IFRC Magazine 2019/2020

ISSUE NO 1

IFRC 2019MAG 2020

CONT ENTS 03

MEET THE EXECS

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A big step towards sustainable fashion.Â

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Meet the members of the 20192020 IFRC Executive Team.

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IFRC EVENTS

SHIFTING AWAY FROM FUR

FASHION TRENDS 2019 had some iconic trends.

Look to see some of our favourites.

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Recap of IFRC's previous events from the 2019/2020 year!

WARBY PARKER Warby Parker has successfully disrupted the eyewear industry, despite the monopolistic environment they compete under. Learn about their journey to success.

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RECRUITING ADVICE

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Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success.

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THE FALL OF POSEN The fashion world was shocked as Zac Posen, famed high-end designer and evening gown creator, announced he was closing his doors forever.

CITIZEN WOLF A look into the philosophy that everyone should wear quality clothes made just for them, and the Australian brand closing the loop on clothing waste for good.

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IVEY STUDENT LOOKBOOK A snapshot into the diverse styles of Ivey students in 2019 and 2020.

MEET THE EXECS Vasia & Brian

Co-Presidents

Emily & Matt VP Social Media & Communications

Nathalie,Alessia & Mikalya

Conference Directors & VP Speaker + Sponsor Conference Chair

Megan VP of Events

IFRC EVENTS Dress for Success

Dress for Success, IFRC's first event of the year, brought together Ivey students from a variety of industries to discuss fashion and personal branding in the workplace.

This year, IFRC had the privilege of hosting Anirudha Nandi (Microsoft), Aaser Sadek (Barclays), Melissa Wong (TJX), Peter Sigalos (McKinsey & Co) and Tyler Weatherill (Deloitte).

Our favourite pieces of advice included: Know your story and match it to how you present yourself and your personal brand.

At every chance you get, be your authentic self. This will help you make meaningful connections, regardless of whether they could benefit you professionally.

Stop scaring yourself with your peers' timelines. Especially in retail, internships and opportunities come later in the school year.

IFRC EVENTS Microsoft firm visit

RECRUITING ADVICE Douglas Chiu, Operations Intern at Adidas

I encourage you to be different and stand out even if it means coming outside if your comfort zone. Show that you can take risk and handle whatever’s going to be thrown at you.

That’s what makes good candidates different from great candidates.

Don’t be afraid to reach out to people in different roles or departments to chat. I emphasize different departments because it is important to be openminded as there are usually a limited amount of roles in the industry. Exposure is the most important thing and trying something new might lead you to endless opportunities that you might not have imagined. Everyone is very friendly and are happy to help with the competitive recruiting process.

Collaboration is key and you will need to have great interpersonal skills as well as people skills. The past summer I collaborated with 3 different departments and learned a great amount from each of them It’s all about building strong connections that can help progrss you into the next stage of your career.

WITH HBA2'S

Do your own digging on companies (and internships) as well as try to talk to as many people as possible who work in the industry. Only a handful of retail companies recruit directly at Ivey, so go on LinkedIn and chat with someone at a company you are interested in and see where that goes. Take initiative, Ivey has taught you already to take steps out of your comfort zone.

Stay true to your unique style and use that to craft a story for yourself. Don't be afraid to show your genuine passion for clothes, cars, makeup, whatever it might be, and let that shine through during your interview and even on the job!

If you know what you want don't be afraid to go after it.

Just because those around you may have already accepted jobs in accounting, consulting or finance does not mean you have to rush to accept any job you can find. A lot of retail jobs recruit in February or later so be patient and don't let up.

Melissa Wong, Allocation Analyst at TJX

The consumer is the beating heart of retail. It’s easy to get caught up in pricing strategies, market share and shelf space. You have to keep up with your consumer, their changing habits, needs and behaviours.

The retail apocalypse is real! Every day, e-commerce claims another victim. It’s important, if going into brick-andmortar retail, to not only accept technology, but also to embrace it.

Retail is a lot of moving parts. It’s important to check in with all other functions in your organization to make sure everyone is aligned to a common vision.

Karishma Porwal, Assistant Brand Manager at Johnson & Johnson

THE FALL OF POSEN On November 1, 2019, the fashion world was shocked when beloved designer Zac Posen announced his namesake label was closing for good.

Posen launched his fashion label in 2001, when he was only 20 years old. The brand's success skyrocketed during the early to late 2000s after becoming wellknown for its fairy-tale event gowns. Notably, celebrities such as Oprah, Michelle Obama, Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce have all worn Zac Posen gowns in the past.

While the dresses are described as fairy-tale-esque, what was happening behind the scenes was far from it. The brand's majority owner Yucaipa Companies, an American private equity firm founded by Ron Burke in 1986, Sources: New York Times, Bazaar, Vogue,

had been actively trying to sell their stake of the label since April 2019. Although Posen claims that he and his business partners had fought hard to find a buyer, their efforts did not result in success.

While Posen's label enjoyed huge success in the 2000s due to their wide reach through department stores as well as their successful marketing through magazines and celebrity red carpet appearances, many point to their inability to remain relevant in the age of social media and influencers as the cause of their demise. Posen serves as a reminder to all fashion brands the importance of adapting quickly in a fastmoving industry.

Article by Laura Chu

"The management team... worked extremely hard to navigate the increasingly challenging fashion and retail landscape. We are disappointed that these efforts have not been successful."

- ZAC POSEN

- ZAC POSEN

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TAKING SARTORIAL RISKS AND NOT FOLLOWING OTHER PEOPLE IS WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT.

Shifting away from fur A big step towards sustainable fashion

In October of 2019, California became the first state to officially pass legislation to ban the selling and manufacturing of new fur products beginning in January of 2023. The shift from fur to fauxfur has been trending in recent years because of a change in consumer preferences. According to a Google survey of consumer preferences in 2016, 66% of millennials do not support wearing fur. In the luxury designer world, Stella McCartney led the way in fur-free and beyond. Not only are her designs fur-free, but they are entirely cruelty-free using vegan leather.

Many major brands such as Gucci, Coach, Chanel, Prada, Michael Kors and Burberry made the shift away from fur on their own in recent years as well. Their stakes, though, were never particularly high since fur products were not their revenue drivers. Going forward, brands may no longer have the luxury of this decision.

With growing recognition of the importance of sustainability and

the introduction of laws, such as the fur ban in California, retailers soon may have little choice but to walk away from fur.

The global reaction of the recent fur ban was mixed, as you could imagine. Activists and organizations like PETA were thrilled, hoping that this big step will motivate other jurisdictions to take action. On the other hand, many brands believed the ban would be detrimental to the U.S. retail industry, which produces about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars of sales, because of the potential elimination many jobs this could cause.

Although California is the first North American region to make the ban, it is clear that the furfree movement is growing. For example, London Fashion Week announced last year that going forward, brands must forgo fur to participate. Even Queen Elizabeth vouches to only purchase faux fur going forward.

Article by Sera Westlake.

Furthermore, brands who gained popularity through their signature fur products, like Canada Goose and its classic fur-hood parkas, are recognizing the shift away from fur by allowing users to search their sites for furfree items. The shift away from fur is a growing movement. Although there is a long way to go, it is clear that big brands are beginning to recognize that fur-free is the future of fashion and retail.

"Fur is something touchy and emotional. It is a situation everyone is attached to because it is visible."

- Marco Bizzarri, Gucci CEO Sources: Teen Vogue, Morning Brew, Market Watch, Footwear News

TRENDS OF 2019 2019 had some iconic trends including narrow sunglasses, neon, oversized blazers, animal print, graphic tees and more.

What style was your favourite?

RISK AND REWARD: WARBY PARKER Neil Blumenthal, Andrew Hunt, David Gilboa and Jeffrey Raider, four business students at Wharton University, had a problem. It was 2010 and they dreamed of launching their own eyewear company, however the price for glasses was exorbitant.

At the time, the eyewear industry was dominated by Luxottica, a massive conglomerate that controls roughly 80% of the major brands in the global eyeglasses industry. The Italian eyewear company was founded in 1961 and has amassed an impressive line of designers, manufacturers and retailers including LensCrafters, Sunglass Hut and Pearle Vision. They are also known for their ownership of brands such as Ray-Ban and Chanel. Cut to 2019, where Warby Parker now operates over 90 physical stores across North America and is valued at $1.7 billion USD. So how did they succeed? Their success lies in its vertically integrated business model that cuts out the middleman to slash prices while still offering stylish, quality-made eyewear and sunglasses. Warby Parker designs all of their glasses in-house and sells them directly to customers. While originally beginning online, the company has expanded its brickand-mortar presence following the “around the block” lines at its initial launch. They also align themselves to a unique value proposition: their “Buy a Pair, Give a Pair” system that gives someone in need a pair of glasses for free for every pair bought instore or online. This philanthropic business model appeals to an increasing demand from consumers for companies to run with a purpose (that is not just bottom-line profit).

Article by Laura Chu.

CITIZEN WOLF HOWLS

Citizen Wolf is an Australian clothing brand that produces custom-fit basics for environmentally conscious consumers. Just to emphasize: made-toorder clothes means zero unsold inventory going to waste. From their use of technological innovation that minimizes fabric waste to their local and ethical supply chain, Citizen Wolf shows utmost consideration in every aspect of their business.

Their fashion philosophy is that everyone should wear quality clothes that are made just for them, resulting in a lesser need to replace and ultimately less clothing waste in the planet.

INNOVATION Their proprietary automated tailoring system, Magic Fit, takes in 196 million data points sourced from anthropometric data to calculate a customer’s perfect measurements using a statistical model. They continuously do manual fittings with people of different heights, weights, and body shapes to build up their datasets which are used to backfill any gaps in the statistical model. Lastly, they utilize Natural Language Processing (NLP) AI to understand any notes the customer has regarding their genetic, diet, or exercise routine information that could be factored into the algorithm. Not surprisingly, they are able to achieve a 95% accuracy rate and was awarded The Good Design Awards, Australia’s most prestigious awards for innovation, for both their proprietary algorithm and their use of data to eliminate textile waste.

PLANET FRIENDLY All of their clothes are made from naturally biodegradable fibres such as organic cotton, pure merino wool and hemp. Most fabrics used my mass manufacturers are non-biodegradable, such as polyester and other blends. Even more, any excess fabric gets used to make their Zero Waste Tote bag.

ETHICAL Their supply chain is purposefully short reducing their carbon footprint from cutting out unnecessary transportation. All of their shirts are knitted and sewn in Australia. Not only that, their factories are Ethical Clothing Australia (ECA) certified, meaning their staff are paid award wages or better. They also have voluntarily opted-in to the Modern Slavery Act to work towards eliminating exploitation throughout all tiers of our supply chain (ie down to the farm level).

Article by Diana Qian.

HBA LOOKBOOK A snapshot into the styles of Ivey students!

Raghav Midha Favourite store: Uniqlo Style in 3 words: Classy, simple, sporty

Kayleigh Gray (left) Favourite store: SSENSE Style in 3 words: Colourful, sophisticated, sleek Meghan Gray (right) Favourite store: Zara Style in 3 words: Baggy, vintage, streetwear

Sherry Liu Favourite store: Aritzia Style in 3 words: Preppy, athletic casual, fun

Michelina Aguanno Favourite store: Roots Style in 3 words: Cozy, rustic, versatile

Thomas Veneruz Favourite store: Nike Style in 3 words: Casual, comfortable, functionable

Nick Chen Favourite store: Roots Style in 3 words: Scatterbrained, creative, nice

Rachel Duan Favourite store: Dynamite Style in 3 words: Comfy, simple, classy

01-24-2020

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