Fashion Agenda Summit in Copenhagen and what the EU focuses on versus London versus the US in this space. And I find the EU is really focused on traceability. And a lot of that has to do with regulation. Their government is just more involved than the US is in this space. I just find that really interesting that there's some now like boutique agencies popping up that are there to help fashion brands abide by all these new requirements and abide by all these new regulations. I think we're gonna see new tech companies pop up because of that and as a product of that. But I think it'll be and I hope a good thing and will give way to exciting partnerships like the one that Chloe has with SDR Collective. Okay, someone asked, What is your favorite brand to wear for the podcast and just dress professionally without losing your style or breaking the bank to look good for work? I can feel that. I kind of I feel like made like a formula for myself almost without trying, especially when I come to record the podcast. I feel like I almost always wear either a black pair of pants or a white pair of pants, and it's always the same ones. And I've had them for I want to say eight years. I will get them tailored if they rip, but they I don't think they have. But I always wear the same pair of pants. It's not something I really venture out of, maybe because the podcast is like waist up and you don't see what I'm wearing, but I would say invest in like a black pair of pants and a white pair of pants and like make sure you feel good in it, stick with it. For tops, I love align. I think they're actually really affordable. They are like $160 and they're really form fitting. Specifically, I love the Align Bonnie Point Wisted Blazer in Burgundy. I'll get really specific. And then I almost always wear a pointed toe sling back heel. But when I'm commuting, like I did here, I'm always wearing Dolce Vita flats. I'll like put a picture in. They're so comfortable. And you know how with cars you can see like there's a hundred thousand miles on it. I wish you could do that with shoes and say, like, oh, I got like a hundred thousand steps in these because I have never once in my life gotten a blister in these shoes. And it's the only pair I can say that about. And then I feel like I'll wear like a heaven mayhem earring. I don't know. I feel like the most important thing, especially if you're at work or you're at a networking event, is just feel comfortable and not feel like you have to like fidget with what you're wearing because it's like itchy or too tight or too long or whatever. So I feel like it's not the time to be like experimenting too much and just make sure you like feel good in it and it fits you right. Those are my favorite brands. Okay, next question. Are there tools for founders slash small businesses that you would recommend? Okay, my one for this that actually kind of changed my life is many chat. You know, when you see on Instagram, and I do this all the time, in the caption, like comment link, and I'll send you the link. I started doing that and I was doing it manually because I just didn't know that something existed to do it for me. So I would do that and then I would have hundreds of comments of like link. I was like, shoot, I'm not like I can't send it to all these people. Like I'm gonna, I'm gonna go crazy sending this link. I think Instagram would like block me if I send it too many times. It thought like I was becoming a robot. It was a mess. And then I was did some research and I found out that many chat existed and it just automates it for you. I think it's the best way to not leave any money, any views, anything on the table because all you have to do is just set it up once and then I'll still get a video from three months ago. Someone is commenting the keyword and they're getting sent the podcast link or the Substack link or whatever, and then they're clicking through it and you're keeping people in your ecosystem. I think if you don't do this, you're losing so many potential customers, memberships, whatever it is for your business. So many chat is probably my number one tool recommendation for any founder, entrepreneur, creator, whatever your role is. Ooh, okay. Someone said, I have a nine to five and I'm building out my own platform, posting on Instagram and TikTok. A top goal for me is to attend New York Fashion Week Runaway show. Any tips on how to do this? I feel like once events are made public, they're already full and I can't get in. Okay, I've been there. I think my biggest advice for this is build those relationships right now. Like if you want to attend New York Fashion Week in September, it is June 3rd. You have to start now. You have to start building those relationships now. Okay, I would look at past lists and schedules of who has shown on the calendar. Make a list of those brands, find people on LinkedIn who work there, specifically the PR role and the influencer like content creator role. Make an express like Excel spreadsheet. Find their emails using Contact Out. That's my other like biggest hack that I don't hear anyone talk about this company. I'm obsessed with them. Contact Out will find you anyone's email. You just go to their LinkedIn and click on it and it'll pull it for you. It's how I've gotten like so many guests on the podcast, how I've made so many connections. Can't recommend it enough. Find their email, find the person's Instagram handle, whatever, and start posting and tagging those brands. You don't have to buy stuff from them, you don't have to own stuff. Just say what you're eyeing from it, add it to a link. On Shop My, they can see every time you mention them. Even if it's just a story, they can see that that got 2,000 views. They can see all these things behind the scenes, and that will help build a case for you. And they'll just know who you are. Like if they keep seeing you pop up, they'll know, okay, like Sally loves our brand. Like, yeah, that actually makes sense. Not, oh, we just released our New York Fashion Week schedule today, and now she's posting about us for the first time. It'll just feel way more organic. And then the other thing to know is for Fashion Week, it's usually an external PR team that is coordinating who gets to attend. It's not usually someone in-house, but having that connection will obviously help you. Finding the external PR team is also sometimes can be a challenge. And what's interesting is I was at Copenhagen Fashion Week this January. They list the PR contact email publicly. Like it's just on the website. They tell you the address of where it is. So people will show up in like their outfit in their street style and get a picture and not actually be attending the show, which I think is really interesting, and just leave and kind of make it look like they were there, which like good for them. I think that's also like a hack, like fake it till you make it. But Copenhagen has it all public, which I think is really interesting. London, you can find most of them. When I was a student, I think I emailed like every everyone because I was so desperate to go. And I went to when it worked. And then New York Fashion Week, it's not public. You can just kind of look up like who's the PR team for Colleen Estrata. It just is extra steps to find who it is. Sometimes they'll have it on their website. There's like a small group of PR teams that luxury fashion brands and houses will use, like Carla Auto, for example. There's also a lot of external events you could attend during these times. And again, I just think your invitation gets built in the off season. Like it gets built right now, not in September. So I would my biggest thing is just like start now and like be organized and maybe choose your top four or five. And don't be disappointed if you don't get like the top show, like Tori Birch or something. Also reach out to some of the smaller designers and they'll have also really cool and gorgeous events. Today I shared some of my favorite Copenhagen brands. If you haven't noticed yet, I love Copenhagen fashion. I love Fashion Week there. And I shared seven brands I think most people don't see if you want to switch up your style this summer and not wear essentially what everyone else is wearing. All the ones that I shared are part of and have shown at Copenhagen Fashion Week. And I did that because I think it has a higher level of craftsmanship and because of the sustainability requirements that the Fashion Week there has. So some of them are higher price points because of that. So I shared a lot of secondhand finds for these brands and specifically found so many on Poshmark. So I want to share some of them, specifically for the brand Bomb. I can't pronounce the other half of the name, so I'm not going to try. But they have these like sheer sequined embellished skirts that you'll see all over Copenhagen Street style. And you can find them 50% off or more on Poshmark. And there was just so many things to choose from on there. There were sweaters, there were jackets, dresses. I was really impressed by Poshmark's offerings here. And they're a company that's kind of been on my radar recently because of their whole rebrand that they did. And I think they're kind of just doing like a major push right now. And they are the marketplace, besides eBay, I guess, that feels the most like digging through and finding a gem at a thrift store. The other brands I mentioned were Steingoya, Skull Studio, Herskind, Opera Sport. There were so many finds for all of these on Poshmark. I shared a ton. My favorites right now that I'm looking at are just full of these brands. And I think you would honestly be surprised by the variety and the quality. So many of them are like new with tags or never worn. So I would highly recommend, not only just for Copenhagen brands, but in general, trying out Poshmark. It kind of feels like the marketplace that doesn't have price gouging that you'll see on like a Depop or other platforms. Definitely go check out the Substack on the Copenhagen Fashion Brand curation. I think we covered everything. This will be kicking off season six. There's nothing really different changing. I just sometimes it's nice to have a pause and then come back and say, like, okay, now we're doing this chapter of things. We have some really exciting guests this season. I like want to share right now, but I think I'm gonna let it be a surprise. And let me know if there's other things you want me to cover in future episodes. Thank you so much for listening.