Fashion Tech Forum: In The Studio

From an early career in retail and advertising to leading one of the most beloved, aspirational fashion and luxury ecommerce platforms in the world, Alison Loehnis has always led with a unique blend of artistic sensibility and strategic thinking. Currently President of Net-a-Porter, Mr Porter and The Outnet, Alison has an approach that is both innovative and pragmatic: she has an unrelenting curiosity, strong gut instincts and an obsession with the customer, which she pairs with a great appreciation for the data. She doesn’t believe in merely reacting to market trends, but in setting the new standards for customer experience in luxury, digital retail. Over the now 16 years that she’s been with Net-a-Porter, Alison has navigated through the complexities of many changes in the business structure and organization, taking on more responsibility as she grew as a leader, and has served as an anchor for the business while various external changes took place. Her success and accomplishments include harnessing her clear vision for the business and providing a culture and place to work that continues to inspire her teams, and consumers, around the world. Perhaps at the heart of what Alison does so exquisitely, the red thread of her career, is to tell stories – to take customers on a journey to discover that perfect product that creates so much excitement in its acquisition. This is Net-a-Porter’s superpower, and why Alison has been so key over the long term: both company and leader still share the love of buying and selling to serve those who are highly engaged in this industry, and who deeply value Net-a-Porter’s commitment to making fashion accessible around the world.

Roseann Lynch not only has a vast and important role as Chief People Officer and Head of the Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation at Ralph Lauren, but she has her own personal set of values that guide her across all aspects of her own life – a fundamental value system of guiding principles and practices that shape the remarkable person that she is. Few leaders have the mindfulness, discipline, humility and generosity of spirit that Roseann has, and this comes across in all she does, and in the way that she has been able to reinvent the role of Chief People Officer at Ralph Lauren, by doing what she would say is the most important thing for any leader: showing up, talking to and listening to those she is responsible for leading and supporting. In this conversation, we go deep into Roseann’s upbringing in Brooklyn, where her hardworking, first generation Italian immigrant parents, inspired the personal values that guide her today. We talk about how she works to define purpose, how she maintains a dharma practice as a yoga teacher, and how she keeps a rigorous plan that includes intellectual, spiritual, emotional and physical practices and goals. We also dive into her current role at Ralph Lauren, and the way that the company thinks about protecting not just 23,000 Ralph Lauren employees, but their families, partners and beyond. We discuss the nature of the role of Chief People Officer, and the evolution from Human Resources to the current, true scope and responsibilities of this role today. We close on the importance of her dharma practice, and our shared passion for connecting with people, empathizing, protecting and giving back – and that doing the work on one’s self, not just talking about it, is essential to any leader’s success in cultivating a company culture that truly is about the people it serves. I hope you enjoy this episode, and thanks again as always for joining me In the Studio.

Known for her namesake brand of handbags, footwear, apparel and uplifting Superwoman initiatives, Rebecca Minkoff has fearlessly marched forward through many challenges and obstacles to achieve every dream she’s had for her own life: building her eponymous fashion enterprise, creating a beautiful family, and ultimately establishing a platform to support other women on their own journey towards ambitious, full and inspiring lives. In founding the Female Founder Collective, Rebecca has created a community to support female founders who, like her, didn’t have connections or resources to help grow their businesses. For Rebecca, this network is all about supporting systemic change in how business is done, to foster a more inclusive, flexible and equitable environment for women everywhere, for generations to come. In this conversation with host Karen Harvey, Rebecca shares some of the challenges she faced in building her brand and business, which she grew over nearly two decades. They also talk about how grateful she is for her own mentors and collaborators, and the positive impact these have had on her journey as a fashion designer and entrepreneur. Rebecca encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to embrace collaboration and support other women in the industry, recognizing that it’s only together, that great things can happen. Perhaps more than anything in this conversation, Rebecca’s indomitable spirit shines through – her perseverance, commitment to a long-term vision, resilience and fearlessness are truly inspiring. One cannot help but be in awe of all that she has accomplished – and wonder what she’s going to take on next.

Truly one of the more inspiring leaders that we’ve had the pleasure of working with, Nabil Aliffi is an extraordinary creative and brand builder, who is bringing his deeply empathetic and finely tuned sensibilities to his new role as Chief Brand Officer for Neiman Marcus. Originally from Singapore, Nabil is someone who uniquely understands how to bring creativity to the center of a brand, to both tell stories in a truly elevated way, and to build creative strategies that drive businesses forward. Nabil brings a hybrid approach in that he is both analytical and creative - he understands not only how to create stunning visuals and experiences, but how to build community and foster a sense of engagement and loyalty within a customer base. He has been doing this, after all, his entire career - beginning even before he graduated University. With his warm and delightful presence, Nabil is at once humble, and yet steadfastly confident in knowing who and what he is, and what he is not. His clarity on this, and his innate ambition and desire to create, have been key to his success. He brings himself wholeheartedly to every conversation, and Nabil’s innate sense of self is something that leaders from all disciplines and backgrounds could benefit from studying. We hope you enjoy this episode, and thank you as always for joining us in the studio.

Anna Bakst is one of our industry’s most successful and inspiring leaders, a truly brilliant force responsible for growing some of fashion and retail’s most iconic global brands. An engineer by training, Anna’s passion for solving problems has been fueled by her innate understanding of innovation, creativity and leadership. From creating and building product lines that have scaled globally, to bringing biotech into the worlds of fashion and beauty, and now building a brand from scratch in a highly sustainable platform, Anna’s unique skillsets have well served the companies she has joined and run, throughout her prolific career. From her early days as Director of Licensing at Donna Karan, to building accessories and footwear for Michael Kors, to becoming the CEO of Kate Spade, Anna’s work has made a huge contribution to helping iconic accessories brands achieve a tremendous success on a global scale - and in the case of Michael Kors - resulting in Wall Street’s biggest public offering in fashion. As someone who is deeply driven by curiosity and an intense passion for learning and doing, Anna has ultimately come back to her roots as a leader, creator, and engineer. In 2021, after being on the board of Modern Meadow for a number of years, Anna was approached by the board to step in and become their CEO. This actually came at a tough time, because Anna had fully formed her vision for her own sustainable approach to fashion, which has now become WE-AR4. But the opportunity to lead this biotech company to the next step and lead the team to proof of concept with commercial applications, was one that she ultimately embraced, and made a significant impact. Today, she is the Executive Chair of Modern Meadow, while simultaneously partnering with one of the best manufacturing groups in the industry, to create her own highly sustainable luxury brand, WEAR-4. In this episode, we discuss not only Anna’s exceptional career journey and the innovative work she’s doing today, but critical lessons she’s learned along the way, her core tenets on leadership and how she has been able to both build and lead large teams, and operate through complexity, rapid growth and the numerous obstacles to innovation throughout her career. Anna is someone who has always had confidence in science, innovation, creativity and the people she works with. She knows what it takes to win, and she has always brought a level of empathy and understanding to her teams, as she knows the hard work and dedication it takes to achieve big things. I am so pleased to share her journey with you, and I hope she inspires you to think about your vision for your own future, and how we all can embrace science and innovation toward a more sustainable future. As always, we hope you enjoy this episode, thank you for joining us In the Studio.