At this year’s ever-grander, ever more memeable Met Gala, celebrities turned up in their finest to honor the late designer Karl Lagerfeld, the subject of the 2023 exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Gallery in New York City.
The designer, famous for his longtime collaboration with Chanel and Fendi, as well as his work at his own line and the houses of Balmain and Patou, gave guests a treasure chest of inspiration, with designs from the past seven decades all ripe for aesthetic plunder.
Rita Ora, dressed in ApparelMagic client Prabal Gurung, took her inspiration from Lagerfeld’s favorite color, black, as well as his constant use of chiffon in daring ways. Her sheer gown criss-crossed her body until it swept down the Met’s infamous stairs with a dramatic train.
Taika Waititi, in an ode to Lagerfeld’s employer since the 80s, Chanel, wore a sumptuous evening coat in grey satin with a pair of ivory trousers. Topping the Prabal Gurung look though, was a floral pin and strand of pearls, a perennial Chanel trademark.
Quinta Brunson took to the cream carpet with a fitted lavender and pink gown. Always putting a subversive twist on prim and proper evening wear, Gurung took a page out of Lagerfeld’s playbook by wrapping the gown in black tulle and pinning on a. camellia brooch.
Actress Alia Bhatt collaborated with Gurung on a perfectly suited white ball gown entirely encrusted in pearls. The rarity, a signature from Coco Chanel’s days, was one often referred back to by Lagerfeld in his Chanel collections.
And the model Anok Yai took pearls a step further in a dress that went in a different direction, looking like mother-of-pearl nacre herself. Her wide hemline positively dripping with sequins that copied the material’s impressive iridescence.
Finally, actress Kelsey Asbille wore another custom Prabal Gurung dress, this one a super-structured mini dress fell off the shoulders and exaggerated the hips, paired with the Met Gala classic, a long, statement-making train.
College merch is suddenly cool. The merch revolution, starting with classic rock band tees and then moving into arts-adjacent tote bags has now made its way into collegiate apparel. But we’re not talking about standard-issue baseball caps and hooded sweatshirts. These are not your dad’s lucky jerseys.
What’s really hitting campus stadiums on game day is a whole new breed of school spirit that finds itself on crop tops, pleated skirts, and shrunken puffer jackets. And it wouldn’t have happened unless Hype and Vice cofounders Cecilia Gonzalez and Kimberly Robles entered the college apparel market.
“We were both college roommates back then,” remembers Kimberly Robles, “and the whole idea started just because we went to the USC tailgates and all the girls were cutting up T-shirts that were just available at the bookstore. They mostly wanted crop tops, bandana tops, and then a lot of them used to buy little kids-size skirts that weren’t available in adult sizes.”
It dawned on the pair that there was a gap in the market, and their unique position gave them a new perspective that hadn’t dawned on the established college apparel businesses, mostly run by men.
“No one is doing adult clothes that girls actually wanted to wear,” Robles says. “We looked, we did our research, and we found that no one else was doing it. There was not a brand catering to that specific woman. And that’s how the whole idea started.”
From there, they were off to the races, slowly building up a stable of licensed deals with universities. After a few signed on, Hype and Vice started to gain credibility and watch their growth snowball.
As they grew, the team needed more sophisticated software to track their sales and guide strategy.
“We grew a lot last year,” Robles says. “That was our inflection point, and we needed a system. We couldn’t keep doing this manually on a million Google sheets.”
Robles says they turned to ApparelMagic after researching their options and seeing how user-friendly and visually-oriented the software is, a nonnegotiable for their design-focused team. And once they started using it, the benefits were obvious.
“Now there is one place everybody can access to look at orders,” Robles says. “It’s definitely a time-saver because we used to do everything very manually. Now everything’s automatic.”
So what’s next for Hype and Vice?
“We’re right now at 192 schools,” Robles says.”I think the goal for this year is to get licenses that we’re missing for the NCAA, and then continue growing wholesale. That’s the area that’s been growing a lot for us, so definitely getting into top retailers.”
Sights are set high, and with the brand’s trajectory, Hype and Vice looks likely to keep this momentum going.
Established in 1992, H&H Sports Protection is no newcomer to the industry. They’ve seen trends come and go, weathered the ups and downs, and kept up with the newest technologies along the way.
The company, behind the major motorcycle helmet and accessory brands Just1 Racing and Torc, is an international powerhouse, with a footprint covering China, Italy, and the United States.
“We go deep in this industry,” H&H Sports Protection CEO Peter Miao says. “We’re not just manufacturing, we actually design and develop new projects, promote our brands, and promote sports events in Asia.”
With this kind of worldwide reach, taking orders and payments has always been a challenge, but one that they’ve been solving with ApparelMagic.
Way back in 2016, Miao’s team recognized a need in their business to process credit cards, and they came across an earlier server-based incarnation of ApparelMagic. The software’s merchant functions were more than enough to win them over, and they began using it as the backbone of their business. Over the next five years, they continued to use the server-based ERP, but were soon looking for alternatives to maintaining and upgrading their remote server.
As Miao looked into alternatives, he came across the cloud-based version of ApparelMagic. Seeing the ability to integrate to many services and get away from headaches associated with server hosting, he pulled the trigger.
“I made a subscription for just one user to try and test it,” Miao says, then hiring a consultant to migrate the company’s data while ensuring none of the core business functions would be affected. “It was a smooth process.”
As of January 2021, H&H was good to go, and already they were experiencing the benefits of the state-of-the-art tech. Suddenly his team could turn their attention away from repetitive tasks as ApparelMagic and services like ShipStation took care of them behind the scenes.
“A lot of manual work had to be done,” Miao says. “But now, all the work could be automated. It improves efficiency, but also, because we have the energy and resources, improves the customer satisfaction level. It’s a win-win.”
Beyond their daily workflow, H&H has innovated in their selling process by using ApparelMagic’s built-in B2B sales tools. Rather than sending PDFs back and forth, customers can now check available inventory and create their own orders online with a true wholesale ecommerce experience.
“Customers don’t need to write emails anymore. They don’t need to call reps. They don’t need to remember SKU numbers,” Miao says. “It’s a very easy process.”
The B2B site allows customers to find exactly what they need on their own and add it to their shopping carts, saving time for everyone. H&H sales reps often arrive in their California office to new orders East coast customers placed just that morning.
“With the help of ApparelMagic, we are able to offer an ease to customers doing business with us,” Miao says. “We saw a 50% growth in sales in 2022, and we are confident that we will continue growing in 2023.”
We’re pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 ApparelMagic Awards.
ApparelMagic users constantly surprise our team with the strides they make using the software. Whether they are growing their business, innovating within their industry, or cleverly automating their day-to-day work with efficient software, we like to take a moment each year to reward their impressive efforts.
Frankie’s Bikinis, the makers of Instagram-favorite swimsuits, has had a year of record-smashing growth and cultural relevancy. The business is reaping the rewards of high quality designs and a superior business acumen. They are our Designer of the Year.
Hype and Vice, a woman-owned collegiate apparel brand, is our Startup of the Year. With a fresh eye on a well-established niche, they are reinventing school spirit for a new generation of young women.
Men’s sportswear brand Scott Barber has been around for three decades, but after moving to ApparelMagic just two years ago, they’re already revolutionizing their business, earning them our Growth Award.
Migrating ERP systems can take some bravery, and luckily for one client, thrill-seeking comes naturally. H&H Sports Protection landed on ApparelMagic Cloud from ApparelMagic Desktop without a scratch, winning them Best Legacy Migration.
These four brands represent just a few of the many great businesses using our software. The team here cannot wait to see what the ApparelMagic community does in 2023!
Legacy brands have a lot going for them: vendor connections, wholesale distribution networks, and loyal end customers, but they have challenges all their own as they grow to meet challenges of the current era.
Scott Barber, a men’s sportswear line founded nearly 30 years ago in 1994, had steady business for decades and a reputation that preceded it. However, when new management took the business on two years ago, they saw it could reach new heights.
“We’ve given the brand a new life,” says Rosemarie Grieco, Managing Partner of Scott Barber, “by evolving and elevating the collection in the better men’s specialty market, and by expanding our reach on our direct to consumer site.”
This two-pronged approach is the result of fresh thinking and a deep analysis of the Scott Barber business already taking the brand from good to great.
“We are a new team with a new vision,” Grieco says, “and it’s highly appreciated by our retailers!”
As soon as Grieco and her colleagues took on the business, it was clear that outdated technology behind the scenes was holding it back. As a small team, it was important that they could get full control and visibility of each element of the business, and they turned to ApparelMagic to get it done.
“I’m one person,” Grieco says, “so I needed to streamline as much as I could.”
Grieco single-handedly took on the business’s transition to ApparelMagic, integrating their data with built-in tools like line sheets and ApparelMagic Pay, as well as connecting with outside service providers like QuickBooks, NuOrder, and Shopify.
“Every aspect of the business can be run through ApparelMagic,” Grieco says, “and that’s what I love.”
For legacy businesses like Scott Barber, ApparelMagic’s multi-channel sales tools and integrations are ideal. With big wholesale customers like department stores eager to keep Scott Barber in their assortments, for example, it was necessary to connect through EDI.
“EDI is so important and critical to run a business because you have trading partners that work that way,” Grieco says.
Meanwhile, they also do strong business through an online B2C storefront built through Shopify. ApparelMagic’s platform manages all of these sales channels in one convenient place.
With Scott Barber’s priceless brand equity paired with ApparelMagic now taking them to the next level, the future is bright for another 30 years of continued success.
Open Instagram on any fashionista’s phone, and you’re bound to see a a model, celebrity, or friend posed on a photogenic beach or perched at the edge of an infinity pool. And chances are, that glamourous swimsuit she’s wearing is probably Frankie’s.
Frankie’s Bikinis, that is. Starting as a humble mother-daughter business just a decade ago, founder Francesca Aiello has steadily built an international following for her trend-driven swimsuits.
In the past ten years, the brand has went from influencer darling to Victoria’s Secret protege after a minority stake was made by the lingerie and lifestyle giant.
Since its founding, Frankie’s Bikinis has grown to encompass far more than than those bikinis, now offering a healthy assortment of clothing, activewear, and even skincare staples.
Throughout this explosive growth, the team has relied on ApparelMagic to power their business, acting as a central hub that connects sales, distribution, manufacturing, and design.
“We have a little under 40 people at Frankie’s, and all of them are at some point in ApparelMagic,” says Emma Johnson, head of operations.
And better yet, the team has found the onboarding process for the whole team smooth and efficient, with learning resources and trainings provided by ApparelMagic rather than needing to build their own training program.
“I do a mini-training on how we use it specifically,” Johnson says, “But it helps a lot that I don’t have to train someone on a whole platform”
With tools for everything from tech packs to B2B eCommerce to business intelligence, the software is an invaluable part of daily life at Frankie’s. Not only does it manage the product and sales data, but it reaches out to connect with other services like Shopify, keeping a constantly accurate sync of inventory and styles.
ApparelMagic’s ease of integrating is a huge help for a business that is constantly growing and adapting as they reach new heights. As their needs change, users are able to connect to a range of services as well as develop their own using API access.
“Any coder can come in and read the guides and create a custom integration pretty easily,” Johnson says.
Introducing a comprehensive returns service recently, the team has automated processes and taken headaches out of their standard workflows. As Frankies goes from strength to strength and continues to grow, they’re able to simplify their day-to-day even as their operations become more complex.
Building a business is tough, but as with their swimwear, Frankies Bikinis makes it look effortless.
The 2022 award ceremony, taking place in New York, rewards the leading voices in the fashion industry, anointing the newest names and welcoming the hottest trendsetters to the influential establishment.
LaQuan Smith, an ApparelMagic client, has been welcomed into the industry by the merit of his daring cuts and his all-star roster of glamazon fans.
With notable celebrities like Beyonce, Khloe Kardashian, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Sydney Sweeney as recent converts, Smith has been the one to wear since starting his line. All signs point to him getting even bigger in the coming year.
The fashion industry is worth $3.5 trillion, which makes it one of the world’s greatest business sectors, right after the automobile and technology industries. However, it is also one of the most wasteful industries, contributing 10% of carbon emissions and 20% of the world’s water waste. In addition, roughly 60% of all apparel made ends up in landfills or incinerators within a few years of production.
Fortunately, mentality shifts are emerging that have the potential to transform this model over time. Increased environmental awareness combined with innovative new technology in fashion is paving the way toward a more sustainable fashion industry and ecosystem.
In this post, we’re explaining what sustainable fashion is and sharing 6 ways technology contributes to sustainability in the fashion industry.
The creation of clothing, footwear, accessories, and makeup in an environmentally responsible manner is referred to as sustainable fashion. The objectives of the sustainable fashion industry include protecting the environment, reducing pollution, promoting recycling, repurposing, and less consumption, as well as responsible use of natural resources.
The use of recycled materials, biodegradable textiles, local manufacturing, eco-friendly packaging, repurposed clothing, and second-hand shopping are a few examples of sustainable fashion practices. These methods must be used throughout the whole clothing production process—from design and manufacturing to packaging and distribution—for fashion to be sustainable. The good news is that technology and fashion do go hand in hand, which means that technological advancements make it simpler to implement these practices.
Why is Sustainable Technology in the Fashion Industry Important?
All fashion businesses should be looking for ways to lessen the environmental impact of their operations and contribute to a more sustainable fashion industry. Not only because it is ethically right to do so, but also because it might be crucial for business success.
According to McKinsey, over 60% of shoppers give the environmental impact a high priority when making a purchase, and according to Neilsen, more than 65% of consumers are willing to pay more for goods that are made sustainably.
There is pressure to reduce fabric waste and emissions, especially for online businesses given the additional environmental cost of exorbitantly high return rates. Adopting sustainable practices is therefore regarded as one of the best eCommerce conversion hacks for those trying to increase their online sales.
But it’s also important to embrace digital change to stop wasteful behaviors in the larger fashion industry. As consumers grow more environmentally concerned, some of the most popular brands are moving away from the wasteful methods of the past and embracing sustainable technology in the fashion industry to help bring about significant improvements. By combining technology and fashion, businesses can also address a wide range of expensive problems such as overproduction, low consumer confidence, and high return rates, while at the same time increasing productivity and efficiency. Utilizing emerging technologies will benefit all parties involved in the supply chain, eventually benefiting consumers as well.
6 Ways Technology in Fashion Industry Can Make Your Business More Sustainable
Here is a list of 6 innovative technologies revolutionizing apparel production that will help you learn more about how to support sustainability in the fashion industry.
1. Inventory Management System (IMS)
Inventory management software provides precise stock levels at the specified timeline and in the specified location or channel. The system aids in forecasting demand and producing precise reports based on an exact stock, historical data, and other pertinent aspects.
IMS also guarantees order accuracy, ensuring that the right goods reach the right customers. To make all of this possible, it must be integrated with your ERP system, eCommerce platform, and other applications the apparel company uses.
2. Alternative Textiles
The textiles and materials that are commonly used in the fashion industry take lots of resources and/or a very long time to degrade. For instance, the amount of water needed to make a single cotton shirt is equal to what one person would drink in more than two years.
With the development of sustainable technology in the fashion industry, new alternative textiles and sustainable materials are being offered that are recyclable, reusable, regenerable, and sourced ethically. Recycled fibers as well as fibers derived from agricultural waste materials, such as rinds and leaves, are just two examples of eco-friendly textile substitutes. As alternatives to cotton, many apparel businesses choose natural materials like bamboo, ramie, and hemp. These innovative textiles provide alternatives that are durable, biodegradable, and produce less waste during production.
3. Virtual Sampling
Samples give designers and retail buyers an accurate depiction of the product, and one finished style can require more than twenty samples before production.
Physical samples were once required for the design, buying, and selling lifecycles. These days, as 3D tech advances, virtual sampling provides a digital clothing review, which minimizes waste in both design and product development. The savings on labor and materials needed to produce physical samples is another significant benefit.
4. CGI Models
Did you know that the Fashion Week shows produce tons of material waste and 37% of the yearly worldwide carbon emissions? Some fashion designers have started using CGI models to showcase digital clothing and reduce their carbon footprint.
Since many of these CGI models have their own social media pages and sizable online fan bases, designers can reach a larger audience than if they were to take part in actual fashion shows. In addition, because virtual models are dressed in clothing that hasn’t been made yet, they contribute to a reduction in textile waste and efficient resource management of water and energy.
5. Making Fashion Circular
As customers and fashion companies become more conscious of the vast quantity of garbage produced by the fashion sector, new attempts are being made to solve this issue. The Make Fashion Circular campaign was launched by major brands like Stella McCartney, Nike, Burberry, H&M, and Gap in an effort to promote sustainable fashion.
The circular economy concept strives to keep materials and goods in use for as long as feasible by designing waste out of the product and manufacturing chain. This is achieved by recycling old clothing into a new one and using sustainable materials.
Product returns produce five billion pounds of landfill waste annually and a carbon footprint of 15 million tons in the US alone.
Fortunately, hundreds of clothing companies have already been able to do this thanks to return technology. Using cloud-based software and smart algorithms, this invention diverts returns from landfills and sends them to stores, refurbishment facilities, and nonprofit groups.
Artificial intelligence can also be used to reduce return rates. Customers return clothes for a variety of reasons, including poor fit and lengthy delivery times. Brands can use artificial intelligence to implement customer database segmentation and learn precisely why and what types of customers are returning. With the use of this technology, shops will be able to choose more intelligently when it comes to advertising, quality assurance, and product display.
Final Thoughts
Sustainable fashion means being environmentally and socially responsible. Being part of the transition towards a more sustainable fashion industry is aligned with the principles of a circular economy that regenerates, restores, and helps the environment, society, and businesses.
As customers continue demanding sustainability in the fashion industry, the industry will need to adapt to meet and surpass their demands. Eco-friendliness will surely be a key component in the future of fashion, in both design and delivery.
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