TB Designer Amy Smilovich Turns Her Career into a Creative Pragmatist – WWD

No one would say that Covid-19 has been a positive experience, but it has been a turning point for TB designer Amy Smilovich, who celebrates 25 years in business at New York Fashion Week on Saturday.

During the lockdown, Smilovich developed an entire philosophy of dressing and being, which she calls “creative pragmatism” (she’s writing a book about it), her own style that she remembers when she wore it, and became an Instagram live star. Growing the brand’s followers to over 500,000.

She has been garnering thousands of views for her weekly “Style Class,” now in its third season, where she teaches viewers how to clean out their closets, find personal style, and style their clothes in different ways. It has increased its gross profit by more than 300 percent by developing clients who count.

“It really is a community of like-minded people! Amy, you are a revelation! I’ve started changing my wardrobe and investing in TB pieces every season. They’re my go-to pieces every time I don’t know what to wear, but I always feel my best and myself,” one viewer commented. “Style Class,” he wrote in his comments.

“Here in Mongolia, people don’t know TB yet, but my friends, acquaintances, sometimes strangers ask me, ‘How do you wear such things?’ They ask me.

Smilovic is celebrating her brand’s renaissance by inviting customers to New York on Saturday for her first runway show since pre-Covid-19. More than 800 guests from as far away as Mexico are scheduled to attend. Some have become close friends through direct messaging around brand content.

Quickly, we were getting 30,000 or more views, and we realized that people wanted to talk about anything but Covid.[-19]” says Smilovich about her style lessons, which eventually led her to dig deeper into social media and find herself working on it. I was able to really talk about who we were and why we did what we did.

“We’re a brand of thinking,” says company president Elaine Chang, who has been with TB for 10 years, citing the influence of Smilovich’s ethos of creative pragmatism. “We’re not treating it like a self-help book store, but we’re starting to talk about where to go with it,” she added, not ruling out the possibility of a TV show.

“C.P [creative pragmatism] It’s accepting that we are individuals, we have our own ideas and they may conflict with others, but that’s okay. The good thing about people is that they can create something new from different things. How can anything be created in the world if everything is the same? Amy is very vocal about this. Her clients ask her about how to wear wedges, and she says, ‘I can’t talk about that, it’s not my style.’ It’s been a thoughtful discussion here about our vision and if you want to be a part of it, great. That’s a very different thing than catch-all, listen to your customers,” Chang said.

The ban sparked creativity in TB, which Smilovich moved to Hong Kong from New York in 1997 with her husband. The brand already had a pivot, from feminine and print-heavy to minimalist in 2012. There are 55 employees.

Part of the survival tactic during the Covid-19 fallout was to reduce stock holdings by 60 percent and bring items such as clear nylon cargo pants, fluid pants, oversized sweaters, shirts and crew neck sweaters, often with minimal knitwear, into the home. Blooms, like a hole in the back, a cut elbow, a split collar, or twisted legs. Most units cost less than $1,500.

The IG Live “Style Class” also helped the brand transition into direct-to-consumer sales.

“We don’t sell to all those department stores anymore, and the business is much more streamlined,” Smilovich said in an interview at Financial District Studios.

It’s about finding true brand evangelists.

“It was about knowing that the world was a big place and that if we just found others who were like us, it would be enough,” Smilovic explained. “It’s still not a lot of people, and Housewife isn’t every Bravo franchise, it’s not our customers. We don’t have a very broad appeal, but the people we ask mean a lot to them.

Smilovic expanded the basic line, or “no-fail,” as she called out tube tops, jeans, cashmere cocoon sweaters and more, and encouraged experimentation.

“People would write me and say, ‘I’ve been wearing this for a while, how new do I feel?'” Smilovich said. “And I’m like, oh, try this ring on, or take the belt and turn it around. It’s not about going out and buying something new all the time, it’s about taking what you already have and channeling it in a different way. So when you buy something new, be very thoughtful and understand where it fills a need in your closet.”

Of course, shopping can also be emotional. “I get that and I love fashion, but it’s really making people believe that we don’t have to sell tons of stuff.”

Footwear is a growing category, including the stretchy Leo bootie and Fuzz fur Lola high-top boot, with a 124 percent year-over-year increase, while ready-to-wear accounts for 68 percent. But Smilovich is resisting the idea that she should be in every category.

“I shouldn’t be in the funny T-shirt business,” she laughs, pointing to her own blazer, a “Frosty’s” shirt and jeans from a restaurant in Georgia. “Not everyone has to like what you wear, but what you wear should make you feel,” she opines.

She has 117 wholesale accounts, several department stores such as McMullen, Kick Plate and Hampden Clothing in the US, as well as her own Soho boutique, which opened in 2005.

“Amy created a collection that empowers women to play with balance and challenges our customers to rethink traditional staples in their wardrobe,” said Hampden founder Stacey Smallwood.

Smilovic wants to open new markets internationally, taking her “Style Class” seminars on the road at Printemps in Paris on October 2.

“Milan and Florence are two of my top five cities on Instagram. I have over 40,000 followers from Italy, and I only sell in one store,” she says of the European potential.

She’s not looking for her own stores anytime soon, but she’s toying with the idea of ​​pop-ups, following a successful temporary TB Fitness store on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Be it fashion brands or other like-minded brands, she starts promoting them on her website.

All this is powering her for the next 25 years.

“Nothing would happen here without my husband, Frank,” she said of her partner and CEO, who also has experience in marketing. “Luckily, we get on very well. I have Elaine and a great team too. Twenty-five years later, I still can’t believe it. If I hadn’t beaten him in 2020, I think we’d be toast.”