Tamara Mellon's co-founders on why the fashion industry has been 'eaten by digital'
The Glossy Podcast · with Jill Layfield & Tamara Mellon · December 9, 2020 · 36 min
Summary
Tamara Mellon, a luxury shoe brand, masterfully navigated the pandemic by leaning into its DTC model and innovating with a mobile showroom, the "TM Closet." This episode highlights how digital transformation is eating the fashion industry, urging brands to rethink traditional retail, embrace direct customer relationships, and leverage agility to thrive in a rapidly evolving market.
Key takeaways
Embrace a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model to gain control over customer relationships and adapt quickly to market changes, as Tamara Mellon did to disrupt traditional luxury retail standards.
Develop innovative omnichannel strategies, like Tamara Mellon's 'TM Closet' mobile showroom, to connect with customers where they are, offering unique and personalized experiences outside of traditional brick-and-mortar.
Prioritize digital transformation within your business model; the fashion industry, like many others, is being 'eaten by digital,' necessitating a shift from conventional retail to digitally-centric approaches.
Secure venture capital funding to fuel growth and innovation within your DTC brand, enabling expansion and the development of unique customer engagement strategies.
Luxury shoe brand Tamara Mellon opened a store in Soho a month before lockdown. "Great timing," company CEO Jill Layfield joked on the Glossy Podcast.
But one effort that's stood the test of time better than a brick-and-mortar shop is the company's truck: a shoe closet on wheels that greets customers at the Covid-conscious rate of one at a time. The 24-foot "TM Closet" has made stops in more than a dozen cities across the country.
Tamara Mellon launched in 2016 as what Layfield describes as the only "true luxury designer footwear brand that's direct to-consumer," Since then, after a Series C last year, it has raised $87 million.
DTC now accounts for an outsized portion of its revenue. Co-founder and namesake Tamara Mellon said the fashion industry, as a whole, has been overdue for a shakeup.
"As Marc Andreessen said, 'Every business will eventually be eaten by digital,'" Mellon said. "I felt like the business model needed to change, and the way people talked and spoke to their customers needed to change. So that's how we came up with doing direct-to-consumer."
Embrace a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model to gain control over customer relationships and adapt quickly to market changes, as Tamara Mellon did to disrupt traditional luxury retail standards.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Develop innovative omnichannel strategies, like Tamara Mellon's 'TM Closet' mobile showroom, to connect with customers where they are, offering unique and personalized experiences outside of traditional brick-and-mortar.
What does this episode say about founder & leadership?
Prioritize digital transformation within your business model; the fashion industry, like many others, is being 'eaten by digital,' necessitating a shift from conventional retail to digitally-centric approaches.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Secure venture capital funding to fuel growth and innovation within your DTC brand, enabling expansion and the development of unique customer engagement strategies.
