An Interview With Candice Georgiadice
Trust — Every good leader of a fashion brand needs to have complete trust in their creative vision no matter the feedback they receive from others. It is crucial for the life of your brand to trust and execute the ideas you are trying to express as a brand to distinguish yourself in the market. No one will understand the concepts you have until you execute them to the best of your ability.
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 Eric Vicens.
Eric Vicens has been in the eyewear industry for the past eight years. With his passion for design and well-crafted goods, he’s created a name for himself in Miami through his highly curated eyewear shop, twelvesixtynine, as well as his passion project, Johann Wolff. Raised in the Dominican Republic, Eric has a great cultural background that allowed him to jive with South Florida’s culture easily.
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”?
Sure, I’d love to. I had the blessing of being born in Columbia, South Carolina, the only person in my entire family to bear the coveted blue passport. Even though the memories of this adventure are long gone, my older brother and business partner, Lorenzo, got to experience it for 4 years. This stint in America made him feel more at ease conducting business in the states. After my father finished his Ph.D., my family relocated to the Dominican Republic, one of the most amazing places. I honestly can’t ask for a better upbringing. Growing up with a culture highly influenced by its Spanish settlers, you knew you were part of something special from early on. I attended an all English American School and mingled with a small group of friends — a classroom wouldn’t exceed 20 students. My weekends were usually spent at the beach or Casa de Campo, obsessing over the endless summer weather we tend to enjoy. Even though I enjoyed the outdoors plenty, one thing was obvious; I was captivated by automobile design from first sight. The only sport that I dared to entertain, and still do, is racing. The countless hours obsessing over old Car & Driver magazines, reading, observing and imagining one day of being able to appreciate these beauties in person is instilled in my mind.
Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?
Sure. Fast forward to 2006, I moved to Miami thanks to my dad. I wasn’t fully vested in the idea, but he made it a point for me to understand the benefits it would bring to me as a young adult. As any good son would do, I lightly refused and ended up caving in. Now that I was settled in Miami, my older brother Lorenzo started to visit and from the get-go, he started to source watch brands that he could represent in the Dominican Republic. Soon I became his gofer and from there, I decided to do my own side hustle, in comes eBay. Looking back now, I can see why I hit the ground running. eBay had created and polished an e-commerce machine without me even noticing. In 2014, Lorenzo struck a substantial deadstock (no longer trending merchandise). I wasn’t entirely in, but we followed our gut feeling. Low and behold, this transaction allowed us to purchase our first store in Coconut Grove, one of the most enchanting neighborhoods of greater Miami. The rest is history. After our first visit to Vision Expo East, my brother and I understood our path curated independent brands.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
The way Johann Wolff started. Lorenzo and I left for Mido, Milan, Italy’s yearly eyewear show. With all the confidence in the world, we arrived at our hotel. We planned out how to comb the manufacturers’ pavilion and find our coveted factory. The days came and went with the show quickly coming to a close. Not only did we realize that there was a strong language barrier, but we had concluded that the quality that we were expecting wasn’t to be found. With our morale lower than ever, we decided to visit our good friend Shane Baum, owner of Leisure Society. His booth, at any eyewear shop globally, is considered a haven. With an abundance of Aperol Spritz and a fully staffed bar, we sat down to have a chat. As if it was meant to be, after explaining to him our lack of success, he texted a good friend he had worked with during his days at Bulgari. What we couldn’t achieve in 3 days, he managed to do so in 15 minutes. There you have it, that’s how Johann Wolff started.
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?
Drive: Friends and family are the first to encourage you to move forward with your dreams. Now, very few of them pitch in financially, ultimately taking a lot of work before they recognize how good you are and how far you’ve taken that idea that seemed so far out. Even though our family and friends believe in us, they never invested in the business throughout those first few years. We had to duke it out with our sweat and tears.
Passion: If we weren’t passionate about design, there’s no way we would have landed the brands that we did or curate the way we do. It takes a passionate owner who’s business savvy to make it work in the fashion industry. Success will be hard to come by if you lack one of these. During our initial phase, brand reps would love to push product upon us. With little understanding of our target audience, we caved. I remember the countless times we sat on inventory because we believed what someone else thought was good for us.
Courageous — Small businesses fail, it’s a fact. It’s a tiny percentage that can withstand the first few rocky years and enjoy the fruits of the labor. If Lorenzo and I didn’t act as a team and believed in our hearts that our vision could be translated to reality, we wouldn’t be here. We both had the education and possibility of working in the private sector and making a good living while we were at it.
What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?
Even though we collaborate with outside agencies or companies, we like to do most of the work in-house. This intimate process allows for a unique result that can easily be seen through our offerings compared to similar businesses or products. At twelvesixtynine the curation is immaculate, even though it targets a niche market. We’ve traveled the world visiting shops and we can confidently say we are one of the best in the US market. Through this process, we’ve managed to mold Johann Wolff into a brand that can hit every sector of the market, focusing on timeless designs while offering a fun, eclectic collection of light tinted lenses for a hip audience.
Do you have a favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share a story of how that was relevant to you in your life?
Be here now. Starting a business in my mid-twenties, I had a lot of distractions. Friends, parties, family, girls, you name it. Thanks to my mother and father who brought me up, I learned the value of hard work and perseverance from early on. Even though I still need to center myself and practice meditation, I know it has aided me to keep my cool, understand my goals, and focus on actualizing them.
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?
Definitely, I’m a big fan of young consumers’ interest in the idea of repurposing clothing and upcycling materials/garments. The word ‘sustainability’ has been thrown around for years now. Still, ever since the world slowed down due to COVID-19 it seems as though many consumers have caught on to the importance of ‘slow fashion’. Lately there has been a visible emphasis on supporting independent designers that focus on small-batch productions that push the sustainability envelope.
Can you share how your brand is helping to bring goodness to the world?
We are one of the only brands that invest heavily in polarized lenses. 90% of our selection is polarized and the reason for this is that they do a better job at protecting from harmful UV/UB rays. Most eyewear brands in the market lack polarized lenses. Some of them even opt out on anti-reflective coatings on their lenses.
Can you share with our readers about the ethical standards you use when you choose where to source materials?
We work with cellulose acetate. Not only is it incredibly strong and beautiful, it is hypoallergenic and renewable. This plant-based material is mainly used by high-end eyewear manufactures. A lot of what you find in the industry is plastic or what you would call injection mold.
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 fans of fast fashion. For us, eyewear is the most important accessory one can wear. In today’s culture, we focus more on shoes and handbags. Now ask yourself, how much time do you spend looking at shoes vs. a person’s face? Exactly. We believe in selling a product that withstands the test of time and is continuously wearable, no matter where fashion trends stand. This also allows our clients to build a collection similar to how watch, art, and automobile collectors do.
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.
Innovation — Be it quality, design, or giving back to the environment, a brand you need to develop and improve to maintain your competitive advantage continuously.
Design — There are numerous one-hit wonders out there. You need to push the envelope consecutively and develop designs that captivate a new audience and keep your existing clientele interested and engaged.
Trust — Every good leader of a fashion brand needs to have complete trust in their creative vision no matter the feedback they receive from others. It is crucial for the life of your brand to trust and execute the ideas you are trying to express as a brand to distinguish yourself in the market. No one will understand the concepts you have until you execute them to the best of your ability.
Respect — Paying homage to technical processes, fabrication methods and past designers is an essential trait of being at the forefront of the industry. As well as respecting your consumers through your brand’s transparency.
A Team — This might be the most important one of all. A passionate team that believes in your vision, aiding in supporting and actualizing your creative endeavors is the key to the continuous growth of your brand.
Every industry constantly evolves and seeks improvement. How do you think the fashion industry can improve itself? Can you give an example?
We need to step away from fast fashion and quick. The fashion industry is one of the most significant contributors to global warming. We need to reeducate consumers to move into a thrift/repurpose vibe. Nothing makes me more proud than a compliment on a well-thrifted item.
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. 🙂
To cultivate awareness in every being. Awareness for our bodies, for our planet, for others. In this society, we are too caught up with upping one another instead of focusing on living the best life we can while respecting our planet and others.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
They can follow our Instagram posts and our blogs at both twelvesixtynine and Johann Wolff. We are working on a series of articles that will educate our readers on eyewear in a very romantic and story telling manner.
@twelvesixtynine
@jweyewear
Twelvesixtynine.com
Johannwolff.com
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Modern Fashion: Eric Vicens 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.