Podcast appearances and mentions of liz bacelar

The idea of the metaverse has captured the attention of brands, retailers, media companies, marketing agencies, and technology platforms. Pioneering business leaders, Investors, and entrepreneurs see new opportunities to stake their claim in an as yet-to-be-defined space that promises to revolutionize the internet and what it means to be online and completely change the way people work, play, and shop. During this 1 hour recording of a webinar, PSFK iQ researchers will help frame how our audience understands and thinks about the metaverse by unpacking consumer sentiment to identify key insights and looking at the experimentation taking place to highlight emerging trends in retail and marketing, as well as the tools and services underpinning the virtual economy. They'll also talk to experts to get their POV on the meaningful opportunities and innovations in the metaverse space. This session will includes: - Presentation of key insights from new PSFK Research - Expert discussion with Liz Bacelar of Estée Lauder Companies and Alan Smithson of MetaVRse *Liz Bacelar of Estée Lauder Companies* Our expert brand-side speaker on the webinar is Liz Bacelar. Liz is the Global Executive Director of Innovation for Estée Lauder Companies, powering NFT, Metaverse and emerging tech opportunities for their 30+ brands in the US, China, Europe and LatAm. Prior to her career in beauty, Liz was credited with powering the evolution of “fashion and tech”, connecting technologists and executives through her consultancy and global industry events. *Alan Smithson of MetaVRse* Also joining the conversation will be Alan Smithson from MetaVRse, a universal, web-based 3D creation platform that enables anyone to leverage the power of spatial computing. With MetaVRse's proprietary, code-optional web platform, retailers and companies can easily create and share interactive 3D experiences instantly. By harnessing the power of billions of devices from a one-click publish, MetaVRse is helping build an open, universal and democratized Metaverse. https://metavrse.com/ For more information about this event: https://retailinnovationweek.com/event/psfk-metaverse-webinar/ For more information about the associated research driving this event: https://www.psfk.com/report/brand-strategies-for-the-metaverse https://www.psfk.com/report/retail-strategies-for-the-metaverse https://www.psfk.com/membership --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/psfk/message

In this episode of the Summit Sessions I finally get to share Liz Bacelar's amazing story of becoming an Adirondack 46'er in nine months. Like so many in 2020 the Covid shutdown drastically changed Liz's professional career and life and during that time on a whim she sought out nature and climbed Mt Marcy and the Adirondack Mountains did what the Adirondack Mountains do; captured her heart and completely changed her life forever. Liz's journey from the high-end fashion industry of New York City to climbing High Peaks in the dead of winter in a few short months time is an inspiring story and Liz is the definition of seeking refuge in nature and from there the mountains will do the rest. Liz Bacelar, the Brazilian with snowshoes.Visit Liz's website at www.LizBacelar.comIf you want to support the show and what I do head over www.46of46.com or visit www.46of46store.com to pick up a t-shirt, hoodie, hat, and more. As always use the promo code "46podcast" to save 15% off your order at www.PureAdirondacks.comPick up some Campfire Blend steeped coffee packs for your next camping trip at www.RecessCoffee.com and save 10% with the promo code "recess46"If you're in the market for a new tent check out www.CruaOutdoors.com

As someone says goodbye to "Fashion Is Your Business", the original hosts Marc, Pavan, and Rob reflect on six-and-a-half years of FIYB, including: how it started, international travels, memorable guests, live audience experiences, behind the scenes tales, when they realized the show was really a hit, the origins of guest snacks on the show, how the podcast impacted government, entrepreneurs, and inspired a business, and much more. Plus, what's next? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With Poshmark's recent announcement that they are collaborating with Snap to bring social shopping to Snapchat, we revisit a 2017 episode recorded on location at shoptalk in Las Vegas, with a look at social and participatory fashion commerce mobile and online with Poshmark. Manish Chandra (Founder and CEO) and Tracy Sun (Co-Founder, VP of Merchandising & Strategic Initiatives) for Poshmark (a mobile and online marketplace for primarily women's fashion), join Pavan Bahl, Marc Raco, and guest host Liz Bacelar to talk seller/stylists, connecting to fashion pieces, and participatory commerce, being everywhere, consumers as sellers, and the heart of Poshmark, and discipline, what might be next, and grit and gut. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chef Kwame Onwuachi's restaurant Kith/Kin was one of the hottest reservations in the country. But COVID-19 has closed its doors and turned the James Beard Award-winning Chef into an activist. He joins Liz Bacelar, a journalist and mentor since the start, in a candid chat on how he has been fighting for local restaurants and their employees, on facing racism in the culinary world, and his hit memoir, “Notes From a Young Black Chef,” becoming a Hollywood film.

Cindy Gallop wants you to talk about sex. More specifically, how hardcore pornography is destroying our ability to have a healthy sexual relationship. The goal of her user-generated sex tape sharing platform, Make Love Not Porn, is to spark a social sexual revolution. Put another way: social sex. Cindy talks to Liz Bacelar, host of the Innovators podcast, about #MeToo, fixing the system from the outside and her plans to launch the world's first sex tech fund.⁣

The opportunity to talk with both Rebecca Minkoff (bio) (Co-Founder and Designer of the Rebecca Minkoff womenswear brand) and her bother Uri Minkoff (bio) (Co-founder and CEO of the Rebecca Minkoff womenswear brand and Creative Director and CEO of Uri Minkoff menswear brand), was one of FIYB's timeless conversations. They join Marc Raco, and guest hosts Liz Bacelar  and Robin Copland , for an episode of FIYB LIVE, recorded in front of a live audience in New York City. 

Over the past 10 years, technology has changed every single aspect of how brands conduct business. From product development, to supply chain, to inventory management, to marketing, to distribution, to post purchase engagement, to customer service, to digital content…etc etc, you get it… As a result, consumer expectations and values have shifted dramatically.  Regardless of industry, there’s a real case to be made that every new company is in fact a tech company at their foundation. So how do companies that have been around for the past 30, 40, 50, 100 years adjust?  I sympathize with these legacy brands that are required to navigate and adapt to this change in tide. Liz Bacelar of TheCurrent Global has built bridges between brands and thousands of technologies worldwide. Through her work and advocacy over the past decade, she’s helped shape the way we as customers interact with brands today. Her company works with brands such as Gucci, Sheseido, Burberry, Levi’s, and Ralph Lauren to help them navigate, invest, and deploy meaningful technology solutions.  If you'd like to receive invitations to our live recording event experiences, apply for access at www.BellwetherCulture.com

"We're operating under the thesis that billion dollar brands will not exist in the future," says Zak Normandin, founder and CEO of Iris Nova, the company behind wellness drink brand, Dirty Lemon, on the latest episode of the Innovators podcast by the Current Global. "I know Dirty Lemon isn't going to be popular in a few years. And I want to already have three type of products in the pipeline that we're launching right now, because consumers are very transient in their decisions to buy products," he explains. Dirty Lemon launched in 2015 and quickly gained the type of cult following that only brands born online manage to achieve. It did so through a mixture of being at the right place, at the right time – in this case, right in the middle of the wellness boom – and carefully crafted branding that positioned it as a lifestyle offering, rather than just a product. But Normandin, a CPG entrepreneur at heart, has much bigger plans than creating fleeting frenzy around a single product line. From inception, his Instagrammable bottles could only be bought online, with purchase being completed via text message. In 2018, it launched the Drug Store, an unmanned retail concept where customers could pick up a Dirty Lemon drink and simply walk out, texting to complete their purchase as they did so. This innovative retail model, alongside a stream of new product launches happening over the next few months, demonstrates Normandin's ambitions to keep reacting to customer needs and behaviors before they move onto the next hot thing. During this conversation, recorded at this year's SXSW at the Current Global's Innovation Mansion, Normandin also share with Liz Bacelar the new products launching under the Irs Nova family, what the retail experience is doing to inform future product development, and how Coca Cola is not only one of the brand's biggest investors, but also its competitor.

Technology can enable us to do great things, says Warby Parker co-founder and CEO, Neil Blumenthal, with regards to the brand's meteoric rise in the direct-to-consumer space, on the latest episode of the Innovators podcast by TheCurrent Global. Speaking to Liz Bacelar at this year's NRF Big Show in New York, Blumenthal explains how technology is critical to making customers' lives easier. Warby Parker sees itself sitting at the intersection of three communities – tech, fashion, and social enterprise, he notes. It's both a tech company and a retailer focused on creating products and services that tangibly impact consumers every day. Warby Parker is one of Silicon Valley's first so-called unicorns, a special group of startups that exceed expectations to pioneer within their own category by hitting over $1bn in valuation – including Airbnb, Uber and WeWork. The nine-year-old company has paved the way to creating a great retail experience that transverses seamlessly between online and offline, and as a result, inspired the business model of many single-product focused startups known to consumers today – from suitcases at Away,to footwear at Allbirds. But from its scrappy beginnings hosting a showroom at Blumenthal's New York apartment, to being one of the first DTC brands to launch a brick-and-mortar retail space, the eyewear company has had a razor sharp focus on treating the whole experience of buying glasses as a single product – from trial to wear. From its successful at-home trial program to digital eye tests, Warby Parker works with a team of in-house technologists to constantly iterate its approach to better serving the customer. For example, after receiving feedback that it was inconvenient for customers to take time off work to get an eye exam, it developed a prescription app that pairs an iPhone to a second screen to test the user's vision. Recently, it then deployed Apple's new AR technology to launch a virtual try-on feature. During this conversation, Blumenthal also shares how the brand has been built to resonate with multiple consumer segments, the importance of the social aspect of the company, and why he sees Amazon more as inspiration, rather than threat.

Liz Bacelar is a serial-entrepreneur and prolific speaker at the forefront of fashion, retail & technology. Today Liz talks about how they are effectively driving innovation at TheCurrent, how to distinguish yourself as a startup, why it’s important for companies to synch analogue and digital practices, why you should hire an external innovation expert, why all companies need a data plan and why you should be your best cheerleader.On today’s podcast:How to effectively drive innovationHow to distinguish yourself as a startupSynchronizing the analogue and the digitalThink about hiring an external innovation expertAll companies need a data planWhy you should be your best cheerleaderLinks:TheCurrentFull show notes at: http://corporateunplugged.com/podcast/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Cannabis consumers are not as black and white as medicinal versus recreational, says MedMen CMO, David Dancer, on the latest episode of the Innovators podcast by TheCurrent Global. This cannabis retailer is currently valued at over $1.5bn. Its challenge however is to design an experience that removes the anxiety of consuming cannabis that the majority of casual users still carry, as well as appease local authorities hungry to ensure strict legislations. The consumer piece can be easily facilitated by knowledgeable store associates, who Dancer refers to as sommeliers and who play a huge role in demystifying the experience, from branding to education. "We want to make sure that people feel comfortable and can ask the questions they need answers to," he explains. It also helps that curiosity around consumption is at an all-time high, largely thanks to the wellness movement. But the bigger challenge for the retailer is dealing with legislations even stricter than those reserved to selling alcohol and tobacco. Although there may be an intentional Apple-like design sensibility and minimalism to MedMen's 17 stores nationwide, much of it has to do with regulations: many products have to be displayed under locked casing – hence the beautiful display tables – while it is not allowed to have any signage or marketing on its windows. It is also restricted on locations due to zoning, such as near schools, and instead chooses areas that are friendly and feel safe, including LA's Santa Monica Boulevard and New York's Fifth Avenue. The MedMen experience then becomes a clever ballet of branding and communications, combined with a retail experience that aims to allow customers to discover and try at their own pace, or to meet their own individual needs. As the US audience begins to become more at ease with cannabis becoming a common part of their everyday lives – from smoking to CBD-infused cocktails and spa treatments – the retailer continues to navigate challenges by listening intently to what its customers and staff have to say. During this conversation, recorded with Liz Bacelar at this year's NRF Big Show in New York, Dancer also shares the retailer's heavy investment on the education piece, which includes a published magazine, and how the ever-evolving, and hyper-local, legislations pushes it towards constant innovation.

Internal teams can no longer deliver the results needed to drive the industry forward, says Scott Emmons, departing head of the Neiman Marcus iLab, on the latest episode of the Innovators podcast. Responsible for setting up one of the most established retail innovation programs in the world, Emmons is now bringing his insights and expertise to TheCurrent Global as he joins as the company as the chief technology officer. He joins at a time where he believes internal labs should be replaced by a more open approach to innovation, where collaboration is key. "You've got to build better partnerships that go beyond the four walls of the retailer. If everything happens within those four walls then what you keep doing is the same thing over and over again," says Emmons, who launched the lab in 2012. "Because you're not bringing in fresh ideas, you're not bringing in fresh approaches to retail. You continue to iterate the things which you're good at." During his time at Neiman Marcus, Emmons was responsible for introducing innovative technologies to its stores such as smart mirrors, new fitting room technology, 4K touch table lookbooks and a clienteling tool that better links a customer's online to offline behavior, while arming associates with the tools to better serve them 1-2-1. Speaking to CEO Liz Bacelar, Emmons outlines why innovation executives have their hands tied and how innovation is often stalled by internal culture. They also discuss a solution to unlock rapid change in retail.

Successful retail experience today is about trial, service and entertainment, says Eleanor Morgan, chief experience officer of direct-to-consumer mattress brand Casper, on the latest episode of The Innovators podcast by TheCurrent. Speaking to Liz Bacelar at The Lead Summit in New York, she says the company really focuses on designing experiences that are optimized for those three things rather than inventory availability and convenience. What's key is giving customers the ability to try out products, get consultation from experts in house and enjoy moments with the brand. Casper has grown from an online retailer to a brick-and-mortar business with 20 stores across the US, along with an innovative sleep bar. The Dreamery, as it's called, is a new napping space in New York built around experiential aims. It offers nap pods in a peaceful lounge along with a Casper mattress where consumers can pay $25 for a 45-minute snooze. It also serves as an extension of the brand's aim to drive a cultural change around sleep. **"**The Dreamery is a provocation and a way to essentially say, it's not only acceptable to take a nap during the day and take a break, but it's celebrated, and we can actually build a community of people that really value this and feel like it's a socially fun behavior," Morgan explains. Casper was founded in 2014 with the mission of bringing great sleep to more people. With the diet and exercise industries booming, the founders saw a gap where sleep was completely ignored. Today, Casper is worth over $750m and has plans to open 200 store locations within the next three years. Morgan attributes much of the brand's growth to staying customer centered and focused on data. The company opened 18 pop-up stores in four months to test consumer engagement before opening its first permanent location, for instance. Through feedback and reviews from its consumers, it has been able to understand what their needs are, how they purchase their products, and how to improve their shopping experience. During the conversation, Morgan also talks about the secret sauce to creating successful pop-up stores, what a modern sleep community looks like, and where Casper will be headed in the future.

The role of the chief digital officer shouldn't exist, says Ian Rogers, who is himself the chief digital officer at LVMH, on the latest episode of the Innovators podcast by TheCurrent. Speaking to Liz Bacelar in Hong Kong during The New York Times International Luxury Conference, he argues that for any large company, the role should be merely transitional as brands become accustomed to a future where digital is simply embedded within everything that they do. "The word digital and the insinuation that this transformation is about technology is really misleading and it makes people make the wrong decisions. So what I really want to convince people of is that this is not a technological change, it's a cultural change," he explains. Instead, the role should evolve into a chief technical officer who sits at the executive table alongside more established players like the CFO and the CEO itself, he notes. Rogers joined LVMH in 2015 at a pivotal time for the group, which like many luxury players was navigating a new consumer demand for more digital experiences and introducing e-commerce to its more traditional brands. Since taking on the role, he has helped LVMH launch multi-designer e-commerce platform, 24 Sèvres, invest in affiliate shopping platform Lyst, and scale LVMH's presence on China's TMall platform from zero to 12 portfolio names. Rogers big focus is on the customer, he explains. He brings that learning from his previous career in the music industry, where he led the launch of Apple Music after it acquired Beats Music and Beats Electronics for $3bn. Understanding every customer touchpoint, which now begins with digital, is key for a successful experience that navigates seamlessly across all channels, he explains. During the conversation, Rogers also talks about how it makes sense that luxury took so long to jump into e-commerce; why CEOs don't need to know technology intrinsically; and what he's driving at LVMH to keep up with the level of experience the customer expects online.

CGI models are having a moment in luxury fashion right now, but it's up for debate as to whether they hold true value for the brands embracing them, according to the latest episode of the Innovators podcast by TheCurrent. Co-hosts Liz Bacelar and Rachel Arthur, who discuss various technologies pertinent to the industry every month on this show, bring opposing viewpoints to the table. CGI or virtual models have been used in fashion advertising campaigns to an increasing degree over the past few years, with big name brands including Louis Vuitton, Prada and Balmain all employing them. Some of those involved, including one called Lil Miquela, and another named Shudu, have generated enormous buzz and impressively large social media followings as a result, as though they were indeed influencers in their own right. Most recently, Lil Miquela featured in UGG's 40th anniversary campaign, blending in seamlessly alongside two real-life influencers as though she were a natural part of the cast. For the unsuspecting onlooker, it's not immediately clear she's not. One of the questions raised during the episode is whether such a move is merely about gaining from some of the hype such models currently present, or if they can in fact drive ROI for the brands making use of them long term. Rachel presents some interesting statistics that show how engagement of for CGI remains significantly lower than any example of a 'human' influencer, but Liz counters that view with the argument that what we're looking at here is a form of artistic expression. The duo also dive into what such flawless representations of women mean for beauty ideals in the era of fake news we currently live in, as well as the notion that we may all have a CGI or avatar version of ourselves in the future, not least the real life influencers who could ultimately gain increased revenue opportunities for themselves, even posthumously. Catch up with all of our episodes of the Innovators podcast by TheCurrent here . The series is a weekly conversation with visionaries, executives and entrepreneurs. It's backed by TheCurrent , a consultancy transforming how consumer retail brands intersect with technology. We deliver innovative integrations and experiences, powered by a network of top technologies and startups. Get in touch to learn more.

Designers need to reposition their businesses as startups to tap into much-needed investment, says menswear designer, Ozwald Boateng, on the latest episode of TheCurrent Innovators podcast. In conversation with Liz Bacelar at a Spotify event in Paris, Boateng, whose body of work propelled the craftsmanship of London's Savile Row to international recognition, says he believes the creative world needs to learn from technology in terms of how it approaches funding. The fashion industry's model of investors taking control of designers' names early on is broken, he explains, saying that we can all learn from new direct-to-consumer businesses that have overcome this by approaching differently the way that they're backed instead. "What amazes me is when you see these young creative talents, still owning sizeable chunks of the business after raising so much money and getting these valuations of a billion plus – you kind of go, my god, can that really happen, it's almost like a dream, but in the tech world, it's the norm," he notes. "This creates a huge amount of independence and opportunity for the designer – you're no longer forced to follow the rules, so that's exciting. For me as a business, I'm looking at ways to take advantage of that." Conversely, he says the technology world also needs to learn from creatives. "I think if more designers looked at the world of technology and applied their creative to the tech, I am sure we would see some very interesting and groundbreaking ideas ," he comments. He explains that designers are trained to always look forward, to spot trends and understand needs, so it's something he believes would work exceptionally well when applied to technology. "I would happily use a body scanner [for my made-to-measure suits], it makes a lot of sense. But there's a lot of things I could add in terms of how I need the technology to work," he notes. "So I see a partnership. Eventually both [designers and tech companies] will see they need each other, and then they'll just make it work." During the conversation, the duo also talk about his new uniform designs for British Airways, his time as creative director at Givenchy and the role of race and diversity in the industry. Catch up with all of our episodes of TheCurrent Innovators here. The series is a weekly conversation with visionaries, executives and entrepreneurs. It's backed by TheCurrent, a consultancy transforming how consumer retail brands intersect with technology. We deliver innovative integrations and experiences, powered by a network of top technologies and startups. [Get in touch](mailto: contact@thecurrentglobal.com)to learn more.

"I think you'll be surprised in a couple of years if you speak to a device and it doesn't reply," says William Tunstall-Pedoe, the British entrepreneur who created the technology that became Amazon's voice assistant, Alexa. Speaking to Liz Bacelar on TheCurrent Innovators podcast earlier this year, he says his vision for future of voice technology really is about everything around us being connected. Artificial intelligence (AI), which is the overarching phrase for the tech behind it, is fundamentally revamping how we live our lives, how we do business, and even how we shop, he explains. And it's doing so at an ever-increasing pace. Just recently Amazon released a myriad of new devices – including a microwave and a smart plug – that aim to facilitate greater connectivity in the home, taking us one step closer to Tunstall-Pedoe's vision. "The really big goal is totally horizontal, that you can talk about anything you want and be understood on any topic," he adds. On this episode, the duo also talk about Tunstall-Pedoe's passion for creating world-changing products powered by AI, how voice tech could change retail, and which one of the Alexa Skills is really the most useful to him.

A new feature of TheCurrent Innovators podcast is a monthly discussion between our hosts, Liz Bacelar and Rachel Arthur. The two of them – also partners of TheCurrent's innovation consultancy – come across a lot of different technologies, tons of startup entrepreneurs and many big ideas through their day jobs. Doing so means they generate many big opinions of their own – but, unsurprisingly, they don't always agree. So, they've now put what normally stays behind closed doors in the office, on record for podcast listeners. In this first episode, the two explore what virtual reality (VR) really means for the retail industry. That comes off the back of recent news that saw Walmart filing for two patents that suggest it will launch a virtual reality-based shopping experience in the future. The world's largest retailer detailed the idea of a virtual showroom and a fulfillment system that will enable shoppers to both explore and purchase products using the technology. The news follows Walmart's acquisition of Spatialand, a software startup focused on creating VR experiences, which now sits within the retailer's Store No. 8 in-house tech incubator. What's more, Alibaba and Amazon are also playing in this space. The latter has already launched an example of VR shopping with Macy's for Singles Day, while Amazon recently opened 10 virtual reality kiosks in India to promote its Prime Day shopping event. Yet, there's an argument that much of VR, when we're talking about application beyond gaming and entertainment, really is just gimmick. At a time when there's little space left for technology for technology's sake, the question is, are these retailers actually one step ahead of the game, or still just playing with something for the sake of it? Liz has some strong views on the lack of headset penetration and what that really means for consumer uptake in the long term, while Rachel argues there's still space for PR opportunities with such a technology all the same. What it comes down to is relevancy in terms of both business objectives and the target consumer. Between them, they also dive into some further case studies, explore where VR really could impact retail down the line, and jump into the virtues of other technologies in the same space as alternatives.

Minter Dialogue Episode #295 Liz Bacelar is a renowned entrepreneur and speaker, at the cutting edge of fashion, retail and technology. Credited with driving the link between fashion and technology, Liz is a dynamic and forward-thinking entrepreneur, who founded and sold Decoded Fashion. In this conversation with Liz, we discuss her journey with Decoded Fashion, some of the lessons learned within the fashion industry, and the constraints and opportunities in B2B. We hear about the launch and development of her latest initiative, TheCurrent, an innovation firm, providing outsourced innovation for companies around the world, including the reverse pitch concept they've created. Meanwhile, please send me your questions as an audio file (or normal email) to nminterdial@gmail.com; or you can find the show notes and comment on minterdial.com. If you liked the podcast, please take a moment to go over to iTunes to rate/review the podcast. Otherwise, you can find me @mdial on Twitter. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/minterdial)

"The scariest thing [in the world] is doing something different and not having an example to follow," says designer Misha Nonoo on the latest episode of TheCurrent Innovators. Speaking at a MouthMedia Live recording at Spring Place in New York with TheCurrent's founder Liz Bacelar, the designer discussed how she pivoted her contemporary namesake brand in 2016 to focusing on selling direct-to-consumer instead. "It was scary and I was doing something completely new, but at the same time it was very exciting," she explains. Such disruption is something that has become second nature to Nonoo in recent years. In 2015, she was one of the first in the industry to forgo an official fashion week presentation and host an Instagram one instead. The next year, she returned to the platform with a see-now-buy-now presentation, which users could shop via influencer platform, rewardStyle. For a designer who sees herself as an entrepreneur holding the reins for her brand's success – and her personal happiness – switching to selling directly to the consumer was a very clear direction, she explains. That said, challenging the industry's statusquo comes with a lot of hard work, which Nonoo does not shy away from. "One of the most enlightening things that I was ever told was by Anna Wintour (...) she said to me 'an overnight success is 10 years in the making'," Nonoo explains. Seven years on, she feels she is just 'making it' now. Time has also given Nonoo the confidence to know that a lot of the industry is based on smoke and mirrors. As a small, independent brand, she now feels confident in having the choice of what to subscribe to. During this conversation, Nonoo also talks about the importance of building a business based on values, how fashion week has become obsolete, and the challenges of running an on-demand business.

Risk, authenticity and understanding your consumer are the keys to innovation, says Avery Baker, chief brand officer of Tommy Hilfiger, on the latest episode of TheCurrent Innovators podcast. "When you're trying to do something that really creates an impact and is somewhat revolutionary, then you've got to put all the chips on the table," she explains to TheCurrent's founder Liz Bacelar, at a live recording at Neuehouse in New York. She was referring specifically to the brand's Tommy Now runway experience, which first launched in February 2017 and most recently took place in Shanghai for Fall 2018. A tech-enabled interactive fashion event, she refers to it as "the right sweet spot in terms of being aspirational and accessible" for the Tommy brand. Across the market, its set the benchmark in terms of what a digitally-enabled, see-now-buy-now runway experience could, and should, look like; arguably by putting both entertainment and commerce at its heart. "From the beginning we didn't think of it as a fashion show as we know fashion shows to be. We see this as a totally shoppable fashion ecosystem that at its heart is a media and content platform. It has a moment of theater, but it also has many layers in terms of engagement and shopability and experience and shareability. It is a multilayered platform," Baker explains. And importantly, that got big internal buy-in, catapulting the team behind the launch to make it happen: "What I found was that everyone was so excited about being part of something that was innovative, risk-taking, that was breaking the rules and writing our own story. There was a tremendous amount of excitement, rather than fear and pride to be a part of a program that was trying to be groundbreaking." That mentality of how to create experiential fashion show moments targeted to a Gen Z audience, is only a small manifestation of Tommy's bigger ambitions towards innovation, however. Beyond digitally-enabled retail experiences, the brand has also been investigating new ways to communicate with consumers through its evolving product – from smart clothing that rewards users per wear, through to speaking to a highly underserved audience through an adaptive line for people with disabilities. During the live conversation, Baker also talks about how the brand has translated its American roots and values to a global audience, how it overcame the unexpected lull, and why magic and logic need to work together.

Direct-to-consumer brands don't often live up to the hype placed on them by endless amounts of VC funding and Silicon Valley fandom, says Jen Rubio, co-founder of travel brand Away, on the latest episode of TheCurrent Innovators podcast. Speaking to Liz Bacelar, founder of TheCurrent, at the British Fashion Council's annual Fashion Forum in London, Rubio explains that from its inception in 2016, she and her co-founder Steph Korey (who she met while both working at Warby Parker), were careful not to run their business like a lot of other brands in the space. "If you go back in time a little bit, a lot of new brands and e-commerce companies were positioning themselves as tech companies and raising a lot of VC money at tech valuations that would never live up to the public market at how retail companies are valued, and then run into the trouble of needing these stores and claiming they are a retail company and not a tech one," she explains. "We saw a lot of this happening in the industry and from the beginning Steph and I said, this is not how we are going to run our business. "If you go back in time a little bit, a lot of new brands and e-commerce companies were positioning themselves as tech companies and raising a ton of VC money at tech valuations that would never live up to the public market at how retail companies are valued. And then run into the trouble of 'oh we actually need these stores so now we're a retail company and not a tech company'. They've raised too much cash, they've burned too much cash," she explains. "We saw a lot of this stuff happening in the industry and from the beginning Steph and I were like, this is not how we are going to run this business." After pitching Away as a brand aiming to make travel more seamless, as opposed to simply making luggage, the business famously received a first round of investment before even having a physical product, for instance. From the lightbulb moment for the brand's concept through to its launch, Away spoke to over 800 people about what elements would make the perfect suitcase. It is that open approach to constant feedback that it continues to focus on to this day – helping to inform its product collaborations, new features and color palettes, and even locations for pop-ups and permanent retail spaces. In this conversation, Rubio also tells Liz how its first major hurdle – airline regulation that meant their smart suitcase was no longer allowed onboard – was an important opportunity to strengthen the relationship with Away customers; how retail landlords are finally giving non-legacy brands a chance; and why understanding your consumer is key to constant innovation.

The mass appeal of 'wellness as a lifestyle' may be something trending with consumers today, but it's a mindset that's been central to Equinox since its inception in 1991, says Vimla Gupta, CMO of the premium fitness brand, on the latest episode of TheCurrent Innovators podcast. Equinox has paved the way by offering consumers support and service beyond typical gym classes by understanding how their fitness behaviors have always been a pivotal part of their lifestyles. In doing so it's become not just a 'gym' brand, but an entire lifestyle group that will even open its own hotel in New York in 2019. Its success comes from the fact it quickly understood that with the rise of the internet, consumers were going above and beyond normal exercise behavior to better understand their needs and goals. "What we seek to do as a brand is intrinsically understand our consumer and what her needs are; what drives her," says Gupta. "And what we are seeing is the consumer has a PHD in everything; unlimited access to information." Modern gym-goers, Gupta says, are information-obsessed and think of every step of the journey, from understanding their nutrition and dietary needs, to researching the efficacy of the latest workout and even what sportswear they wear. This pushes brands like Equinox to become the vehicles to satisfy their learning needs and provide them with an experience that will correspond to their high performance expectations. At the heart of Equinox's interaction with its clients is the need to keep innovating by introducing services and technologies that help maximize the potential in their consumers lives, she adds. Technology in this case acts as an engagement and recommendation tool through leveraging individual data, such as the recent launch of a digital coach – or a bot – to its 10-year-old mobile app, which learns from a user's activities and helps them stay on track. During this conversation with Liz Bacelar, founder of TheCurrent, Gupta also divulges more on what tech means for the Equinox gym experience, how the company is evolving from fitness to lifestyle and retail, and its upcoming plans to keep enabling clients to live their best lives.

Speaking to Liz Bacelar, founder of TheCurrent, during a live recording hosted by MouthMedia Network at Spring Place in New York, he explains how the enormous e-commerce redesign he has spearheaded for the world’s largest company, all came down to this focus on elevating the shopping experience for the changing customer of today.

Building deep relationships with the communities trading raw materials is a key factor in establishing a more sustainable supply chain, argues Matt Scanlan of disruptive cashmere brand, Naadam. Speaking to Liz Bacelar on the latest episode of TheCurrent Innovators podcast, the CEO and co-founder of the company, opens up about how important it is to think about the human side of what we, as an industry, are doing. "There are fundamental shared experiences across the human experience that we don't think about when we're making clothing; that we don't think about when we're trying to look nice. That was eye-opening to me, and I try really hard to continually push that narrative for people," he says. His entire business was built first on relationships, he explains, which led him to want to support those he had gotten to know. In this case, we're talking Mongolian goat herders. His story of how he got there is a well known one – in short he spent a month with local communities in the Gobi Desert and then returned with $2 million stashed in plastic bags to buy tons of raw cashmere directly from them. Doing so allows those goat herders to earn 50% more profit. Since then, his ambition to transform the cashmere supply chain alongside business partner, Diederik Rijsemus, has grown rapidly. Simultaneously, the consumer mindset on what sustainability is and why it matters is finally starting to take hold, he notes, outlining his drive to keep pushing this forward. "All I care about is building the biggest platform to share my message which is a very simple passion around why I did it in the first place. The bigger the platform is, the happier I am. I just want more people to know that if you're really thoughtful about sustainability it can foster innovation that lets you make products across a spectrum that are more affordable for the customer and better quality." Also in the conversation, Scanlan talks about why 100% sustainability is both fake and impossible, the challenges faced by growing and scaling such a brand, and why he now operates via wholesale channels as well as his direct-to-consumer model. The death of traditional retail is hyperbolic, he says.

As consumers seek to shop and live in a way that is aligned with their digital habits, retail is feeling the pressure to transform, says Andrew Deitchman, co-founder of modern convenience retail concept New Stand. Speaking to Liz Bacelar on the latest episode of TheCurrent Innovators podcast, he discusses the importance of offering consumers thoughtful service in both physical and digital worlds. "In many ways when you think about what newsstands were, they were your window into the world... Today discovery obviously happens on the phone, but it also is more and more physical. We're physical beings and we like actually going into locations and touching things, so [with New Stand] we want to be able to provide that as a distribution point for content; that content also being physical products," he says. Deitchman's concept, which he co-founded with Lex Kendall in 2015, is the reinterpretation of the convenience store experience, where consumers are met with a mixture of curated products and mobile content that fits seamlessly into their busy urban lifestyles. 2017 was a big year for the New York-based company, which not only opened more stores in the city (including on public transport ferries), but expanded across the country to office buildings and airports. Beyond the store's curated selection of food, lifestyle and design objects, it also uses the space to introduce consumers to new launches, as well as leverage its wider platform for brand partnerships. At the heart of the modernized concept is the need to 'fight' for a share of the customer's time, says Deitchman, by connecting with them in a meaningful way. "You need to build from a real foundation of engagement," he says. "It's really about using that physical footprint to build a bridge into people's lives that hopefully is a sustained one that they're going to enjoy." In the conversation, Deitchman also discusses how New Stand is a media company at its core, the importance of being considerate with the data they are collecting from consumers, and how the team is planning to further expand the business building content and selling merchandise that is increasingly localized at a micro level. "I see us as an API for human engagement," he says, improving the consumer's day by adding value to their personal ecosystem.

"Everybody is always trying to figure out what's next, and sometimes you've got to live in the now," says Jeff Zuckowski, vice president of industry relations at music service Pandora, on the latest episode of TheCurrent Innovators podcast. Speaking to Liz Bacelar, he highlights the importance of balancing newness and familiarity, and how companies should be striving to innovate in the present, and not the future in order to stay ahead. For Pandora, disruption began when consumers flocked to digital to listen to music how they wanted, when they wanted, says Zuchowski. But every disruption is preceded by a phase of resistance, he notes. For digital music, it took big industry players a while to realize the power of investing in platforms that tap into the growing consumer needs for convenience and discoverability. Although Pandora currently sits at number two in the US market behind Spotify, many would discard the company's recent attempts to stay in line with competition. Zuchowski disagrees with that notion, saying the platform already has a large fanbase (circa 80 million), which simply needs to be reignited. "I don't look at Pandora as an underdog, I look at is as a sleeping giant," he says. Pandora constantly adds touches to make the usability more seamless and relevant, he says. A recent feature, for instance, enables users to just pick one or two songs, and Pandora will generate an entire playlist off the back of them. Users can then eliminate or add songs along the way, and an algorithm will learn from their behaviour. "When we set out to go to the next level, and we had to do something to compete, we did it by using what's always been Pandora's backbone, which is the Genome," Zuchowski further explains. The Music Genome Project is a proprietary music rating system developed by Pandora where trained musicologists rate songs on 450 different attributes – such as "aggressive drumming" or "jazz influencers" and cross-reference the results with other songs in order to make recommendations. The platform is betting on its human-meets-AI approach to provide a more curated selection of music. Zuchowski's competitive nature, however, means he never thinks a project is done, a trait he believes most disruptors have. At the core of that approach is the need to go beyond his own industry to learn things from people who are in other spaces, facing similar problems. Fashion, he believes, is going through a large amount of change and could learn from talking to peers in other industries such as music, who often face the same hurdles, but at different times in culture. His advice for the industry is to "take chances.. to throw a lot of s**t against the wall and see what sticks". No one can afford to do the same thing they did a year ago, he notes.

For the latest episode of TheCurrent Innovators, Liz Bacelar chatted to Jodie Fox, co-founder and creative director of online custom-made shoe platform Shoes of Prey, about the company's eight-year evolution and how they plan on changing the way women buy and wear shoes. For Fox, the brand's success in offering customized shoes at on-demand speed, lies in owning the whole manufacturing process, which is where a lot of other similar companies fell short during the customization boom in 2010, she says. In its early stages, selling the idea of building a factory that would do one shoe at a time was met with a lot of negativity. The company now employs 200 people, however, most of which are based out of their own factory in China, and can have a pair of shoes in the customer's hands in under two weeks. The importance of creating a company anchored in technology means that as fashion evolves and becomes more embedded with tech, Shoes of Prey is at the perfect standing, Fox explains. "One of the things we as a brand are really lucky not to have is legacy (...) Traditionally fashion is a very creative environment and I do believe that there is that desire to be innovative, but the way we get those ideas into market is still very broken. And that's one of the key places that technology can power to simply be fashion," she says, stating that fashion and technology shouldn't be mutually exclusively as they can both leverage one another. As a consumer, Shoes of Prey offers over 10 trillion combinations of a shoe's design, which include changing heels, silhouette and colour. Although the company began by offering a blank canvas, it soon realized the importance of striking the balance of giving consumers choice, but not overwhelming them. For this process, the input of a team of designers has been crucial in creating a controlled yet flexible shopping experience. The platform also enables shoppers who once considered customization cost or time-prohibitive to see it as a tangible choice, particularly for those who fall outside the standard shoe sizing sold across the West, a group which Fox states 77% of women are part of. For the founder, it is surprising that shoe sizing has remained untouched for so long, which means consumers have become accustomed to the fact that wearing certain shoes – such as heels – won't always be comfortable. Fox, who alongside her two other co-founders has raised 30.6 million for Shoes of Prey since launching in 2009, says success has come from leveraging a simple rule of innovation: by being an industry outsider (in her case, with a background in law) she was able to find a common problem, and create an unbiased solution for it. "One of the reasons why Shoes of Prey managed to make a difference is probably naivety, and not being indoctrinated in the expertise of manufacturing in the industry," she says. "You can't let expertise get in the way of an idea."

In an increasingly digital world, designing physical products that are genuinely useful and evoke an emotion from the consumer, is a tough challenge, according to Gadi Amit, president and principal designer at NewDealDesign, on the latest episode of TheCurrent Innovators. With tech's fast-moving evolution comes a need to design objects that are sustainable and desirable, he highlights in his conversation with Liz Bacelar. Best known as the designer behind the original FitBit wearable device, Amit thinks technology is still very much about utility, but that pioneers such as Apple's Steve Jobs and Jony Ive have ignited change. Consumers are now becoming increasingly accustomed to technology pervading many aspects of their lives, and as a result are looking for objects that enhance their personal experiences by creating deeper connections, he says. When developing a successful wearable product, for instance, brands need to look beyond designing status-seeking elements to ask basic questions, such as: "What does it do for you? How does it enhance your life?", says Amit. He reiterates that an object's uniqueness lies in its true experiential value, and not just the label. For luxury, an industry that has struggled to enter the fast-moving market of digital technologies while retaining its products' values of longevity, Amit suggests starting with the values of the brand first, and building the technology that speaks to it. For fashion the 2014 wearable boom was short-lived, as the market became overcrowded with products that consumer demand didn't respond to. Although Amit thinks this is partly because devices lacked uniqueness, this is also due to the fact that wearables are so difficult to design, he explains. He particularly contradicts a common notion in the fashion industry that technology within wearables should be made to be invisible – from a usability standpoint, there are always design elements that need to prioritize function over aesthetics, he comments. "Wearables are different animals, they're not accessories in fashion. This is a piece of technology that needs to be on the human body, and therefore needs to be designed appropriately," he concludes. The self-confessed "contrarian by nature" is tackling payments next, an industry that historically champions frictionless and simplified interactions. Research around how exchanging physical currency affects behaviors and creates subconscious connections led him to design a new device called Scrip. This induces friction by asking the user to swipe at it a few times in order to share digital currency, meaning users make more conscious spending decisions. It acts as a cashpoint in the user's pocket, in which its tangibility plays a key role in triggering neural functions that automated payment systems like Apple Pay have hindered. In designing Scrip, Amit explains that it taps into the need to create objects that perfectly combine function and aesthetics in such a way that its owners will never render it obsolete.

Chinese payments company Alipay is on a mission to wean US consumers off traditional payment behaviours. Creating an integrated experience is at the center of making that happen, Alipay's president of the Americas, Souheil Badran, explained to Liz Bacelar on the latest episode of TheCurrent Innovators podcast. "So far the whole US market has been so used to credit cards. And when you look at it from a tech perspective all the apps we use are in their own silos. They're not connected at all," says Badran, explaining that the Starbucks app is one of the few examples of an integrated experience based around the consumer's lifestyle. In order to achieve seamlessness, Badran hopes to see better collaboration with retail in what he calls the Uber experience – when getting from point A to B, the user no longer has to think about the payment aspect of it. This everyday ease of use is already being achieved in China, where Alipay's 520 million users have access to over 60 sub-applications integrated under the payment umbrella, creating a lifestyle ecosystem within the digital wallet that includes the ability to do things like pay peers and order a taxi. But going beyond payments to create a larger sense of loyalty in this way in the US, means educating the consumers out of their comfort zone of just payments, Badran adds. "[Starting with the consumer], what are they looking for? What would make you go from just using your credit card, and what would attract you back to the app on a regular basis?" Badran wants to see Alipay reach the same level of interaction in the US, as it has achieved in Asia. Current users check their digital wallets 15-20 times a day, for instance. He hopes US consumers can get to that point, in the same way they already do with their social media channels. This would include creating experience-led features and promotions based on purchase history and other aggregated data, he notes. Chinese Alipay consumers are also a big market for US retailers, which Badran has been working hard to evangelize on their value. "Back in 2013 when you talked about China in general, people understood the size, but couldn't quite grasp the value of it. I have seen a tremendous shift over the last 12 months and hopefully it will continue to grow." To target these users, Alipay is working with retailers in the US and Europe to ensure payment capabilities and promotions that intensify around peak travel seasons, such as Chinese New Year. For millennial consumers, Alipay helps quickly build user credibility by leveraging data from previous purchases. This means a merchant that accepts the payment service can have visibility of the user's track record, says Badran. He uses the example of purchasing at a luxury store, where Alipay can potentially extend the shopper's credit on the fly – unlike a static credit card limit – depending on data such as previous repayments. At present, over 150,000 merchants in North America accept Alipay as a form of payment. The future looks bright for the mammoth Asian company as it taps into the digital need for always-on convenience, as well as a demand for platforms that enable personalization and experience.

The Levi’s Commuter x Google Jacquard jacket is the first of its kind – a commercially ready piece of wearable tech that’s both fashionable and washable. But more than that, it’s one of the only “devices” out there aiming to tackle the idea of obsolescence, Paul Dillinger, VP of global product innovation at Levi’s, says in an episode of "TheCurrent Innovators" podcast with host Liz Bacelar. The jacket itself is designed for urban cyclists, or as Dillinger refers to it, “for people who live in the city and need to get around”. It’s based on the existing Levi’s Commuter Trucker jacket, but embedded with technology in the sleeve in order for it to operate a number of useful functionalities for wearers. It launched to the public in September 2017 for $350 in stores and online. “It’s a classical denim trucker jacket that is designed to make an urban cyclist’s life a little safer, a little lighter, a little better. To that we’ve then added about 15 rows of capacitive yarn in the left cuff, that forms an area that is capable to be touched.” Users can tap or swipe in that spot to then control various utilities including playing music, getting GPS directions, answering or rejecting calls and more. It is connected via Bluetooth to your phone to do so. The key, according to Dillinger, was about making it still feel like a fashion item. “(The jacket) had to feel like a Levi’s product not a piece of Google technology,” he says. But it had to function to the same level of a Google technology too. We had to take a lot of time to weave it in so that it was working but not visible, trying to make it look and feel right.” The aim now is to constantly improve on that functionality to make it increasingly more useful to the user too. “The spring [update] of this product won’t be a new object, it will be new abilities. We built digital platforms so that the jacket never gets obsolete,” Dillinger explains. In partnership with Google, the team studies user behaviour data to gain indications of how they should be improving. That approach is a marked difference for the two industries involved. Tech is usually designed to be replaced. It’s the reason we all upgrade our iPhones. By comparison, in fashion – despite the shift towards disposable clothing at the cheaper end of the market – the ideal is for longevity. Denim from Levi’s frequently falls into that latter category. “The challenge is to make it something that people will want to wear, and something that is more like a platform, that can improve itself,” Dillinger notes. This is a jacket that’s essentially a piece of software more than hardware then, with upgrades that install automatically. “We started selling in September. By the holidays the users got a notification on their app saying, your jacket just got better, we have capabilities that are improved,” he adds. “We’re giving people a reason to keep a garment longer, not less, and we’re giving them an improved version of something they already know. So rather than giving you the bad feeling of something going out of fashion, we’re giving you the opposite feeling by improving over time what you already bought.”

H&M has a big goal: to become 100% sustainable and renewable while maintaining prices low and keeping quality up. It's a big ask with some short timelines to achieve it. The question is whether the second largest clothing retailer in the world can really ever be considered eco-conscious and sustainable while pumping out fast fashion? Is it all a contradiction? One thing we know for sure – millennial consumers seem to be more concerned about manufacturing practices and their effects on the environment than ever, according to Nina Shariati, who leads transparency for the H&M Group. She sat down with TheCurrent's Rachel Arthur in Copenhagen to discuss the brand's latest projects in this space, why transparency doesn't equal sustainability directly, and what its plans are to continuously push the boundaries to appeal more to consumers with an eye for the environment. ___________________________________________________ TheCurrent Innovators is a podcast about the leaders pushing the boundaries of fashion, beauty and retail. Hosted by Liz Bacelar and Rachel Arthur, each episode is a frank conversation about the challenges and opportunities faced by top brands and retailers around the world today through the lens of technology. The podcast, distributed by MouthMedia Network, has showcased the likes of Stefano Rosso, CEO of Diesel; William Tunstall-Pedoe, founder of the tech behind Amazon Alexa; and Nina Shariati, who is responsible for transparency at H&M.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is revamping how we live our lives, how we communicate, how we shop. And it's doing so at a rapid pace. First Apple's Siri, now Amazon's Alexa; both already household names that are set to become ever more popular in the year to come. In fact, Amazon just decreed its Echo devices as the biggest sellers this past holiday season. TheCurrent's Liz Bacelar spoke to the "father" of Alexa, William Tunstall-Pedoe, a British entrepreneur focused on world-changing products powered by AI and other deep technology. Recorded with a live audience at the London College of Fashion, he discussed the future of the voice interface, how AI will change retail and which of Alexa's skills is truly the most useful to him. TheCurrent Innovators is a podcast about the leaders pushing the boundaries of fashion, beauty and retail. Hosted by Liz Bacelar and Rachel Arthur, each episode is a frank conversation about the challenges and opportunities faced by top brands and retailers around the world today through the lens of technology. The podcast, distributed by MouthMedia Network, has showcased the likes of Stefano Rosso, CEO of Diesel; William Tunstall-Pedoe, founder of the tech behind Amazon Alexa; and Nina Shariati, who is responsible for transparency at H&M.

Disruption, courage and innovation are the pillars around which Only the Brave, or OTB, the parent company of fashion brand Diesel, are built. But they’re also words that Stefano Rosso, CEO of the brand in North America, lives by as he faces the challenge of rebooting the denim business in the US. In the 1970s, his father, Renzo Rosso, the iconic founder of the brand, disrupted the jeans industry by building a fashion empire focused entirely around the message that different is cool. Today, Stefano is maintaining that view of challenging conformity, all the while tackling how it looks in the digital era. TheCurrent’s Liz Bacelar sat down with him to talk about how Diesel lost its way, what it’s doing to get back in the game, how luxury can survive the tech revolution and whether virtual reality is (possibly) the future of the industry.