Fashion brief: Wall Street is a partner in fashion’s new journey

Although the stock market has recently offered evidence to the contrary – namely, with declining stocks and clothing brands and retailers slashing annual forecasts – the financial and fashion industries are becoming more comfortable. In contrast, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the other is trending among leaders of both groups.

On Friday, Rebecca Minkoff and global financial services firm Morgan Stanley launched a product collaboration on a classy, ​​work-perfect handbag. As more women enter the financial industry, the idea is that the purse will serve as the female equivalent. At the same time, banking needs to reflect growing gender participation and increase women’s confidence in the sector.

“Women hold more than half of all entry-level financial services roles and control more than $14 trillion in personal wealth. But, [Morgan Stanley proprietary research showed] “Women often feel that financial services is an underserved and patronizing industry,” said Alice Milligan, CMO of Morgan Stanley. At the same time, the company’s research shows that less than 3% of women carry the traditional “bank bag”. And for more than 50% of people, this style is not inclusive, it is attractive only to men.

When Milligan joins Morgan Stanley as CMO in June 2021, she prioritizes aligning the company’s brand and marketing strategies with its growth strategy, which includes the recent acquisitions of E-Trade and Eaton Vance. The key to that is appealing to a broad consumer audience.

” of [canvas ‘bank] Their bags are not appealing to people who want to use their bags to express themselves. It doesn’t give you confidence or style,” Milligan said.

She added, “Symptoms signal change, and with [the Rebecca Minkoff partnership]we want to show that we want to be more inclusive.

Milligan approached Rebecca Minkoff about a partnership, based on Minkoff’s history of women winning — for example, founding a female founder’s collective and the Superwomen podcast. According to Milligan, “her personal story shows what a self-confident woman can do.” Minkoff in 2011 She was gearing up to relaunch the morning after bag that first put her brand on the map in 2005, and the original version – to hold a computer and take users from day to night – was inspired by a banker. bag, according to Minkoff.

“I felt like it was the right way to put the bag as a symbol of power and a way to show that you can be in finance and be successful — that they’re not mutually exclusive,” said Minkoff.

Dubbed the Rebecca Minkoff x Morgan Stanley Banker Bag 2.0, this style features recurring MAB signatures including a small front pocket, detachable strap and zipper details. Meanwhile, updates include the inclusion of responsibly sourced, olive-tanned leather, driven by Morgan Stanley’s commitment to sustainability. “Every step that went into making this bag was to eliminate waste,” Minkoff said.

Although Rebecca Minkoff has dabbled in the sustainable fashion space before, in 2016 Through the RM Green clothing line, launched in 2021, this marks the first step of the brand – for which handbags make up the majority of its business – into sustainably sourced and -made handbag styles.

The move inspired the theme of sustainability that defined Rebecca Minkoff’s spring 2023 fashion show at New York Fashion Week on Friday afternoon. A sustainability video will be shown, and the exhibit — which includes projection mapping on white clothing — will feature only sustainably sourced materials, Minkoff said.

On that note, Morgan Stanley is set to attend the event. Influencers like Haley Sacks, @mrsdowjones are listed on Instagram (290,000 followers). The company will also feature a sizable reel of Rebecca Minkoff’s show on a digital sign in Times Square, as well as in markets in London and Tokyo. For other transactions, information on the partnership will be shared on Morgan Stanley’s Internet and social channels.

The bag will be available on RebeccaMinkoff.com and will be selected by Morgan Stanley staff including women’s interest and pride networks, as well as some senior executives. Starting next year, they will be available to a wide range of employees, Milligan said.

“You will definitely see more cooperation from us as they reflect our cooperation [company]” said Milligan.

The bag’s release comes amid other news highlighting fashion and Wall Street coming together. On Wednesday, news broke that Kim Kardashian, founder of the $3.2 billion clothing and shapewear brand Skims, will launch a private equity investment firm with Carlyle Group alum Jay Sammons, who has successful beauty businesses. They plan to invest in businesses in consumer products, luxury and digital commerce and other industries. Also on Wednesday, French luxury fashion retailer Printemps announced the opening of its first US store at One Wall Street in NYC’s financial district.

Earlier this summer, while discussing her strategy for launching Australian fashion brand Skalan Theodore in the states, Melinda Robertson, owner of the brand’s 5-year-old US business, shed light on the possibility of catering to female bankers.

Pre-pandemic, Scanlan Theodore had a team hosting 10-20 pop-up shops at major US financial conferences, including those hosted by Barron’s, Reuters and CHIPS. They have ensured strong marketing and sales channels for the brand.

“The most successful female financial advisors in the United States come to these conferences, so you can imagine how much they buy,” Robertson said. “The customer base we get from them is huge and profitable. Plus, these customers travel a lot—so we can have her at the Texas Barron’s Conference, and six months later, she’ll show up at the store in New York and blow up the place.” [with a high-value transaction]He said.

Although setting up shop at these conferences requires a significant investment, Robertson says the ROI has proven to be well worth it. We don’t have to bring the women there, she said, citing the proven foot traffic, plus the setup is simple: three mannequins, a “pretty sign” and displayed products.

The owner of an off-the-record clothing business said pop-ups hosted by his brand at a day-and-a-half financial conference boosted sales to $80,000. Before the pandemic, MMLaFleur “seized the opportunity by using financial conferences as a brand awareness tool and sales enabler,” said Kali Kant, brand and creative expert at MMLaFleur. Since then, it has shifted its product focus to casual styles suitable for “life and work” and updated its product and sales strategies accordingly, she said.

About Rebecca Minkoff, according to the brand’s surveys, women in the financial industry are a customer showcase. Likewise, the Morgan Stanley partnership is catering to that consumer. “The rest of the world has gone into sweatpants mode, but in finance, you still can’t show up to work in sweatpants,” Minkoff said. “in order to [we’re focusing] How to make a woman feel beautiful, unique and good when she goes to work every day”

It is not to be forgotten that professionals moving from the financial industry to fashion have been noticed in recent years, with the growth of the direct-to-consumer sales model and its potential to significantly increase the growth of consumer companies. Robertson, meanwhile, left a career at Goldman Sachs to pursue an expansion opportunity at Scanlan Theodore. Likewise, her co-founder, Sarah Blank, was previously at PIMCO. According to Robertson, both women are from Australia, where Scanlan Theodore is “the first understated luxury brand”. And both have unified the brand’s work, earning constant praise from American colleagues.

Others who have moved from finance to fashion include Adey’s Nina Feulhaber and Meg Hay, both of whom had roles at Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, and Louisa Serene Schneider, who was 3 years old before starting earring and piercing brand Rowan.

On the flip side, women founders know the importance of women working in the financial industry. Many have shared with Glossy reporters their experiences of walking into white men’s rooms while doing fundraisers. Investors mention the value of their company’s product, stating that it is necessary to consult with their owner on a regular basis. As SummerSalt founder Reshma Chamberlain puts it, the investment world often “excludes” women’s ideas because of its male dominance.

“Women were in the financial industry, but they were underrepresented and unheard,” Minkoff said. “It’s time for us to be loud and proud, and it’s time to really push to make this area more inclusive and representative.”

On collaborations like the Rebecca Minkoff x Morgan Stanley Banker Bag 2.0, he says, “Women like Kim Kardashian should be in. [the financial industry]are going to blow the doors even wider. [for women]. Hopefully it will be a base of activity in this area.

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