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“ I have my fingers in a lot of different pies and it is a very rich source of inspiration for me ”
Imran Amed IS A FASHION BUSINESS ADVISOR, WRITER, ENTREPRENEUR AND FOUNDER OF The Business of Fashion. OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS, The Business of Fashion HAS GROWN FROM AN ARMCHAIR PROJECT TO ONE OF THE MOST CELEBRATED FASHION BLOGS. The Montebury MET WITH Imran TO DISCUSS THE SOCIAL WEB, THE CHANGING FACE OF LUXURY AND THE FUTURE OF THE FASHION BUSINESS.
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IMRAN AMED / The Business of Fashion
The Montebury — WHAT WERE YOUR FIRST STEPS INTO FASHION?
Imran Amed — I spent the first ten years of my career either studying business or working as a management consultant, advising large businesses and the leaders and managers of those businesses on how to fix certain problems and access opportunities. After graduating from business school, I worked at a firm called McKinsey & Co. and a after few years I started feeling like I wasn’t bringing my full self to work each day. I was quite analytical and interested in business growing up, but I also spent a lot of time in the performing arts -- drama, public speaking, voice, piano. I was always around creative people and that was probably the most memorable part of growing up for me. Ten years later I was going to work everyday and was only using the left side of my brain, which is the analytical side. There was a whole other part of me that was not being used. I felt like I wasn’t reaching my full potential and I knew that there was more I could do.
I started exploring creative industries such as music and fashion. Everyone said to me that breaking into the fashion industry from the world I was coming from would be very hard, but that with persistence and focus (and a bit of luck) you never know what could happen.
I was introduced to someone at The British Fashion Council who put me in touch with several young fashion designers. The early hypothesis was that there were many young fashion designers out there who might be able to benefit from having someone like me who could work with them on the business side of things, and indeed when I started meeting designers, I kept seeing this void: an abundance of creativity but with no real business acumen and structure.
Most fashion schools here in the UK and elsewhere don’t really equip fashion designers to run their own business or to operate as business managers. As I started having discussions with these designers, I began to see that there was an interesting role for me, as someone who both understands the motivations, desires and nature of creative people but also brings an analytical, business acumen to the table. So, my first steps into fashion, were these kind of conversations.
WHAT WAS THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY AT THIS TIME?
IA — London was kind of in a funk. I think London was still suffering from the departure of big name designers like McQueen, Stella McCartney, Matthew Williamson, Jonathan Saunders, etc. A lot of people were leaving the city and what was left was just a skeletal London Fashion Week schedule. I have to give kudos to The British Fashion Council because the one thing they have certainly done in the past few years is to really restructure the London Fashion Week. They have done a great job at reorganising it and are really bringing back some energy into London.
At the time, the industry in London wasn’t optimistic about where fashion could go and I think there was a big need and a big interest in how to support and work with young fashion designers in London to keep them here. There were a variety of initiatives going on that were focused on trying to support young talent, but I just kept seeing that nobody was offering that hard, clear business angle.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR OCCUPATION AND HOW DO YOU SPEND YOUR WORKING WEEK?
IA — I always find it hard to put my occupation into one word – I guess it’s more like a portfolio of activities. Some of those activities I do out of pure passion with no financial objective, for example, I teach a business course at St. Martin’s. It’s not particularly lucrative, but it is incredibly rewarding. One of the things that I have learnt over the past few years is that if you can reach and connect with designers whilst they are still learning and early in their careers, then you can also shape the way they think about the industry and their roles within the business of fashion, not just as a designer.
Some of the work I do out of passion, such as a teaching and I obviously do quite a bit of writing for my own website, The Business of Fashion and another website that I have been working on called Luxury Society, and also for other publications.
A big chunk of my time is in consultancy and advisory work both with large luxury brands and also private investors and small fashion businesses. I do some mentoring with Fashion East, who have this great ability to spot and support young talent and more and more, I am taking on speaking engagements, on a panel or in presentations to large groups of people in conferences, business schools etc.
It’s hard to fill in the occupation box with one word, but that’s the way I like it. I think I have what some people may call a short attention span, but I manage to do a whole bunch of things that are related to one another and that work well together. My writing is inspired by the conversations I have with people every day and the work I do in my consultancy informs my writing, and my writing informs my teaching etc. It’s a big virtuous circle.
People say that people look for their calling in life. I really feel that I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. |
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Given the variety of people I am privileged to meet in a given week, I can see patterns and notice things that other people don’t have the opportunity to see because they are maybe focused on one aspect of the industry. I get to touch big companies and small companies, creative people, CEOs, retailers, bloggers, journalists etc. I have my fingers in a lot of different pies and it is a very rich source of inspiration for me. So, there was no plan. It all started on the arm of my sofa in the living room and it has just grown from there.
BLOGGERS HAVE BECOME AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE FASHION INDUSTRY. WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON THIS EVOLUTION AND IS IT GOOD FOR THE INDUSTRY?
IA — We are only now beginning to see how bloggers will impact fashion. On The Business of Fashion, we have been writing about the phenomenon of fashion bloggers from the very start. A few years ago I was speaking at a conference at Harvard Business School and a question was asked on my opinion of social media. It was still early days, and I think I was the first person to answer the question on this panel. I said that I thought there was a really big opportunity there, it is still very early but there are millions of people on Facebook, millions of people reading these blogs and it is changing the way people consume information, so obviously for anyone trying to communicate with consumers, it is something that you should be aware of. I was pretty much broad-sided by the rest of the people on the panel and one of them actually used the word ‘stupid’ in response to what I had said.
Since then, the phenomenon of these blogs and independent websites has continued to grow and in the last six months in particular, I think the whole industry has stood back and taken notice. However, I think a lot of people have jumped into this whole social media/blogger frenzy without thinking strategically and I think that perhaps a more strategic, thoughtful approach as to how fashion brands can work with blogs, and how fashion brands can use tools on Facebook and Twitter to achieve their business objectives is needed.
So, it’s all very early. We must remember that bloggers are not going away and the social web is not going away, but we are early in the development of this phenomenon and this is the beginning of an arc that has a very long story.
IN YOUR OPINION, HOW HAVE LUXURY BRANDS CHANGED OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS?
IA — The context has changed a lot. Over the past couple of years, there have been different forces that have been working on the industry, and have really changed the context in which luxury brands have operated, not least of which is the economy. So, when the economic shock of last year happened, it was something that was a long time coming. There was a gradual deterioration of the economic context and then the crisis hit in September 2008.
One of the big forces of change since then has been the economic change, and the resulting change in the way consumers think about and consume fashion. The second force has been around the internet, both from a commercial aspect (transacting and selling product on the internet) but probably more significantly, in terms of communication. The third major force we see emerging now is the change in consciousness around consumerism and sustainable/eco-issues. So, you have these three forces working on an industry that has for so long operated in one way.
I think we are at a time of great change and I think the whole cycle of fashion is changing, the way brands communicate is changing and the way consumers make decisions is changing. That amount of change in such a short period of time, there are obviously huge opportunities that present themselves to adapt to the times or get stuck in old-fashioned ways of working.
WHERE DOES THE FUTURE LIE FOR SOCIAL MEDIA AND HOW WILL THIS EFFECT LUXURY BRANDS?
IA — A year ago, most people didn’t know the word ‘twitter’. Twitter was niche, and was for nerdy, techie people and now Twitter has hit the mainstream and there are millions of users. Three years ago, Facebook was something that was limited to college students, five/ten years ago there was no MySpace, etc.
One thing is that we are always going to see this constant innovation and generation of tools and social elements of the web. Brands have had a tendency to always say “no” when a new wave of these tools comes along, but I think we need to change mindsets a bit, so every time a new element of the social web emerges, I hope that all of us can say “how can we use this?”
Experimentation is the best way to find out how these things work. Before the internet came along, the fashion system was very defined. That has all been turned upside down today, so Fashion Week, an event normally for the industry only has turned into Fashion Week, not only for the industry but for everyone who might be interested in it. You create all of this desire and interest and yet those clothes are still not available until six months later. We are going to have to find a way to fulfill this desire more quickly.
HAVE WE TAKEN AWAY THE EXCLUSIVITY THAT MADE FASHION GLAMOROUS?
IA — I don’t think by definition fashion has to be exclusive, but I think by definition, fashion has to cultivate mystery, intrigue, excitement, interest and passion. The way that was done before was through very controlled communication, editorials by certain magazines, featuring certain models who only looked a certain way. Advertisements were done by the same photographers who used the same models as the editorials. In-store communication was very limited, it was all controlled. Fashion hasn’t been exclusive by definition but has been cultivated to seem exclusive. The eighties and nineties created a lot of these lofty, aspirational images but the majority of the money was made through licensing. Perfumes, cosmetics , etc.
What has changed now is the controlled communication put out by fashion magazines is being drowned out by the uncontrolled information generated by the internet. Individuals on Facebook, forums, blogs - all of that is drowning out the controlled information so brands have no choice but to participate in that uncontrolled conversation. Whilst they won’t be able to control that conversation, what they can do is positively influence the conversation by giving people topics, images and information that people are going to talk about.
What is good about the social web is that when somebody is excited about something, it spreads like wildfire. Of course, the reverse is also true.
SO, ARE CONSUMERS FOR THE FIRST TIME DICTATING TO THE INDUSTRY?
IA — I think consumers pass judgement very quickly on what they like, but it is still up to the industry to create things and come up with the ideas. That is the heart of what the fashion industry is about, the marriage between the creativity and the business side. One thing that hasn’t changed is that the brands who continue to perform well are the brands that create products, campaigns and messages that people will share and get excited about.
IS LUXURY, BY DEFINITION, EXCLUSIVE?
IA — No, I wouldn’t say so. There is obviously a difference between Hermès and H&M but in the last ten years, we have seen elements of high-end luxury appear on the high street. To the point where you have one of the most important designers of the last twenty years, Jil Sander, doing a very high-profile, long-term design collaboration with a high street brand like Uniqlo. You have Topshop offering the kind of service level, with personal shoppers and stylists, that previously may have only been found in the luxury department stores. You have design as a concept, being brought to consumers who at one time may have not been able to access it. |
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“ I think we are at a time of great change and I think the whole cycle of fashion is changing, the way brands communicate is changing and the way consumers make decisions is changing ”
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WHAT PROMPTED THE LAUNCH OF THE BUSINESS OF FASHION?
IA — I had no plan. Contrary to what I had been taught in business school, sometimes great things are born out of sheer passion. I started talking to people who had been writing fashion blogs and I saw a gap. There is obviously a fair amount of business analysis and business writing about the fashion industry, and there is Women’s Wear Daily, but I just saw this burgeoning new area for small, independent, fast-paced blogs. Communities were sprouting on the internet and nearly all of it was focused on the consumer side of fashion, whereas I focused on the people working in the industry, both the creative and the business people.
The whole idea was to create a zone on the internet where both those kinds of people would find articles and ideas that would inspire them. I have always done a lot of personal writing, and I read a lot, but this was an amazing way to take everything I was reading and the conversations I was having, and bring them together. |
The other shift is that some things that are happening on the high street are now happening in the luxury sphere. Thirty years ago, they used to do two collections a year. Bubbling up from the high street came this notion of fast fashion, and so most fashion brands now do six/seven collections a year. They are working on efficiency on how they run their stores, taking lessons from mass-consumer businesses. So, what you see is a sharing of operational and creative concepts between these two levels of the market.
With respect to the point that by definition, luxury has to be exclusive, I think that is a bit of an antiquated notion now. For me as a consumer, luxury is when something is made specifically for me. I am a luxury consumer, but I am also a smart consumer. I have a tailor that makes stuff for me in Japan, and it is amazing.
There was a time when a woman would only shop at Christian Dior, and that woman was completely different from the woman that went to Marks & Spencer, who had to wear really poorly designed stuff. I do lament in some ways the decline of luxury and quality, and I do lament that people will pay lots of money for a poorly made handbag. |
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“ What is good about the social web is that when somebody is excited about something, it spreads like wildfire ”
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The last statistics I saw for Burberry’s Art of the Trench website showed that the photographs of people in Burberry trench coats have been viewed nearly four million times, in a matter of a few months. They really figured out how to create interest around an iconic product for them, in a way that nobody else has done before. Although they didn’t get as much attention as D&G, they were very forthright in reaching out to bloggers to attend their show at London Fashion Week. They have been building relationships with bloggers, to get the word out about Burberry. They have a Facebook page with over seven hundred thousand fans and people are constantly engaging with the content that Burberry are uploading to their website.
As opposed to this very controlled marketing system we had in the past, Burberry are just being open. They are sharing all the different aspects that help create this brand that we know as Burberry. They are giving us access to their Creative Director, to the stars of the advertising campaigns, exposing photographs , etc. For me, that is the one brand that really stands out.
That being said, it is early days and I am eager to see how Burberry will maintain interest in The Art of the Trench site. Will it get boring after a while? They are going to have to be very clear about how they keep it fresh, because as I said before, the internet is about new, new, new. They are going to have to innovate too, because it is not just a static thing.
PAID CONTENT IS A HOT TOPIC AT THE MOMENT. WILL WE BE PAYING FOR BLOGS IN THE FUTURE?
IA — There are millions of fashion blogs out there, but the ones we are hearing about are the same ten/fifteen. We are hearing about them because there are a few bloggers out there who have created something that is generally different from everything around them. If you look at what Susie Bubble puts up, it is a blog genuinely built around who she is. She has a very unique perspective on fashion, whether you like it or not, she has very strong opinions, whether you agree with them or not, and she has integrity. If you talk to Susie, she will tell you that she will probably never make a lot of money from it, but the real opportunities for bloggers are not from making money with their own blogs, but the opportunities that come from having their blogs.
So, Susie, for example, got a job at Dazed Digital solely on the basis that she had this quirky blog that she created on her own. If you talk to Jefferson Hack, who hired her, he basically went out and picked her because she was so opinionated and because she had real, genuine knowledge and was internet savvy. I think a lot of people dismiss the young bloggers because of their age, but if you talk to them, you realise that they have something interesting to say.
So no, I don’t think we are going to see a time where people make a lot of money off of fashion blogs but I think having a truly differentiated, truly distinct fashion blog is often a platform for building a career elsewhere in the fashion industry.
WHY HAVE FASHION BRANDS RECENTLY TURNED TO VIDEO?
IA — One thing that has emerged in the last few years, is the technology that allows us to deliver video in a very low cost, high quality way. You can now get HD quality video on YouTube in an instant. I can take it with my Flip camera, plug it in and upload it to YouTube right away. So, I think the big thing that has changed is not the existence of video, but the mechanism and technology that allows that video to be delivered and shared with lots of people, which is what YouTube has done. I think the notion of fashion and film has always been there, but now you have this great channel to create and deliver it.
Moving image is the new way of communicating about fashion.
WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE THE BUSINESS OF FASHION IN THE FUTURE?
IA — It’s been kind of nice to have BoF as an organic project. I have lots of ideas and lots of things that are presented to me as potential opportunities and collaborations, and I just take them as they come. It is nice to have a project that you are doing mostly as an outlet for your passion and ideas, and as a way to connect with people. Certainly, I would love to see it continue to grow and I would love to look for ways to monetize the content and add additional streams of content that are premium types of content.
For the time being, my plan is just to continue to experiment and do what we have become known for, which is opinionated, analytical content on the fashion business. I think if we keep doing that, people will hopefully keep reading and sharing it with each other.
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Consumers are getting smarter now. I think the word luxury has lost its meaning. There is a difference between the major brands that we all know, that advertise in magazines and have stores on Bond Street, Fifth Avenue , etc., and the small, beautiful businesses run by independent families, who do things in a traditional way. Luxury is now referring to this industry that includes all of these big brands. So it is maybe not about changing what we call luxury, but about creating a new word for these small businesses.
PUBLISHERS ARE STILL INSISTING ON PRODUCING PAPER MAGAZINES, BUT BLOGGERS HAVE TAKEN A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE READERSHIP AWAY. DO THE PAPER MAGAZINES STAND A CHANCE AT SURVIVAL?
IA — Yes, absolutely. I think, again, we are at a moment of great change. I very much believe in the future of the physical magazine, but it is not going to be as prevalent as we have seen in the past. It will be more about the experience of consuming photography, editorial etc. The internet is more about quick jolts of information, because the tool is inherently better suited to that.
When a magazine used to come out once a month, such as Vogue or Elle, you have to think about how that magazine is conceived. The Vogue team takes months to get the magazine together, printed and distributed. By definition, the content that they used to put in there was time-sensitive content. What the internet has done, is provided a much more efficient, timely, immediate source of communication, so magazines will need to change and provide content that is timeless. Any information and communication, particularly with the emergence of mobile phones and the new tablet idea, is meaning that electronic channels of communication are going to be where people get the latest information.
Magazines are going to have to offer something that is differentiated from this time-based content. The experience of flipping through a magazine has not been replaced by the internet. Take Fantastic Man for example, everyone loves that magazine at the moment. The content is unique, the paper feels great and I keep my Fantastic Mans. It is a beautiful, timeless experience reading that magazine, and until this day I have not seen that replicated on the internet. The magazine is still portable, because it is not easy for me to read on my iPhone.
The other thing that is important, is that it is not one or the other. Smart magazines will start to see that they do not need both an Editor in Chief for the physical magazine and a completely separate Editor in Chief for the online component. There should be an Editor in Chief who oversees the entire manifestation of the brand, whether that is physical or virtual. If that is done well, you can create both kinds of content, with reasons for people to consume the magazine and read content online.
There is a big skills challenge with incumbent players, and I see this both in the fashion brands and the fashion media. The skills that people need now to communicate have changed. I have sat with editors from really big magazines who are still trying to work out how to use their Twitter account. They know they should be tweeting, but they don’t really understand that it is a conversation and a mindset. It is not just about broadcasting, but it is about listening, and engaging in a dialogue.
The next stage for me is curation. There is so much information produced everyday, but nobody in their right mind will sort through all of that information, so the next big thing is curating content. Not only are we producing our own content on The Business of Fashion, but we are telling you what is the best of what we have found. Most people only have a daily relationship with five to ten websites, and the goal of any website is to become one of those five to ten websites for your readers. Someone needs to sort through all the content out there.
WHICH BRANDS USE THE INTERNET EFFECTIVELY AND WHY?
IA — I think the brand that has been the most innovative and is showing that it understands this big digital opportunity is Burberry. Many brands have streamed their shows on Facebook, set up Twitter accounts and have started working with bloggers, but what I really like about the way Burberry is thinking about it, is that they are trying lots of different things and are thinking digitally in everything they do, on both the business and creative sides of the brand. Because they try many different things, by definition, a couple of those things are going to work really well. |
“ They know they should be tweeting, but they don’t really understand that it is a conversation and a mindset. It is not just about broadcasting, but it is about listening, and engaging in a dialogue ”
— February 2010
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