From the C-Suite: Insights and Advice from Corporate Leaders
Corporate leaders occupy a unique vantage point in the business world, offering insights and guidance shaped by their …
Today there is a real urgency to reconnect the designer and the consumer. Designers have no access to real-time data on what is resonating with the consumer. For consumers, there is no direct channel to interact with the designers to influence their shopping decisions. With a tech background and having owned specialty retail stores for 15+ years, Kimberly Carney, Founder and CEO of Fashwire, saw early on that the fashion industry could not survive without adapting to tech. Finding a way to fuse the two worlds became the catalyst for the Fashwire platform.
For the consumer and Fashwire’s 165,000+ userbase, Fashwire creates a compelling interactive experience by combining fun, immersive swipe voting with the ability to influence the designers in real-time. As a testament to the positive user experience, they have ranked in the Top 25 on the App Store for paid shopping apps consistently since December 2019 and hit the #1 spot more than once. The platform also meets
demands for social connectivity with MyWire, a community network that lives within the Fashwire platform. It allows users to shop collections and post photos of their personal style. Designers can also upload mood boards, behind-the-scenes footage and teasers for future collections.
Most importantly, the designers get instant, actionable insights on how to provide better products to consumers. In short, harnessing the power of data is key: Fashwire’s B2B and B2C offerings provide business solutions using machine learning with personalization features and AI data prediction tools for trend forecasting. Instead of solely relying on
traditional ways of trend forecasting — which requires observation and data collection from fashion designers, trend spotters, and influencers — brands can instantly have access to data from consumers that allows for planning the right styles and quantities in a timely, efficient, and very relevant manner.
The Fashwire platform blends the accuracy and precision that only big data can offer with a human element in a singular, easy to use experience, thereby allowing designers to take on today’s volatile world of fashion. Fashwire is uniquely positioned to connect and align fashion brands directly with consumers to drive revenue and provide critical real-time data which empowers future product decision making. According to Kimberly, exposure is arguably the most valuable asset a brand can procure, yet has proven difficult for many emerging and independent designers worldwide. The Fashwire platform provides smaller brands an opportunity to display new and future collections, sell products and interact with a global audience, gaining valuable data insights that can be used to shape the future of their business. Additionally, they continue to enter into strategic industry partnerships to provide further value and exposure. “A brand that comes to mind who has directly benefited from our solution is Valentina Rangoni, a shoe collection from Italy,” says Kimberly. “Since joining Fashwire, they have actively participated in our marketing opportunities and gained significant exposure, which has substantially increased their site traffic and sales. The real-time feedback provided has impacted the direction of their production decisions for upcoming collections.”
Kimberly believes that the core of their success is connecting people, specifically designers and consumers. “We create a fun, interactive shopping experience for consumers while helping our designers with information to create better products for the consumer,” she says. “We think it’s time that somebody tackles the challenges of fashion and beauty in a different way: with data-driven technology and a game changing two-sided marketplace that leverages the data for a better customer and designer experience.”
Kimberly has a conviction for her vision and has successfully brought industry people along who share her passion. She lives and breathes Fashwire and has worked tirelessly to have a voice in the industry. Kimberly’s core mission is to reframe the global fashion landscape by positioning Fashwire at the intersection of tech and fashion. Kimberly is driven to provide users a unique, engaging, and solution-oriented opportunity to discover brands and trends through an interactive experience. She continues to push boundaries and delivers the industry what it (product/service) needs at the perfect time.
Kimberly believes “empowered women empower women” and that women must embrace tech and digital trends as the landscape is in constant flux. For Kimberly, collaboration is key, with her powerful women-led team of industry professionals who share the same passion and collectively work to empower each other daily. Kimberly also surrounds herself with different women (and men!) that she turns to for various challenges, which continue to advise, support, and provide insight that influences her everyday decision making to drive Fashwire forward. She is extremely grateful to have a toolkit of some pretty incredible people in her back pocket. She also believes in the importance of giving back and integrates the value-based culture of philanthropy in all areas of her life. Kimberly inspires as she effortlessly integrates multiple roles as a single mother, entrepreneur, CEO, and philanthropist. “Our philanthropic arm, FashGive, is a powerful way to connect consumers to fashion while also giving back during the pandemic. Discovering designers and shopping for yourself or others becomes a function of doing good during a remarkably challenging time,” she adds. “Beginning December 1, 2020 until December 31, 2020, Fashwire will donate $1.00 USD for every download of the Fashwire app to support the mission of Why Not You Foundation which is dedicated to empowering today’s youth to lead with a why not you attitude.” FashGive is rooted in giving back to the fashion community, a focus that allows them to explore multiple philanthropic partnerships.
Fashwire will continue to expand its global designer base and leverage growth dynamics with their customer base. “We are confident that trends will remain an important channel of expressing one’s own personality – inspiration, discovering new products and personalization are customer requirements that we will continue to focus on going forward,” she says. Fashwire’s long-term vision is to change the retail landscape. “We want to make shopping a more impactful digital experience for the customer and help brands bring the right products to the market, focusing on creating products that consumers really want rather than having to rely on discounting and financially unsustainable strategies.” This improves consumer satisfaction and also reduces waste. “We believe that the future of shopping will see brands empower their teams with compelling insights to help support their decision making from customer opinions and data,” says Kimberly. “Expanding on our success in the fashion industry, we are tapping into the beauty world with our launch of the BeautéWire mobile app in January 2021, a discovery channel connecting beauty brands directly to consumers offering a one-stop solution for curation and community.”
“ The Fashwire platform blends the accuracy and precision that only big data can offer with a human element in a singular, easy to use experience, thereby allowing designers to take on today’s volatile world of fashion. ”
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