The female founded fashion-tech startups trend is suddenly grabbing a lot of attention
The female founded fashion-tech start-ups interact in completely new ways or launch entirely new types of products that address real market needs. A handful of female founders are Stephanie Smith, CEO of ModaResa, who launched the brand with Balmain in private beta and followed up with clients such as Marine Serre, ByFar, Jacquemus, and Nanushka; fashion industry veteran Lupe Puerta, Founder and CEO, of the newly launched The Floorr to Ali Kaminetsky, the CEO and Founder of Modern Picnic and Rahel Abraham, Founder of Climaguard, have each developed a fresh, innovative way to approach and rethink fashion and tech conundrums that have befuddled some of the best minds in the fashion industry.
As the world’s first solution for efficient and more sustainable fashion week market planning, ModaResa’s software enables brands to organize their showrooms most optimally, for both face-to-face and virtual buying appointments. The luxury industry is built on theories of secrecy and exclusivity, which breaks with modern open-source culture. ModaResa represents a refreshing new bridge between these poles. Smith’s objective is to become the standard for meeting arrangements, as well as to continue to stir up a conservative industry.
Smith shared how 2020 has been such a transformative year with the female-founded fashion-tech world having to adapt and innovate to overcome tough challenges brought by the pandemic and this is why ModaResa exists. The brands show that there are better, alternative ways to coordinate their processes – and most importantly, they want to empower in this new era of virtual markets.
Smith shared five insights into why fashion-tech solutions and brands are gaining traction in 2020 and beyond:-
1. Fashion Brands Are Seriously In Need Of The Right Digital Tools:
Brand teams are scattered all over the world now as they grapple with doing business amid Covid-19 restrictions and shelter-at-home orders. Remote work might even become a standard for some time, so providing the right digital solutions for teams to work their best under these conditions is essential.
At ModaResa, the objective was to bring real-time visibility on all showroom planning across any type of company organization (wholesale, retail, plus a mix of internal and external sales agents) for physical or virtual appointments. They also cleverly and quickly gather macro buyer feedback, making it easy for anyone on a brand’s team to access and act upon in real-time.
2. The Well-being Of Teams And Team-Centricity Is Key:
The generation is about immediacy, efficiency, and the well-being of humans in general. There is much more consciousness of how we do things, why we do things, and how we invest our precious time on earth. If the female founded fashion-tech start-up can provide a solution that also puts that at the heart of its value proposition, they hit the nail on the head.
When Smith set out to build ModaResa, it ultimately came from the observation that the most important time of the year for both the brands and the retailers worldwide – sales campaigns during fashion weeks were also the most stressful and apprehensive time of the year for employees. Smith and her team wanted to change that by continuously gathering feedback from their customers and community to create digital solutions that promoted and improved better human project-focused interaction.
3. Increasing Brand Awareness Qualitatively At A Higher Pace Is Critical To Growth:
The barrier for demos online has been radically removed in the fashion industry. Just a year ago, an online demo of ModaResa and other brands was out of the question. In-person meetings were a must while a screen share of prototypes, products, being in-store or a virtual coffee was not common practice. Now online meetings are a new, definitive standard. This is a game-changer for female founded fashion-tech start-ups, established brands, and consumers, regardless of industry.
4. The Fashion Industry Is Open To Listening More Than Ever:
It’s common knowledge that the fashion industry and its systems are some of the most archaic ones, and difficult to pierce through. Despite actual designs and products being associated with renewal and innovation, the B2B processes have remained the same with hardly any innovation beyond the actual wholesale ordering systems. Due to Covid-19, a shift in behavior has taken hold and is opening entrepreneurial opportunities that were not previously available.
5. Top Advisors Are Much More Available:
In this new climate, advisors and industry professionals (who were previously inaccessible) are now virtually giving advice, sharing their experiences and thoughts online. Even better, directly connecting with these individuals is now very doable.
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