How do you go about finding and choosing which brands, such as Imogene + Willie, which is based in Nashville, to feature on the site?
How do you go about finding and choosing which brands, such as Imogene + Willie, which is based in Nashville, to feature on the site?
MB: Well, it's a really fun process. We go to all the trade shows, and you know, you see row after row after row of trading, and it's really there that you get the stark reality of what fast fashion has brought this industry. It's a sea of clothing. You'll go down to each brand, you'll ask, 'Where is your product manufactured?' and the answer, 99 times out of 100, is, 'I don't know, the far East? Asia? The Orient?' words that are just not even applicable to today's world. So that really narrows down our world quite a bit. It's just, what are those brands that exist out there in the world that actually do know what their supply chain is and do know their manufacturing process, and care about it. So we go to the trade shows and we met brands like Imogene + Willie, like you said, and they then tell us, 'Oh my God, you guys dig into the store and you really care about how our products are manufactured! You're helping us elevate our brand and are really explaining to the world what we care about. You should speak to this brand, they have beautiful Peruvian goods, or you should speak to this brand from Germany.' So we kind of create a network from those brands. Then, of course, we are always exploring the blogs from around the world, and Soraya is really headlining this effort, speaking and engaging with our online community to get their feedback and be our eyes around the world. What is that next cool product? You know, we're not on the ground in Germany, we're not on the ground in Kenya, they might have this label or this brand that we have to carry, and we'll find out about it through social media.
[Photo, Imogene + Willie via]
