Running an ethical fashion brand is not easy and we're lucky to have a few great people helping us long the way. One of the forces behind the brand is our lovely fashion consultant Elizabeth Stiles, and in this guest blog she shares her story into fashion and talks about the podcast she runs. She recently interviewed Lucy for one of her episodes - read more below and give the podcast a listen for a delve into our brands' story, discussions on the future of fashion and of course some laughs!
Hi everyone, my name’s Elizabeth Stiles
Having worked in the corporate fashion buying world for over 12 years, I broke free in 2018 to go solo and become a fashion brand consultant. I work with independent, creative businesses to bring their ideas to life; I give them the confidence and practical knowledge from my time in the industry to build a successful fashion business.
I’ve been working with Lucy & Yak for nearly a year now which has been a real highlight as I learn so much from Lucy and Chris (and hopefully they learn something from me too, haha!) As many of you know, they came from a car sales background so not the most traditional route into the world of fashion some might say! I work 2-3 times a month with the team on the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff, here’s some examples of what goes on at L&Y HQ!
FASHION MAGIC
We take a look at what’s happening in the current retail landscape - which brands are doing well (and which ones aren’t) then dissecting what we can learn from that & how to stay one step ahead in the year ahead! Some months we’ll review what’s on trend! There’s a million trends every season but it’s important to know what trends are right for the business and what ones can be left on the catwalk! In retail, timing is everything! A retail business is usually run on a calendar called a Critical Path which is essential to know when stock is leaving the factory, when stock needs to go in the sale, when to launch new product… it’s a minefield! This isn’t always the most fun meeting but definitely an important one to keep things from descending into chaos!
Lucy and Chris don’t do things the traditional way so I asked Lucy to come on as a guest to my podcast called The Fashion Feed to tell us the story so far.
If you’re curious about how the brand started (or maybe you want to start one yourself!) then take a listen to the interview, it’s fascinating & pretty funny tbh! http://bit.ly/thefashionfeedlucy
In the episode we cover :
- The full back story of how Lucy and Yak was born
- How they work with their suppliers and manage those relationships
- Our thoughts on how we foresee the future of the fashion industry
- Lucy shares where the brand is going from here and the exciting plans in place
- Some incredibly honest advice from Lucy for any budding entrepreneurs - Transparency is the KEY!
If you’re a fashion brand looking for a mentor or perhaps you just have an idea and want to make it a reality then drop me an email hi@elizabethstiles.co.uk