In September, the industry descended upon the Shangri-La Hotel in Paris to raise a toast to new and existing members of the BoF 500, the definitive index of the people shaping the global fashion industry. Guests at the gala included Kylie Jenner, Victoria Beckham, Simon Porte Jacquemus, Marc Forne and Ashley Graham.

This year, Neft Vodka has partnered with BoF to platform three new members of the BoF 500 to explore how their creative careers and success are evolving in the industry. “At Neft, we want to invoke this sense of excitement, creativity and engagement, and bring exceptional experiences to our audience,” Paul Robinson, chief creative officer at Neft Vodka, told BoF in a recent interview.

Sam Visser, prominent makeup artist and Dior Beauty Ambassador is among this year’s additions to the list. Renowned for redefining beauty standards with his innovative aesthetic, Visser masterfully blends the high-octane glamour of previous generations with a bold spirit of individual experimentation, making him one of the most influential makeup artists of his generation.

Throughout his career, Visser has worked on high-profile campaigns for brands such as Burberry, Marc Jacobs, MAC Cosmetics, Versace and Balenciaga, as well as magazines including Vogue, W Magazine and The Face. His collaborations with renowned photographers like Inez and Vinoodh, Carlijn Jacobs and Harley Weir have further cemented his reputation as a visionary in the beauty world.

Most recently, his work on campaigns like Marc Jacobs x Stephen Sprouse 2024 and Chanel Eyewear Spring/Summer 2024 have garnered widespread acclaim.

Now, BoF sits down with Visser to understand how his influence on the industry is inspiring a new generation of artists to embrace creativity and experimentation.

How is your creative practice evolving and what is driving that process?

My creative practice evolves by discovering new things constantly — whether that be music, films, art — or even just life experiences and trying to not repeat the way that I go about doing things. Seeing things through different lenses helps me create new ideas and feel new emotions that pushes me forward.

How important do you believe creativity is to connect with consumers, and how is its role in culture evolving?

I think that my only tie to consumers has been through my creativity thus far. It’s the most important element for me, that what I’m putting out there is something that feels right and feels exciting to me. I think that other people will just catch onto that.

Aside from my role in the beauty industry, I’m also a beauty consumer. I love buying makeup, going into the store and seeing and trying makeup. As a makeup artist, when I’m in the store, looking at how products are created, and seeing the creativity in the invention of products, and the science — it’s really intriguing to me.

How do you expand your creative inspiration and expression authentically?

In order to stay true to myself creatively, it’s almost like this exercise of going backwards in my mind. Remembering things from my early childhood or even my teenage years. It doesn’t even necessarily need to be a memory.

It’s a feeling — and then somehow, its outlet is an image, or put into a makeup look, or put into something that feels like it has a correlation with those memories. It’s almost that to move forwards, I have to move backwards a little.

What skills do you believe are most valuable in your profession in today’s market?

As an artist, to stay happy with yourself is the most important thing. The fashion industry can be a place where you can find friends but artistically, it can feel vulnerable to put yourself and your creations out there, which you feel very connected to.

The key to creativity is following your intuition — just to trust and to believe in yourself. In an industry which is constantly telling us what we should and shouldn’t do and how we should and shouldn’t be — it’s important to know and to feel that trust within yourself.

What advice would you give those seeking to enter the beauty industry today?

Stay true to yourself. I think the things about ourselves that we push away to fit in are the things that are the most special about all of us and what connects us.

The key to creativity is following your intuition.

Fashion is a very collaborative industry. The way I found my favourite and best collaborators was by being true to all those things that maybe, when you were 15, you were really insecure about — when that’s actually who we are as people at our core.

What innovations in the industry excite you?

It’s really a pioneering time for beauty. Throughout the last 100 years, we’ve seen innovation with products and in the way we use them, but now, we have a whole different tool involved — which is not human, telling or showing us what is possible.

It’s really cool the way our phones and media and technology have been super involved in starting to shift the way we look at beauty. Whether that be through filtering or talking to AI about products and about what it thinks about beauty. It’s going to shift the way we look at self-confidence and beauty ideals.

I use Facetune or Photoshop to plan makeup sometimes, and that’s only been within the last five years. Before, you couldn’t do that with such ease — you had to sit behind a desktop and create a look. Now, we can do it from the ease of an app that we all can download. And so I think through that, there’s going to be a lot of change in the way we look at skincare and makeup, the way we apply it, and the way we try to make it real.

What does your selection for the BoF 500 mean to you?

I’m honoured because I’m put amongst the names of so many people that I admire, and I’m lucky that I get to call some of them friends. It’s kind of surreal, to be honest — because I’m just here being creative and doing my thing. And so, when this opportunity was brought to me, I was very excited and grateful.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Neft Vodka as part of a BoF partnership.

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While China’s luxury market is slowing, population trends in Southeast Asia (SEA) are a significant opportunity to the fashion industry at large. By 2030, when 70 percent of ASEAN’s population — which currently stands at over 670 million — is expected to have attained middle-class income levels, the consumer market could reach $4 trillion, according to McKinsey & Company.

What’s more, according to a joint report by Temasek and Google, among others, the digital economy in the six largest economies of the region — Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines — was worth an estimated $218 billion in gross merchandise value in 2023 and is on track to reach $600 billion by 2030.

In addition to its proximity to these newly significant markets, Singapore is uniquely positioned between the two superpowers of our age. Almost all of East Asia’s energy imports flow through the Strait of Malacca, and much of its manufacturing trade flows the other way. China is not only Singapore’s largest source of imports, as it is for most countries in the world, but its largest source of exports too.

At the same time, America remains by far the largest single investor in Singapore, with S$574 billion ($428 billion) invested in the country at the end of 2022, compared with 156bn from mainland China, according to The Economist.

So what structure of regional supply will enable apparel and contemporary businesses to capitalise on the SEA growth trends and respond to the shape of that demand? And what positions a supply network as best in class in today’s market?

In a recent BoF Live event, Sian Nee Ho, regional director of the Americas for the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) and Tony Pelli, practice director of supply chain security and resilience at BSI Consulting, discussed this opportunity and discovered best practices in minimising supply chain risk and optimising distribution to meet Asian and Southeast Asian demand.

Below, BoF shares condensed insights from the conversation.

Aligning Supply Chains to Growth Markets

SNH: There is really no one-size-fits-all approach. Companies will ultimately have to review their overall customer supplier base in Asia to identify their optimal supply chain strategy that allows them to best manage their costs, while also ensuring speed to market and overall resiliency amidst their supply chain disruptions.

What we are seeing is that consumers are increasing their expectations around accelerated delivery. Now, more brands are moving away from centralised distribution centres and adopting smaller, but more regionalised distribution centres to improve time to market. This could also be done through partnerships with various logistics players. Indeed, brands are increasing investments in supply chain management capabilities, including stronger data analytics to help with inventory optimisation across various distribution channels and countries.

In Singapore — because of our given proximity to major manufacturers, raw material suppliers and the growing Asian market — what we’re starting to see is that more brands anchor sourcing and distribution hubs here, and that’s happened over the course of a couple years.

More brands are moving away from centralised distribution centres and adopting smaller, but more regionalised distribution centres to improve time to market.

The supply chain function as a whole is becoming a lot more strategic, and companies are actively thinking about how to expand those teams. I think most companies today have it as a global function. Those that are a bit more forward-thinking look to these regional supply chains as well — not just in the US, or wherever they are headquartered, but to have that across major regions where they operate as well, so that they can deal with unexpected circumstances or situations that come up.

TP: What we’re seeing is a more forward deployment of distribution centres that are closer to consumers, allowing companies to have more of those routes to market, through traditional stores, direct-to-consumer — enabling more of that sort of omnichannel distribution.

That was a huge buzz word four to six years ago; but it’s actually here now. We’re still seeing lots of sea freight, moving goods around, that’s not changing anytime soon. But, I think the way that companies are thinking about their supply chains — how they can get more SKUs, how they can get different products faster to their consumers, in that forward-deployed way I was speaking about — it ultimately requires changes throughout the supply chain, impacting your sourcing and buying and purchasing strategies, in addition to distribution.

We’re also seeing faster changes in consumer demand — something that was popular a month ago is no longer popular. That really started to accelerate during the pandemic and hasn’t slowed. That increased importance of speed to market can be a bit of a double-edged sword though — as it requires you keeping less inventory on hand, which means that you have less resilience throughout the supply chain. It’s all about finding the right balance — which is what companies are grappling with now.

Best Practices and Global Standards

SNH: There are two aspects — diversification and disruption. Diversification — because I think we’re all familiar that geopolitical tensions are here to stay. When it comes to disruption, we do live in a troubled world today where there are two ongoing wars in both Europe and the Middle East — I don’t think anyone could have imagined it five years ago. The Red Sea attacks have led to sea freight costs increasing three to five times since the start of 2024 and potential terrorism against China has led to inventory stock-ups as well, resulting in bottlenecks in port.

While China has served the interest of US companies for the last two decades, many companies now recognise the need to diversify their manufacturing and supply chain footprint to new growth frontiers. We have seen tremendous growth in Southeast Asia as an alternative from consumer products, semiconductors, industrial and even headquarter investments. So, the growth in Southeast Asia has also translated into an increase in inter-regional trade within Asia, with a larger proportion of Asian exports now destined for other Asian countries compared to the previous decades, where trade was more focused on exports to Western countries.

As a critical supply chain hub in Southeast Asia that facilitates trade flows, Singapore seeks to be that pressure relief valve for companies by providing some flexibility, certainty and efficiency. We are heartened to see the expansion of global leaders such as FedEx in Singapore, because we see them as the bellwethers of supply chain shifts, and these recent expansions provide validation on the opportunities in Southeast Asia.

Sustainability, Disruption and Mitigating Risk

TP: If you look at companies like Apple — they have used their supply chain strategy as a competitive advantage, by being in places before their competitors are. We saw that during the pandemic, when there were lockdowns in Shanghai, for example, they were able to quickly pivot to new areas of operation, new areas of sourcing and manufacturing. In the luxury industry, more broadly or in higher-cost goods, you’re able to use that as a competitive advantage, rather than just as a risk mitigation measure.

Of course, it’s not just them, but other businesses that are needing to be closer to consumers in places like Southeast Asia. You may see a large hub in a place like Singapore, and then smaller satellite hubs in places like Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, that are more on the distribution end — essentially creating that central hub and spoke strategy rather than trying to distribute all from China directly. That’s the sort of scale of the investment we’re seeing.

Thailand’s another one where people may be investing as well, but on the supplier side, and it’s really being led by Vietnam. You’re seeing a lot of the supply chain management companies that were based in Taiwan, South Korea and China — they’re expanding into Vietnam now, but of course, they’re using that to either avoid or mitigate certain risks. Certainly, when you’re looking at Vietnam or places like Cambodia, we want to make sure that these companies are sensitive to other risks that may develop, making sure that they’re doing proper on-the-ground risk assessment of those suppliers from the beginning.

Innovating Supply Chain Technology and Predictive Analytics

TP: Companies really appreciate putting the analytics software in place that is able to feed them valuable data, but the issue is that they are unsure about how to then react when that data is presented to them. We see a lot of the time that companies are building systems or ways of working with that data in silos — buying and procurement using it for one thing, supply chain management using it for another.

We advise that companies should assess themselves internally before looking at any kind of software. Really thinking about how they are going to manage all of this new data, how are they going to react and how they are going to feed the data into their decision-making processes.

In terms of mitigating risk, the mapping out of your supply chains is the most important first step to act on, before even putting software in place.

In terms of mitigating risk, the mapping out of your supply chains is the most important first step to act on, before even putting software in place. Understanding where the raw materials are coming from initially is something that can be very messy — there’s lots of manual data to sort through, many moving parts in terms of figuring out the provenance of those products and then overlaying digital solutions on top that make sure you can get a more real-time viewpoint. That makes it critical to have that static view of your supply chain first. From there, you can move to push and get more real-time visibility, and add the tools as needed to have that sort of second and third tier visibility.

Emerging Markets and Manufacturing Hubs

SNH: China will continue to be an important market for many companies, so it’s about finding out the level of presence that companies require in China to be able to adequately serve the needs of that population, while also finding an alternative when companies could then diversify some of their manufacturing and supply chain operations to ensure that is neutral and well connected.

The alternatives I mentioned: we’re seeing Mexico and Canada for more nearshoring of manufacturing and tech investments; and then India, for sectors such as more generic drugs and consumer electronics; not forgetting Southeast Asia for more consumer products, semiconductors and headquarter investments.

What we’re seeing with Singapore is that it’s a place that’s committed to growing its air and sea connectivity through the airport and port expansion. And this will enable Singapore to remain plugged into and serve as a critical node in global trade and supply chain networks.

TP: If you look at it from a country-by-country basis, Indonesia and Vietnam certainly have large populations, with Vietnam being fairly well connected with China on one end and Singapore on the other.

I’m not going to pretend that the sorts of issues in apparel supply chains or fashion supply chains don’t exist in those countries, but that’s why we encourage people to look at that through the entire process — from sourcing all the way through to business-as-usual management of their suppliers.

Don’t just treat it as something that you only need to deal with when something goes wrong. Make sure that you’re building that in from the beginning — I think that’s where we’ll see fashion, especially in a place like Vietnam, have the greatest impact. Thailand and Malaysia may be a little less relevant for fashion, but they can add higher value manufacturing that some of the other regions cannot — again, all centred around Singapore as a hub for distribution through Southeast Asia, through the rest of East Asia and then onto the rest of the world.

We may see East Africa emerge in the longer term as well as a hub for manufacturing. Again, a lot of the freight that comes out of there is going to pass through Singapore as well. That’s my overall take on what’s developing in the region where you’re seeing the strengths and weaknesses of individual countries.

If companies are smart about it, they can manage those weaknesses, as well as actually turning them into a competitive advantage for being able to quickly shift and change their supply chains as needed.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by EBD Singapore as part of a BoF partnership.

Shifts in both customer shopping behaviours and regulatory requirements from governmental bodies are moving digital product passport (DPP) technology from the edges of brand consideration towards a central strategic focus.

A digital record that accompanies a product throughout its entire lifecycle, DPPs record key information relating to the provenance of materials, manufacturing and supply chain information, the item’s environmental impact, and repair, recycling and circularity services to consider at end-of-use. Information is accessed on smartphones by scanning digital markers, such as an NFC tag or QR code. Since 2006, Certilogo, a company specialising in connected products and digital authentication, has implemented engaging digital experiences and DPPs within the fashion and luxury industries. Today, more than 540 million items from its brand partners have a complementing digital asset.

The technology is increasingly timely as, last year, new EU regulations were announced that will require fashion and other consumer goods to be fitted with unique DPPs as early as 2026. Meanwhile, as luxury and fashion goods become increasingly commoditised, authentic brand identity is increasingly key. Indeed, ‘dupe’ culture is training Gen-Z and Gen Alpha to seek out comparable goods for the champion products they aspire to — a sentiment which extends into counterfeit goods. A June survey conducted by the European Union Intellectual Property Office, showed more than 50 percent of consumers between the ages of 15 and 24 said they had purchased at least one counterfeit product online in the last 12 months.

Indeed, the total value of counterfeit and pirated goods will hit $3 trillion this year, triple the amount in 2013, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sophisticated authentication measures are a critical component for many consumers to embrace the secondary market and place trust in peer-to-peer transactions.

To learn more about how applications of DPPs can unlock growth, engage new generations of consumers and solve brand pain points, BoF and Certilogo hosted a roundtable discussion at Maxim’s in Paris, gathering marketing leaders from across the French fashion and luxury sectors.

Conducted under the Chatham House Rule, executives from Balenciaga, Jacquemus, Veja, Kering, Patou, Courréges, Balmain, among others, were in attendance. Below, BoF shares condensed and anonymised insights from the discussion.

Turn compliance into a growth opportunity

“Right now, the urgency is compliance. It’s the biggest business headache and problem to solve, and it’s the main driver for brands to get digital product passports on their products,” said one guest. “However, while they make sense from a compliance perspective, we need to think strategically about the evolving use-cases and opportunities. We want to make decisions that make this implementation future-proof.”

“From a compliance piece, there is a real anxiety around the data,” agreed another guest. “But ensuring that you comply needs to be part of a bigger incentive. Before you have a clear vision on your supply chain, you need to marry the compliance factor, the risks, the opportunities. That’s when we’ll start to see a real roadmap of the downstream opportunity.”

“Transformational governance is the elephant in the room, but we need to envision the opportunities and hygiene factors that should be baked into this technology,” said another attendee.

Authentication remains a primary consumer use-case

“We’re seeing a lot of small pilots that are looking upstream at the traceability and authenticity side – that level of comprehensive services which is all about supporting the client, is key,” said one guest. “That service that allows remote authentication remains the most relevant use-case for shoppers.”

“At this current stage, DPPs are all about serving a purpose — something that is meaningful to consumers. Of course, it makes sense to start thinking today about those future use-cases, but brands should be scaling the applications that offer the most value and help to build the customers’ connection to the product,” agreed another guest. “Authentication is a big problem-solve.”

Consider how DPPs could build customer lifetime value

“In terms of functionality, DPPs, in theory, enable brands to draw some powerful insights,” added one guest. “Yes, they’ll be able to get greater insights into the lifecycle and use of products but, in theory, send a signal to customers that it’s time to repair an item or that there’s a resale opportunity to sell your product back to the brand. This unlocks new revenue, but critically helps to build customer lifetime value.”

“DPPs could help improve the customer experience all with the goal of increasing the lifetime value of the customers,” agreed an attendee. “As soon as you have NFC built into a bag or shoes, then you have a communication tool in that bag or in those shoes. Of course, GDPR is an important consideration, but if you can send signals about circular services, that’s a really powerful second touch with the customer.”

Explore entertainment strategies as a future DPP use-case

“DPPs could unlock the possibility for the consumer to experience the physical product in multiple dimensions — playing into ideas of education and even entertainment,” said an attendee. “There are some neat capabilities such as sharing music, games or creative content from your brand [universe]. DPPs could be another, more personal route to be building and sharing these sorts of things with customers.”

It’s interesting to think about something fun at the end of that connection that’s opened up by DPP technology, said another guest. “Yes, that could be access to discounts or circular methods, but it could also be a scan to gifts, new products, digital assets that can be shared on social media. It feels like a whole new frontier of customer engagement, although we must ask if customers are ready for this kind of use.”

Acknowledge the need to evolve plastic components of DPPs to align with sustainability goals

“One obstacle we face in implementing this technology is ensuring that any hardware attached to DPPs work with our sustainability objectives. For instance, ensuring their use doesn’t impact the recyclability of products,” added one guest. “We have the resources to innovate this if we collaborate across the industry.”

“Chip makers are aware this needs to be addressed, but there is a bigger issue playing out across many sectors,” countered another guest. “We have global anonymous supply chains with middlemen, agents and unreliable data — we have a responsibility to go back and fix all these bad practises downstream — and that’s a much bigger conversation.”

Break down team silos for implementation and scale

“We need to see two levels of collaboration in order to agree on and develop the business models that DPPs could bring. The first one is cross-functional and must be led by a brand’s executives. We must ask, which functions are critical to get the necessary compliance and opportunity in the room?” said one guest, in an opening comment. “And then, the other collaboration component is really on the industry level. We are in the early stages of conversations, but deeper collaboration will be needed for us to go beyond the pilot stage.”

“The brands who are winning in this space are getting out of their silos and building cross-functional cases for implementation. You need sustainability teams, operations, IT experts all collaborating together — even the e-commerce and marketing teams,” added one guest. “If it’s isolated to just one function within the business, brands will miss out on connecting all the important key metrics.”

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Certilogo as part of a BoF partnership.

For its 11th year, BoF gathered its global community of the most influential figures in fashion at the Shangri-La Hotel in Paris in September. This year, attendees of the BoF 500 Gala were a global community hailing from more than 35 countries, including Nigerian Afrobeats superstar Wizkid who performed on the night.

This year, Neft Vodka has partnered with BoF to platform three new members of the BoF 500, to explore how their creative careers and success are evolving in the industry. “There is a feeling of real excitement when you first experience a creation and you can sense the effort and passion that the artist has put into the piece,” Paul Robinson, chief creative officer at Neft Vodka, told BoF in a recent interview.

Hiromi Ueda, global makeup artist at Armani Beauty, is one of this year’s inductees into the BoF 500. Ueda’s early career led her to London, where her talent quickly gained recognition. In the British capital, she began to work with some of the industry’s most influential photographers, including David Sims and Tim Walker.

Over the course of her career to date, Ueda’s work has featured in fashion publications such as British and French Vogue, i-D, and Dazed. Her client list boasts prestigious brand work with the likes of Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, and Miu Miu, further solidifying her status as a key player in the fashion world. In January 2024, Ueda was appointed as Armani Beauty’s Global Makeup Artist.

Now, BoF sits down with Hiromi Ueda to hear how she utilises creativity in both her role at Armani Beauty and in her own professional path.

How is your creative practice evolving and what is driving that process?

Having come from Japan, my creative process has evolved so much over the years. I draw inspiration from a variety of sources. Most of the time, just watching films or flicking through magazines and visiting different places. But, what truly drives my process is the inspiration I get from nature. Simply looking at beautiful colour combinations or textures in nature sparks my creativity and influences what I apply to my work.

How do you expand your creative inspiration and expression authentically?

Creativity is crucial for engaging with consumers. Despite access to global influence and trends, staying true to yourself and believing in what you like — that’s the most amazing thing for your creativity. It’s vital to showcase what you can do and emotionally resonate with your consumer through your core values. It allows you to stand out in a crowded market like ours, allowing you to get more attention, especially in this social media era.

What skills do you believe are most valuable in your profession in today’s market?

Being a makeup artist, it’s a social skill. We’re not applying our creative work on a piece of paper or a canvas, we’re working with people all the time. So, people skills are the most important. Working on actresses or doing any personal makeup, as well as working on fashion shows or shoots — collaboration is at the core and communication is vital.

There’s also so much more to our profession than simply applying makeup. Today, you have to promote yourself — and edit videos to promote your work on social media. It’s an opportune time for younger artists to showcase their work on social media with a much wider audience than we previously had.

How has the application of your work changed in today’s media landscape?

It’s very different because when I started in this business, I was carrying my portfolio. Nowadays, you can showcase your work and skills through social media — on Instagram or TikTok — it’s all very fast-paced and this speed is important. At the same time, I think I have become well-versed in showing that there is still a slow-paced beauty around. Some people still want to have a quiet, calm and authentic pace.

What advice would you give those seeking to enter the beauty industry today?

Honestly, just get out there. Back in the day, we only had photo or editorial shoots, or moments at fashion shows — those were the only times we had to showcase our work.

Today, you have to promote yourself.

Today, even if it’s just in your bedroom, you can create your makeup look on yourself or friends. It’s just about going for it, putting yourself out there and having faith in what you think is best. Don’t sit still — even if you don’t want to show your face, you can pull together references, some people do sketches — there are so many different ways to show your creative process.

What innovations in the industry excite you?

I’m excited about the development of technology and what it’s done to celebrate individuality. There are so many products and colours for different skin tones that have been helped by technology. It’s amazing to see this focus on shifting our beauty standards.

What does your selection for the BoF 500 mean to you?

I am honoured to be included. I feel that my personality is not really expressive enough for showcasing my work and so I feel really lucky to have been selected. Coming from Japan, I hope that, not only the Japanese, but all Asian people see what I have done and feel like they can do the same.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Neft Vodka as part of a BoF partnership.

Since 2013, BoF has gathered together a global community of fashion’s most influential people — based on their leadership, creativity, innovation and impact — across eight categories: Designers, Executives, Media, Retailers, Entrepreneurs, Creative Class, Models & Muses and Catalysts.

This year, Neft Vodka has partnered with BoF to platform three new members of The BoF 500 to explore how their creative careers and success are evolving in the industry. “I truly believe that art makes life richer, and when you come across an artist in any field that is talented, innovative and unique, it often opens your mind to a new perspective and entices you to engage with that artist’s vision,” Paul Robinson, chief creative officer at Neft Vodka, told BoF in a recent interview.

The first in the creative class to be profiled is creative director and artist for Chicago-based brand Joe Freshgoods Inc. — Joe Robinson.

In 2014, Robinson partnered with Terrell Jones, Vic Lloyd and Desmond Owusu to establish Fat Tiger Workshop, a store that would become a cornerstone of Chicago’s streetwear scene. Here, Robinson developed his brand, which evolved into Joe Freshgoods Inc.

The designer soon garnered attention for his ability to weave personal history and cultural references into a brand narrative, creating collections that resonate deeply with streetwear enthusiasts in his hometown and around the globe. In 2020, he collaborated with New Balance on the first in a series of popular tie-ups that centred storytelling and established him as one of the top creative voices in the sneaker industry.

Beyond his success in fashion, Robinson has been committed to giving back to his community through his Community Goods initiative, a nonprofit focused on arts education for students in underserved Chicago neighbourhoods, which also brings attention to artists of colour. His work, both in fashion and philanthropy, continues to make a significant impact, solidifying his status as a trailblazer.

Now, BoF sits down with Robinson to discover how harnessing creativity played a vital role in his commercial success.

How is your creative practice evolving and what is driving that process?

When it comes to my creative process, the number one priority is to make sure that I’m still moving with purpose. I worked so hard to get to this point and it’s been so exciting to have grown organically over the course of the last 15 years. So, whether it’s a new deal or another opportunity, I always try to make sure that the younger version of me is still excited about this.

Ultimately, I’m driven by community. I’ve reached that point in life where I’m not going to say I’ve made it, because there’s still a lot of work to do — but I’ve surpassed a lot of the things that I wanted to do when I was a kid. As long as I’m making sure that I’m still upholding those values and staying true in doing what I want to do, I can be impactful to community.

How do you maintain an authentic creativity that connects with consumers?

Ultimately, it’s all about being able to build community within your brand. I love brands who know who their consumers are — they realise they have a certain market that really loves them, and they just lean into that.

Sometimes, people blow up and you don’t really know how they got there. I’m not one of those designers or brands that deletes my whole Instagram for a rollout. I think it’s cool to see a brand that you follow where you can track their backstory.

The number one priority is to make sure that I’m still moving with purpose.

It’s like the “one fan a day” theory. Even for me, I stopped caring about who doesn’t know I exist and shifting that to care about the people that know I exist. I try to get better for those people.

What skills do you believe are most valuable in your profession in today’s market?

I like to be very transparent with my consumer base. I’m from the Midwest; I didn’t finish school; I just worked really hard and each year, I climbed very slowly. It’s something a lot of people can identify with, that slow grind and not being in one of those major fashion hubs — like Paris, London, New York or LA. I think I speak more so for the individual that had to work their way up to the top, whatever that looks like, and people like that.

How has your work and the presentation of your products evolved?

I’ve been doing this maybe 80 percent of my life. I started this thing when I was 13 or 14 years old. I’d say this became a real business over the last six or seven years. Just finally being able to have a budget and a brand that really believes in my journey and story has been pretty cool. Especially having this platform to speak for Black people in a positive light, it’s been so valuable to supply Black and Brown experiences via these stories.

Within the last three to four years, because I have brands and a bigger team that believe in my vision via marketing, I’m able to fulfil a lot of the things I wanted to do. Visually, in my opinion, we’ve been one of the best brands in terms of storytelling.

What advice would you give those looking to enter the industry today?

First, you’ve got to ask yourself why you want to be in this industry. What is your purpose? Before you come up with cool clothes or runway concepts — identifying your purpose is key. After that, you need to set the groundwork, think to yourself how long you want to be around. Because, some brands, they make it really big and sell it off in like five years.

When it comes to this brand building, it’s about knowing your community and knowing who your target audience is and then really driving that home — everybody could be going left, but let me go right — let me figure out how to attack this appropriately.

Then, it’s storytelling. Right now, the economy is kind of mellow. People are really watching what they buy and with that comes an influx of a lot of brands. It’s important for you to move with purpose and make sure you’re giving people something that they’re appreciating.

What innovations in the industry excite you?

It’s not necessarily an innovation, but an observation I’ve made recently is the old school ways in which brands are communicating with their customers. We’re in this age of nostalgia. Whether it’s an email blast, text messaging, or Discord is a good one — I like that brands are really building community and finding cool ways to connect with their core audience.

What does your selection for the BoF 500 mean to you?

It means a lot. I feel like because I’m not based in Paris or Milan, I’m left off certain things. I told myself a couple of years ago, as long as I’m able to have a business, pay my team, buy a house and be happy — lists are very subjective. But, the cool thing, particularly in this last year and a half, is that people have finally been noticing.

Even if more and more people are catching on late, it’s cool that I’m finally getting my flowers. I really feel like I’m just in the door and now it’s my goal to leave that door cracked open a little so other people can come in behind me.

I’ve always wanted to make this list, and it’s an honour to be around so many distinguished innovators that have been included on it over the past few years.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Neft Vodka as part of a BoF partnership.

In 2024, major economies are still experiencing stunted recovery and tentative growth across the globe: the UK’s economic recovery has slowed over the past two quarters, according to the BBC; in the US, credit card debt has hit a record high of $1.14 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; in China, GDP growth is forecast to miss government targets by 0.2 percent, according to the Bank of America.

What’s more, while US government data revealed that monthly US consumer prices dropped for the first time in four years as inflation subsides, apparel prices still rose 0.1 percent from the previous month.

In this context, fashion brands vying for the discretionary expenditure of aspirational customers need to provide a compelling reason for that consumer to part with their money. This cohort is increasingly considered in where and how they spend, meaning brands must carefully consider how they connect with this consumer and how they can show up in the places they spend time.

To learn more about how brands can authentically invest in brand activations, and how to measure their performance, BoF and Ekimetrics hosted a roundtable discussion at Mortimer House in London in September, gathering marketing leaders from across the UK’s fashion industry.

Since 2006, tech-enabled data science firm Ekimetrics has worked with over 50 luxury brands as well as renowned companies such as Estée Lauder and Nestlé to pioneer the use of AI and advanced data science in the industry. This has resulted in rich learnings for the sector, such as those shared in its roundtable companion paper, Driving Long Term Performance with Customer Lifetime Value, and ongoing engagement with sector-leading brands.

“I don’t think we have worked with any brands where they don’t know or don’t believe that investing in brand marketing — those longer-term activities — is the right thing to do. But we have also not worked with many brands where they are really confident in knowing what their investment in long-term brand actually delivers for the business,” shared Matt Andrew, a partner at Ekimetrics, in his opening remarks as a host of the roundtable.

Best practices today to engage consumers include much more effective and nuanced brand marketing, as the efficacy of performance marketing and paid campaigns diminishes due to decreasing relevancy and increasing costs. According to BoF and McKinsey’s The State of Fashion 2024 report, 71 percent of executives planned to increase brand marketing spend in 2024, in a bid to cultivate greater emotional connections with customers. In comparison, only 46 percent of surveyed executives intended to do the same for performance marketing. However, while investments may have shifted to align with this cultural change, success metrics and strategic frameworks have not caught up.

Conducted under the Chatham House Rule and moderated by BoF’s head of content strategy, Robin Mellery-Pratt, the event welcomed executives from brands and retailers Jimmy Choo, Harrods, Frasers Group, Me + Em, Missoma, The Dune Group, Russell & Bromley, Aspinal of London and rental platform Hurr.

Below, BoF shares condensed and anonymised insights from the discussion.

Accommodate long-term strategic goals with longer lead times

“In times of low economic activity, it’s usually the brand that gets hit, but not because it’s not driving value, but because a lot of companies don’t have the right metrics to prove that it’s for everybody and because it’s not a return you get immediately,” shared one attendee. “It’s really about: how can you tie those two things together to look at the performance with the same long-term lens?”

“I think there’s definitely a longer-term view that you need to take,” said another guest. “And it’s [looking] at cohorts of clients that have engaged with us around certain periods X many months later, and also the luxury spending patterns to have them come back multiple times a year — it’s a challenge.”

“So you do need to give it a bit more time. It doesn’t help you make an immediate decision [by] just pumping more money into Google shopping, for instance [...] It’s just a different kind of rationale,” they added.

Adjust KPIs to measure lifetime value effectively

“What we see is the need for more North Star KPIs — like lifetime value, like brand equity, short-term sales — and then the need to have consistent measurement for those things so that everything that you do can be measured against those things,” said one attendee. “There needs to be a culture of innovation as well to remain relevant. So we see that as a combination of North Star KPIs and system framework.”

“That shift from the backwards-looking perspective having a role and being important because you need to know what you’ve achieved [in the past], but having a stronger lens to be clearer about what’s going to come next — like having a strong forecast,” is what one attendee suggested. “[It’s about saying], what can we pull, what can we do to improve that and to say, ‘Actually, how is what we’ve achieved stronger from a revenue perspective versus a customer makeup perspective?’”

One of the changes that we have seen, particularly for younger consumers, is the shift to product-first rather than brand-first — people discover brands through products rather than the other way round.

“What are you doing to enhance that customer base so that you continue to acquire customers, and make those acquisitions stronger? And are you retaining customers through those different personas or segments? It’s about connecting those to the decision-making process and making them equal in terms of what you decide,” the same attendee added.

Align product with brand in a culture of ‘product-first’ paths to brand discovery

“One of the changes that we have seen, particularly for younger consumers, is the shift to product-first rather than brand-first — people discover brands through products rather than the other way round, which creates a really interesting challenge, which is: how do you create brand loyalty if the entry point is a product?” shared one attendee. “Part of the challenge is, if the world is investing in product and you are investing in brand, it’s not just about bridging performance and brand marketing — it’s bridging product and brand.”

“I like the term brand promise,” added another attendee. “It really connects the products to the brand. If your products meet the brand promise, you know what you are getting from whatever product you buy. You know what you are going to get from it is much stronger,” they shared.

“Eighty percent of our customers are coming to a brand for the first time through rental,” shared one attendee, when discussing the opportunity for retailers in the circular business model — both in terms of sustainability and brand discovery via product. “Rental helps with returns; it helps with sustainability; it helps customers make more informed decisions.”

Create rewards and loyalty programmes to understand your customer segmentation

“When you speak of data today, the most important thing is, how do you capture it and [build] a customer strategy that we can monetise, but also provide the best experience on? And the foundation for that was analytics, essentially. For example, we looked at: what is a customer’s behaviour when they first join [the brand] and, regardless of whether you are someone who spends £1,000 a year or £15,000, for us, their early life behaviour was the same,” said one executive.

“So 85 percent of the clients who churn, they make three or less purchases. For us, the fourth purchase is the magic number. Then we looked at, how long does it take to get to [number] four? For us, the average is three months. So now the team has to push our customers to try and get to the fourth purchase, and that doesn’t matter [what the purchase is, big or small],” shared the same executive.

“What we do essentially is for our personas — we build different journeys with different content around that, so different [products] to different people, but essentially more or less they follow the same pattern. We try to engage them through that journey and it has been really successful. But I would say, we are lucky in that we have our rewards programme that’s been running for 15 years and we have 80 percent rewards participation, so we are really data-rich,” they added.

What we see is the need for more North Star KPIs — like lifetime value, like brand equity, short-term sales — and then the need to have consistent measurement for those things.

“We need to do more analysis and think about looking at that top subsection of our customers and how valuable they are or how we should be treating them differently as well, in terms of looking at that retention. Because we do struggle with people only coming back maybe a couple of times a year,” shared one attendee. “We don’t have those repeat purchases three or four times in a month, so it’s about keeping the momentum of those customers so that they keep coming back year after year.”

“For us, especially during Covid, we realised how important the local customer is,” said another attendee. “We really stay on that kind of long-term trend — especially if you’re talking about lifetime value —who is really important to take care of and engage on a regular basis.”

Explore a diverse range of tactics to avoid overreliance on content creators

“Sometimes you can lose control of that brand space because of how you are activating people through the influencer. So for us, we see it a bit more as performance marketing — and it can drive massive growth because it’s ready access to an audience. But I think we still need to really work hard in terms of, ‘what is your brand, what does your brand stand for outside of what the influencer brings you’,” suggested one attendee.

“We’re really looking at how we use content creators. I think [...] we have kind of lost our brand identity along the way a little bit by relying too heavily on these content creators, [which] just confuses even more as to who [our brand] is,” said one guest.

“Sometimes, the ones that work really well are, for instance, a guy taking his top off getting changed [wearing our product] — and we’re like, that is so not on brand, but it works because he’s an attractive guy with his top off. And then what’s taken from his following is — people who are interested in him with his clothes off rather than the product.”

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Ekimetrics as part of a BoF partnership.

Fashion retailer Scotch & Soda is relaunching with a new strategic focus. After a period of retrospection and organisational assessment, its new owner Bluestar Alliance is looking to drive growth through a major strategic overhaul, hiring a new chief product officer, formerly at Acne Studios, restructuring teams and introducing new categories and lines. This includes a capsule menswear collection, launching today, co-created with Scotch & Soda’s new ambassador, musician Joe Jonas.

Initially founded in 1985 by Laurent Hompes in Amsterdam, Scotch & Soda was originally known for producing affordable menswear, later introducing womenswear, accessories and denim ranges, with a brand heritage championing the spirit and lifestyle of the Dutch capital. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Scotch & Soda, like many independent brands, fell victim to unpredictable market conditions, exacerbated by high inflation and a squeeze on consumer spending. In March 2023, the company filed a bankruptcy request to Dutch operations.

Scotch & Soda was purchased in April 2023 by American brand management company Bluestar Alliance — the group that counts the likes of Hurley, Bebe, Elie Tahari, Brookstone, Justice and more among its brand roster — which is overseeing a new era for the Dutch label.

The Scotch & Soda brand is also focusing on signing new licensees and franchisees to increase brand awareness and seeking to reinvigorate its retail ecosystem, with new locations across key international markets, including a newly opened flagship on Carnaby Street in London.

Now, BoF sits down with Bluestar Alliance CEO Joseph Gabbay, to understand more about how the company is strategically preparing Scotch & Soda for intentional growth and product category expansion while retaining its heritage as a label from the heart of Amsterdam.

How are you restructuring for success while preserving brand identity?

One of the ways that we are restructuring is by identifying the design, sales and marketing talent that was in place and layering on additional talent to those teams to position them for success. We have kept the team that was already at the headquarters in Amsterdam and built upon it as we plan to expand and grow the brand.

Our consumers outside of the city love the fact that Amsterdam is at the core of Scotch & Soda’s identity and its heritage — it’s one of our strengths. Our campaign photo shoots take place in Amsterdam and we have a team of marketing members based there and across our markets that our head of marketing oversees from the US.

There is an incredible archive at the Amsterdam headquarters where the design team is based. So that team, which is made up of people that have been with the brand for years, along with new people who have come onboard to offer a fresh perspective, have access to this archive, which ensures that the heart of the brand is beating strongly.

We are not looking to change the brand’s identity or make it US-based — the heritage is clearly part of what our consumers value. The leaders who were retained also know the brand well. With them in place, they are building teams to continue our strong market share in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and more.

Which markets is Bluestar Alliance focusing on for Scotch & Soda and why?

Both in the US and Canada, where we were originally pretty weak, it’s grown in leaps overnight, so we are expanding our retail footprint there and opening up standalone Scotch & Soda stores. We are opening outlet stores as well to help facilitate our end-of-season product. We have grown the business in the US by 50 percent since we acquired the company last year — it most likely will supersede sales generated this year across the rest of the globe.

The second-biggest market for us that we are targeting has been Asia — specifically, China, Japan and Korea. Initial leads have been strong, with the two stores in China we opened recently performing well. In Korea, we have approximately 15 proposals from very compatible franchise partners. We are looking to pick the best in class that are going to help us expand in these markets.

Our global retail footprint will aim to be 20 percent of our business model. We currently operate over 250 stores globally and we plan on hitting $1.4 billion in sales by the end of 2025.

At the same time, we are still looking to grow in Europe. While there was turmoil in the UK market prior to our acquisition, it rebounded really well. We re-opened our Carnaby Street flagship recently and we have a few more stores in the pipeline over the next 12 months in the UK, with our wholesale business growing there too. We also announced recent expansion in Belgium and France, and are about to announce additional expansion in Austria.

What are the plans for Scotch & Soda’s retail footprint expansion?

It really depends on the market — we are still trying to test the markets. Our global retail footprint will aim to be 20 percent of our business model. We currently operate over 250 stores globally and we plan on hitting $1.4 billion in sales by the end of 2025. By the end of 2024, we are looking at hitting about $900 million in retail sales, so brick-and-mortar is definitely part of fulfilling that expansion plan.

Aside from our own stores, having the best partners in place and the right relationships with the right department stores — like Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s in the US — has been really positive and that is where we are seeing a lot of growth.

We also have a new pricing structure. We had to bring pricing back down to where it was in its best day to make it more affordable and work properly for the brand because, in part, it was the pricing model which wasn’t working.

What is your strategic focus on licensees and franchisees?

Our core business is licensing. Once we got our arms around the brand, we had our partners come in and take over certain aspects of the business. We have a licensed partner that handles all of the menswear business globally and we have a licensed partner that handles all the womenswear business globally: United Legwear and Mamiye Brothers respectively. Although they are separate organisations and separate teams, they are collaborating together in the same office in Amsterdam, so everything stays consistent.

Our main focus in the beginning was putting those partners in place; breaking out men’s and womenswear separately so that we could grow the womenswear business.

We have had many calls from licensees to get into perfume and women’s handbags too, for example — particularly accessories categories. We held off on everything until we were ready and prepared, which we are now, so we will be expanding into those categories.

I think a strong marketing strategy is what had been lacking under the previous company ownership and we are strong believers of, and investors in, businesses where there is heritage to market.

We are also looking to enhance the franchise model and we are looking to enhance our brand image in those territories I have mentioned. We are announcing the opening of an additional 20 franchise stores — franchisees are very important for us. In New York and Amsterdam in particular, there are a number of franchisees who want to work with us and we are choosing them now.

Which product categories is Scotch & Soda looking to expand into?

By the end of 2025, we plan to have expanded into a host of categories as we head towards becoming a lifestyle brand for the home as well. Fragrance is top of mind for us — we produced a fragrance called Barfly for a while and consumers still demand it, so we are still producing it. It is not what we do best, but we are doing it through the same factory to keep the consumer happy. You don’t want to let anybody down.

It is really driven by retail demand. Retailers request that we have women’s handbags displayed among our offerings, whether it be in Saks or other wholesale partners. Bloomingdale’s, for example, asked us to consider branching into homewares, which is something we are now looking into. So we are engaging with that demand but it has to make sense for the brand.

What can we expect from Scotch & Soda in the near to mid-term?

Now that the business has stabilised — and I would say we finally stabilised about a month ago — what is really going to be changing a lot and driving the brand forwards is our marketing strategy. I think a strong marketing strategy is what had been lacking under the previous company ownership and we are strong believers of, and investors in, businesses where there is heritage to market. The first collaboration, which we signed right off the bat, is with Joe Jonas and we have about five new, very strong collaborations coming out over the next 9 to 10 months.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Scotch & Soda as part of a BoF partnership.

The Supima Design Competition (SDC) celebrated its 17th year this month, returning to the Prince George Ballroom for a runway presentation at New York Fashion Week, presenting collections designed by this year’s finalists.

The SDC focuses on bridging the transition between academic experience and launching a career in fashion by working with BFA graduates from six partner design schools from across the US. This year’s winner was Emma Joan Foley, from Parsons School of Design, The New School.

The school-selected finalists were challenged to design a women’s eveningwear collection made exclusively from five Supima cotton fabrics provided by the non-profit trade association: denim, twill, corduroy, knit and velveteen, with one look constructed from each material.

In addition to the SDC, Supima donates yardage to partner schools’ fashion departments and teaches classes about Supima’s quality and responsible production practices, helping students to understand raw materials like cotton, the different ranges of quality and how that can impact final designs.

The SDC offers a structured programme for the finalists, with weekly deliverables and check-ins to review progress by an in-house team of mentors lead by Bibhu Mohapatra, who celebrated his 10th anniversary as mentor to the competition this year. Partner schools also provide a mentor and allow their Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) graduates to continue to use school facilities.

“Every year we feel like we have seen everything under the sun when it comes to manipulation of the fabrics, creativity and uniqueness in design and silhouettes. But the new group comes in and they continue to impress, pushing Supima to new levels,” shared Buxton Midyette, VP of marketing and promotions at Supima.

This support is intended to give finalists the experience of running their own atelier. Indeed, alumni such as Andrew Kwon, Alexandra Pijut and Jeffrey Taylor have all launched namesake labels since participating in the SDC.

“They come away with an impactful portfolio that puts them head and shoulders above the crowd and allows them to pursue their dreams — whether that’s additional education at the MFA level, starting their own brand or working for a top fashion house — they can chart their own course,” added Midyette.

This year’s host was designer Phillip Lim, who joined a panel of established industry professionals including the likes of fashion creatives Jerome Lamaar and Cipriana Quann, founder of New York Fashion Week Fern Mallis and fashion writers Godfrey Deeny, Lisa Lockwood and Mickey Boardman in judging the collections.

“We like to get a really diverse group ranging from stylists to designers to press to influencers and even former finalists themselves — a real range of experiences,” said Midyette. “Many have been judging the competition for multiple years and are extremely helpful in terms of networking, often assisting with placements for the designers and are very active in terms of matching finalists with opportunities.”

[The finalists] come away with an impactful portfolio that puts them head and shoulders above the crowd and allows them to pursue their dreams.

Founded in 1954, Supima is the non-profit marketing and promotional brand for Pima cotton grown exclusively in America. The rare fibre is grown by just over 300 family farms and represents the top 1 percent in cotton quality, since its longer fibre contributes to a stronger final product, with lasting colour and thereby longer wear.

“We’re excited to have launched the full transparency and traceability authentication of Supima last year through our AQRe Project. You can now trace that t-shirt on the retail shelf all the way back to the cotton. So to the fabric, to the spinning of the yarn, all the way back to the ground where it was grown,” added Midyette.

BoF spoke to the six finalists from this year’s competition to learn more about their experience of Supima’s mentorship and learnings from working with the five Supima fabrics.

Emma Joan Foley

Emma Joan Foley studied fashion design in the collection pathway at the Parsons School of Design. During her studies, she developed skills in dressmaking and tailoring, creating contrasting pieces which involve draped technical elements and flat pattern work. She also specialised in leather.

“I wanted to use cotton-based materials in my personal thesis studying at Parsons, but it ended up being out of budget. Some of the fabrics that we work with in this collection are not textiles I would normally pull, so it has been exciting for me to develop a cohesive collection with complementary manipulations across the five looks. I manipulated all five fabric types with coating variations to mimic leather, paired with panelling and etching motifs. In this project, I have really been able to explore melding my leatherworking skills into fabrics, both in manipulation and construction.

“I am so looking forward to — and already enjoy experiencing — receiving feedback and learning from design and industry professionals outside of Parsons, across different facets of the fashion industry. I feel lucky to have the space and materials to expand my work, my process and my knowledge throughout this competition.”

Mina Piao

Mina Piao studied fashion design at The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York, where she specialised in knitwear. She is particularly interested in the sustainable capabilities of knitwear, as well as biodegradable materials.

“There are very few platforms that provide this level of exposure and support for recent fashion graduates. This is my first experience managing a team as a designer — it’s been critical for my development. The Supima team organised a cocktail reception after the first model fittings, where I had the opportunity to meet everyone in person. The FIT finalists from the past two years, Bryan Barrientos and Heejin Hwang, have been incredibly supportive and helpful in navigating this competition.

“Supima is offering yarn for the first time this year, which has been amazing to work with. The Supima yarn has a smoother hand and better drape than other unmercerized cotton yarns I’ve worked with before. I didn’t think it would be possible to pleat 100 percent cotton, but the Supima shirting fabric holds pleats surprisingly well. I am soaking the denim fabric with an algae-based bioplastic to create different designs, including fabric ‘sequins’ made from fabric offcuts.”

Marina Lamphier

Marina Lamphier studied fashion design at Drexel University in Philadelphia, with a focus on performance-wear wovens. Lamphier is particularly passionate about design innovation and how it can be used functionally to resolve everyday problems.

“Being surrounded by such a talented and driven group of designers is so inspiring. It’s like the saying goes: if you’re in a room with six millionaires, you’ll become the seventh. When you’re in the presence of such ambitious, accomplished creatives, you inevitably absorb their similar energy and mindset.

“One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my design journey is the value of cooperation with your resources. It is crucial to plan according to the time available, design to highlight your strongest skills and tailor your designs to the unique qualities of each fabric. In this collection, I’ve embraced the opportunity to highlight the contrast between softness and strength and to balance structure with flow, celebrating the unique attributes of each fabric.”

Lizzy Truitt

Lizzy Truitt is a recent graduate from Kent State University in Ohio, where she achieved a Bachelors in fine arts for fashion design, specialising in womenswear and a keen interest in concepts and surface design. Having grown up on a family farm producing short staple cotton, sustainable fabrics is an important topic in her work.

“Being able to display Supima fabrics while debuting a collection during New York Fashion week is the best of both worlds. My collection reflects how my upbringing and family continuously influence and inspire me as a designer. Having firsthand knowledge of the importance of family-owned farms, the fashion industry can not only improve its impact on the environment but make a direct impact on uplifting and including local communities as we innovate into the future.

“One of the main techniques used within my collection is inspired by quilting in modern ways. With Supima cotton, it has an incredibly soft hand. And because of its unique extra-long staple, it is more durable and provides much less pilling when it comes to doing reverse applique.”

Jules Gourley

Jules Gourley is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where they studied fashion design, developing core skills in pattern drafting, tailoring and working with leather. They also spent time developing skills in footwear design and bespoke footwear as part of their studies.

“I work in a material-first capacity, so this has pushed me into certain design decisions based on that. I don’t think I ever finalise a look until I have the final fabric in hand. My goal is to create garments that best utilise the properties of each Supima cotton fabric.

“I think if there’s a silver lining to how much social media permeates fashion culture, it’s how it can help smaller designers find an audience. I think doing small made-to-order garments is my ideal vision for being sustainable with fashion. Personally, I feel that there is something undesirable about doing large productions of clothes that don’t have a designated home. I’m also very excited about how many fabric mills and tanneries are committing to more ethical practices for production as well.”

Henry Hawk

Henry Hawk studied apparel design at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), specialising in denim, menswear and tailoring. He is fascinated by the history of denim and workwear and how denim’s traditional usage in jeans can influence a sustainable future of denim production.

“I’m so thankful for the opportunity to make another collection fresh out of college. I think that alone is amazing and not something most grads get to do right away. Not to mention with amazing fabrics and sharing it on the biggest stage I’ve ever had a chance to. A teacher, before I started, told me it’s like a summer grad school, but free. I’ve learned so much and pushed myself out of my comfort zone for this collection. It’s a special thing to be a part of.

“I think a lot of innovations for fabric, or sustainable methods, can be learnt from the past. Natural fibres, natural dyes, no added stretch, removable buttons so clothing is fully recyclable — I hope we can start to make stronger circular systems that don’t cut any corners from the start to the end of the life cycle of a garment.”

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Supima as part of a BoF partnership.

In order to forge authentic connections with target consumers in today’s market, brands must build cultural verticals to engage communities and provide meaning.

Sixty-nine percent of Gen-Z shoppers agree with the statement that what they wear says something about them, according to new research by Ipsos. This expectation is even higher when turning to younger consumers, with 77 percent of teens agreeing with the same statement. “Today, the most likeable brands are not necessarily the biggest in the world (although that helps), or the most outrageous (although that helps, too),” says Lauren Sherman, fashion correspondent at Puck Media. “What they have in common is an understanding that as our culture continues to fragment into oblivion, you cannot be everything to every person.”

Neft Vodka is a creatively positioned, premium beverage company which platforms creativity through a virtuous cycle of innovations and activations. The brand then reinvests those efforts in order to distinguish and establish their own creative identity in the market.

Since 2020, Neft’s Emerging Film Talent International Competition (NEFTI) was devised to provide opportunities and mentorship for filmmakers from emerging regions to pitch and produce their stories, which are financed by Neft, for a global audience. Currently in its 6th competition, NEFTI has produced over 20 films with filmmakers from these regions and continues to help them excel. In further support of emerging creative talent, Neft Vodka has partnered with many organisations supporting the arts, including Art Hearts Fashion for New York Fashion Week 2023. This year, Neft is the official partner of the BoF 500.

To learn how Neft Vodka fosters the creative class across its business and through collaboration with adjacent industries and mentorship, BoF sits down with Paul Robinson, Neft Vodka’s chief creative officer.

Why is supporting the creative class a key strategic pillar for Neft Vodka?

I truly believe that art makes life richer, and when you come across an artist in any field that is talented, innovative and unique, it often opens your mind to a new perspective and entices you to engage with that artist’s vision. There is a feeling of real excitement when you first experience a creation and you can sense the effort and passion that the artist has put into the piece. That is something we strive to do at Neft — we want to invoke this sense of excitement, creativity and engagement, and bring exceptional experiences to our audience.

However, none of this would be possible without supporting and investing in the creative class. It’s especially important to us to support those in the early stages of their careers, many of whom haven’t yet had the opportunity to share their vision beyond their immediate surroundings.

So, supporting and collaborating with artists that are innovative and individualistic is a strategic priority. It has been very fulfilling for us to help those artists excel, realise their goals and develop their creative potential. In turn, Neft is able to evolve creatively and find innovative ways to market our brand. We feel strongly that creativity is the way forward.

What innovations or activations can you share that showcase this creative strategic vision?

NEFTI is a short film competition we hold for filmmakers in emerging economies and underrepresented regions. In collaboration with the International Emerging Film Talent Association and other partners, our goal is to support filmmakers, to help them learn new skills, and present them with new opportunities, including the ability to reach a global audience.

Supporting and collaborating with artists that are innovative and individualistic is a strategic priority — it has been very fulfilling for us to help those artists excel

Another project we have just launched is the Neft Global Art Competition which aims to support artists across other disciplines, from painters and photographers through to visual and graphic artists. Each month, we accept applications from artists who send in their creations. We choose the semi-finalists while the finalists and overall winners are chosen through online voting and then awarded cash prizes to further fund their craft. At the end of each year, we will have an event to unveil the winning artist, supporting and spotlighting them. There is so much talent out there, but opportunities are few and increasingly narrow. Leveraging Neft in order to facilitate these initiatives — and watch as the new creative class develops sharing their vision on a global scale — has been particularly fulfilling.

How do you utilise the creativity you nurture to support business goals?

One of the components of the NEFTI competition is a task that centres around incorporating Neft vodka into a short film — not as product placement or the basis for the story, but rather as a cleverly intertwined component of the storytelling. The brand benefits from this commercially, but the main purpose of this task is education. Most of the filmmakers who apply haven’t worked with a brand, under brand guidelines, and haven’t worked in a commercial setting. It equips those filmmakers with commercial experience to expand their career and have the ability to work with brands in the future.

We found that many NEFTI participants would say it was their favourite part of the competition due to the uniqueness of the task and having to stretch beyond their core skill sets. As NEFTI has progressed, we have started to bring in other brands for filmmakers to use, to really develop and nurture their skills. By putting ourselves out there as a brand that grows with artists, it embeds creativity into our brand DNA. We are building a virtuous cycle that’s beneficial to our brand but empowers those we collaborate with and support.

Why is the fashion industry Neft Vodka’s next focus area?

I began my career working as a fashion photographer, so the fashion industry is close to my heart. It encompasses so many different elements of the arts and has such a massive influence on almost every other industry. There is ample opportunity to be involved with the creative class, be that fashion photographers, stylists, artists, creative directors or designers. At Neft, our priority is the artists themselves and finding ways we can support them most effectively. After all, they are the visionaries and the future of industry.

By putting ourselves out there as a brand that grows with artists, it embeds creativity into our brand DNA. We are building a virtuous cycle.

We want to be able to evolve with those who drive change, progress and mould where the industry goes. There are so many aspects of the fashion industry that align with our brand and the direction we have chosen. The spirit space is a very crowded market and so, for us, it is so important to to continue to progress and evolve our voice as a brand. Aligning with industries like fashion and placing emphasis on creativity is absolutely a strategic priority.

What are your ambitions for Neft Vodka over the near and medium-term?

In the near-term, we have several ongoing programmes that we want to continue to expand, like the NEFTI Competition and the Neft Global Art competition. We are also planning to develop a NEFTI type of competition for the fashion industry. Scaling and creating new projects like these as well as expanding into new markets is an immediate focus for us as we continue to build Neft into the brand we want to be — one that supports emerging artists and the creative class.

This year has also been our entrance into the fashion industry. While we have had a presence at New York Fashion Week and have done some other smaller sponsorships with fashion partners, working to tell our story within the industry and support creative talent remains a key goal.

Our brand is very much about finding partners that are going to be long-term. We really value building those relationships and would like to continue on that path of aligning with adjacent industries and growing the communities that we support.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Neft Vodka as part of a BoF partnership.

The rapid proliferation of e-commerce in South Korea — thanks in part to the high distribution rate of smartphones — is directly impacting shopping behaviour. South Koreans spent a total of more than $171.1 billion through e-commerce platforms in 2023, according to a report by South Korean newspaper Aju Business Daily.

Adjacent to this shift is a significant uptick in the consumption of luxury goods. South Korean consumers spend $325 per capita on luxury goods a year, according to Morgan Stanley — the highest spending globally, outpacing their counterparts in key markets such as the US and China.

As appetite for both frictionless e-commerce experiences and access to luxury goods continue to shape and define consumer behaviour in the country, the secondary peer-to-peer market continues to gain traction. Indeed, Korea’s resale market is expected to double its market share by 2025, as reported by online re-commerce business Bunjang.

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A leading platform in Korea’s resale market, Bunjang saw the transaction volume of fashion goods sold exceed $833 million — ten times that of 2021. Responsible for more than 21 million transactions in 2023, Bunjang has leveraged its proprietary insights and surveyed 800 Korean consumers between the ages of 20 and 59 for its inaugural ‘Korean Luxury Resale Report’ to determine the key category insights, defining consumer trends and the scale of opportunity within the country’s secondary market.

“Our strategies have centred around those key consumer shifts we have been seeing — the growing importance of immediate accessibility, reasonable prices and, crucially, sustainability. We view this as a new culture that we need to not only be a part of, but also work proactively to build this culture and drive widespread adoption,” Bunjang CEO Jaewha Choi previously told BoF.

Below, BoF shares extracts from Bunjang’s report, distilling five distinct themes that will define the success of luxury resale in the region.

Online Channels Dominate Resale Shopping

BoF: The growth of the global secondhand apparel market outpaced the firsthand sector 15-fold in 2023, with online resale experiencing accelerated growth at 23 percent year-over-year, according to research from ThredUp. In BoF Insights’ “Future of Resale” report, consumers surveyed from the US, UK, France and Germany citied “value,” “affordability” and “sustainability” as key motivators for shopping secondhand.

Bunjang Report: The Korean resale market saw accelerated growth in the last decade. Sales skyrocketed from 4 trillion Korean won (US$2.9 billion) in 2008 to 24 trillion won (US$17.4 billion) in 2021, with the resale market expected to reach US$31 billion by 2025, largely driven by online resales.

Indeed, shoppers gravitate toward buying secondhand goods online —more than 56 percent of Korean consumers who bought secondhand items in 2023 made their purchase online. South Korea is ranked first for having the highest penetration of online engagement in resale. While online resale has a reputation for usage by Gen-Z, online secondhand shopping in Korea transcends all generations, from people in their 20s through to those in their 50s. Online resale services receive more than 656,000 downloads per mont, and consumers spend an average of just under 79 hours per month on the top five re-commerce platforms.

Generations with purchasing power are expected to account for nearly half of the secondhand market as resale becomes a new cultural phenomenon. Consumers trade secondhand clothing the most through resale, followed by electronics and appliances, then sports goods.

The Luxury Category Boosts Strongest Growth in Resale

BoF: Globally, the market for secondhand luxury goods continues to boom: approximately US$49.3 billion worth of secondhand luxury goods were sold worldwide in 2023, according to Bain & Co. Indeed, the resale market has doubled in size in just four years, with the consultancy expecting secondhand luxury sales to increase at around 15 percent annually over the next five years — double the rate of the primary market.

Some 71 percent of shoppers bought or sold used goods in the past year globally — with 63 percent of these shoppers marking a purchase at least once a month, according to new research by MPB and Retail Economics.

Bunjang Report: Despite global economic recession, the Korean luxury resale market demonstrates significant signs of growth. Indeed, the purchasing of pre-owned luxury goods is rising as inflation persists: 61.5 percent of Korean consumers shopped for secondhand luxury goods in 2023, while 20.2 percent of consumers filled nearly half of their luxury wardrobes with secondhand items. Ultimately, current economic challenges have led people to turn to luxury resale instead of the primary firsthand market: rising prices accounted for 76.9 percent of consumers purchasing luxury goods secondhand in 2023.

This motivation behind sales in secondhand luxury goods was followed by scarcity and sustainability, the latter of which is increasingly a priority for consumers today. In fact, due to a growing preference for sustainable consumption, consumers plan to spend more of their luxury budget on secondhand goods in 2024.

Classic Luxury Goods Win Out in Womenswear

BoF: Quiet luxury, a term used to describe logo-free, understated but expensive garments from the likes of brands like Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli and The Row, has emerged as one of the fashion industry’s most significant trends and as a rejection of the logomania that typified the late 2010s.

While not a new concept, popular culture phenomena such as the HBO show “Succession” propelled this aesthetic into the mainstream. In 2023, Google searches for the term “quiet luxury’” grew by 614 percent, according to research from The Drum. At its peak in July 2023, terms like “old-money outfit” garnered 50,000 searches per month, while “old-money aesthetic” gathered more than 74,000.

Bunjang Report: Across the womenswear category, shopping behaviour shows an unchanging love for legacy brands, with the rise of the “old money” aesthetic. 2023 was the year of timeless classic bags, shoes and accessories; shoppers discovered forgotten legacy brands and quiet luxury brands. This mature and minimalistic trend elevated the essentials, such as logoless bags and plain white T-shirts, among fashion enthusiasts.

In August 2023, when the “old money” aesthetic emerged as a new cultural trend, searches on the platform increased 387 percent month-on-month. Meanwhile, tried-and-true luxury bags continue to garner popularity. Love for rare and exclusive high-end bags showed varying popularity according to each generation.

Searches for The Row were up more than 120 percent. Its Margaux bag has cemented itself as a signature of quiet luxury. Searches for Loro Piana were up 44 percent. While younger generations on the platform desire Prada for its affordable price point and sustainable options, such as its Re-Nylon bags, women above 45 identified the Louis Vuitton Alma bag as a key item, citing its heritage and craftsmanship. Classic styles from Chanel and Dior’s iconic Lady Dior bag proved to be the most coveted accessories brand among surveyed women.

Authentication Services Resonate With Menswear Shoppers

BoF: The total value of counterfeit and pirated goods will hit $3 trillion this year, triple the amount in 2013, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sophisticated authentication measures are a critical component for many consumers to embrace the secondary market and place trust in peer-to-peer transactions.

Bunjang Report: While Gen-Z and Millennials remain the most prominent generations within the luxury resale market, 2023 was the year of welcoming a new, specific cohort: Gen-X men. Indeed, emerging luxury spenders who are male and aged 35 to 44 gravitated toward luxury resale — Balenciaga was the most searched fashion brand by this cohort, with Cartier and Bulgari the most searched accessory brands.

As resale logistics undergo technological improvements, this consumer cohort has embraced luxury resale, as authenticity of product is easier to guarantee. The number of men aged 35 to 44 using Bunjang’s authentication service “Bungae Care” increased by more than 27 percent, year-on-year. Meanwhile, luxury sneakers remain a popular category — Millennials and Gen-Z traded 16,000 pairs of luxury sneakers last year, with the Balenciaga 3XLs, the Gucci Rhytons and the Maison Margiela Replica sneakers the most sought-after styles on the platform.

Parents Show Preferences for Secondhand Luxury Childrenswear

BoF: Despite the region’s notoriously low birth-rate, the childrenswear market in Korea shows no signs of slowing. Korea’s childrenswear came to around $1.76 billion in 2023, up 33 percent from 2020, according to Euromonitor. Luxury brands in particular have seen the most noticeable growth.

Bunjang Report: Generation Alpha is anticipated to be the highest spender due to their status — better known in the region as “very important babies” (VIBs). Generation Alpha are pampered by Millennial parents — those spending $325 per capita on luxury goods a year — who provide early familiarisation with luxury brands. Baby Dior searches were up 33.82 percent on the platform, while Burberry Kids searches were up 6.46 percent.

Discover further insights in the report, including the Korean fashion brands gaining traction within the region’s resale market.

This is a sponsored feature paid for by Bunjang as part of a BoF partnership.