An Interview With Candice Georgiadice
Yes, I hope the current fashion industry think about things with long term mentality. Many of the high-end brand does this but many of the medium to lower side brand fail to see the big picture. They are mostly working to follow the trend.
Many in the fashion industry have been making huge pivots in their business models. Many have turned away from the fast fashion trend. Many have been focusing on fashion that also makes a social impact. Many have turned to sustainable and ethical sourcing. Many have turned to hi tech manufacturing. Many have turned to subscription models. What are the other trends that we will see in the fashion industry? What does it take to lead a successful fashion brand today?
In our series called, “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today” we are talking to successful leaders of fashion brands who can talk about the Future of Fashion and the 5 things it takes to lead a successful fashion brand in our “new normal.”
As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Edward Lee, business consultant with 10+ year experience; own a high-end consignment bag business; now launching a luxury gemstone necklace line based on human aspirations.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood “backstory”?
Since I was a kid, I always has interest in understanding about underling purpose in life. So, I dug deep into self-help book and religious texts all the time. This also led me to study Chemistry in college to understand things at the ‘molecular’ level.
Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?
I wanted to get into the business of symbols and meanings. I had plenty of exposure on how luxury industry is run during my time as a business consultant and also understood the resale market from consignment store. I wanted to combine those experience to create a charm necklace brand.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Me and my colleague had to visit 10+ factories before we can find someone that will deliver our design. Our design is made out of natural stones so we got rejected so many times.
You are a successful business leader. Which three-character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Perseverance/Kindness/Conviction
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Our company did 5 year long studies to develop a aspiration test to identify people aspiration. And we created a totem-based gemstone charm necklace to support the aspiration.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Do you see any fascinating developments emerging over the next few years in the fashion industry that you are excited about? Can you tell us about that?
I am very excited about how fashion will evolve in with Metabus technology such as NFT. With this evolution, I believe the market will go even more consumer-centric now and there will be fashion online and offline.
Can you share how your brand is helping to bring goodness to the world?
We try to give confidence in people’s life by providing them with direction via aspiration.
Can you share with our readers about the ethical standards you use when you choose where to source materials?
We focus on making sure jewelry artisans are compensated properly and we produce them in Korea, where we ethically source all of our stones and materials.
Fast fashion has an advantage, that it is affordable for most people, but it also has the drawback that it does not last very long and is therefore not very sustainable. What are your thoughts about this? How does your company address this question?
We are not a particularly big fan of fast fashion. As we are a charm brand, we are looking to create necklaces that will last.
Thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand”. Please share a story or example for each.
- Be passionate about what you are doing
- Adopt the trend and make it yours
- Imagine yourself at the show of your customers and match your character
- Understand and own marketing (if you cannot, hire someone who can)
- Don’t create something that evaporates under the time. Make something that everyone cherishes.
Every industry constantly evolves and seeks improvement. How do you think the fashion industry can improve itself? Can you give an example?
Yes, I hope the current fashion industry think about things with long term mentality. Many of the high-end brand does this but many of the medium to lower side brand fail to see the big picture. They are mostly working to follow the trend.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I want people to be happy by finding true purpose in their lives. Cherish each of the special moments with love.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Follow our page.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Modern Fashion: Edward Lee On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.