MAGAZINE
RAINE INSPIRE CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURS [I.C.E] F A L L F A S H I O N & S T Y L E I S S U E
QUARTERLY
VOL 17
MEET FASHION RAINEMAKERS: MARIA VALENTINO, SHAWNE MERRIMAN & SAM SARPONG
THE COOL SIDE OF LUXURY
10 NEW ENTREPRENEURS TO WATCH!
FLIPPING OVER FLIPZ HEADPHONES CHARMED BY CHARLESTON PLACE
T H E
W O R L D ’ S
M O S T
F A S H I O N A B L E
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
E NT R EP R E N E U R S TO WAT C H | FASHION & STYLE
ENTR EP R ENEUR I NT ERV IEWS RESEARCHED BY CHRISTINE PEREZ
M E E T TA M A R A L E U T Y, Designer of Glass Handbags
RAINE: What inspired you to create Glass Handbag? LEUTY: My love for fashion and the need to see inside my handbag in the dark. Nobody else had any thing like it on the market that I liked or knew of. RAINE: How did you fund your startup? LEUTY: My fiancé and I have done all of the funding, little by little. RAINE: Are you actively seeking funding now? LEUTY: We are looking for the right fit – that’s important when looking for venture partners. RAINE: What is your competitive edge? LEUTY: The amazing function of the technology inside the bag. And they are really fashionable. The combination. RAINE: Who is your target demo and market size? LEUTY: Our target, upper to middle class fashionable women 18 to 55. RAINE: Who are your competitors and how do you stand out from them? LEUTY: As far as price points I would say Michael Kors, Coach. I stand out because I am the only designer involved in the process and I really try to be different. And I have the light built inside every handbag; I don’t make any kind of handbag without a light built-in. RAINE: How would you forecast your growth over the next three years? LEUTY: I believe Glass Handbag will have a 40% increase in presence in the market place. RAINE: What challenges have you faced as an entrepreneur and how 12
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have you overcome them? LEUTY: The challenges are never ending, I have a tenacity and love for it, and I just stay calm and confident. RAINE: What do you love most about working in the fashion accessory industry? LEUTY: The design process and the visuals and the fantasy of it all, super fun. RAINE: At what age did you discover your entrepreneurial spirit? LEUTY: My father was an entrepreneur so I’ve thought that way my whole life. I have been self-employed for 20 years as a fashion photographer. RAINE: Did you become an entrepreneur out of a need for innovation or out of necessity for a job? LEUTY: Definitely the need for innovation and the creative outlet. RAINE: Who would you love to see wearing one of your bags? LEUTY: That is tough, there are so many women that I admire, I am happy to see any woman wearing my handbag. I have been lucky to get really amazing product placement. Glass Handbags will be present in the new Woody Allen movie “Blue Jasmine” RAINE: What is the item people most often lose in their bags? LEUTY: I hear keys a lot, money, etc. RAINE: Any funny stories from your customers? LEUTY: Well you do feel like everyone in the movie theater can see inside your bag when you open it. You can’t have a messy handbag because you want to show it to all your friends. One customer said she get many compliments so she has to watch what she puts inside her Glass Handbag because she will show it to strangers all day. It is a conversation piece that is for sure. RAINE: What styles are you most excited about in your current or upcoming collections? LEUTY: The new collection is very lady like, lightweight with rich colors and textures. RAINE: What can others learn from your success? LEUTY: You have to love, love everything about it, and be focused and super tough along the way.
Photos credit Tamara Leuty
Tamara Leuty found an issue that affected millions, which also helped revolutionize the luxury handbag industry: digging through the clutter was becoming trouble. In 2010, she set out to integrate a safe, petite and unobtrusive low-light system into handbags. Her line, Glass Handbag, is both functional and high fashion. In the past six months, the line has appeared in multiple television presentations, and is selling in higher volumes via the website and special sales. Glass Handbag is in the process of store distribution and has had an incredible response in its innovation and in its design.
E NT R EP R E N E U R S TO WAT C H | FASHION & STYLE
SHAWN HARRIS & JOE SHARTZER CO-FOUNDERS OF NYOPOLY Take a good look at what Shawn Harris & Joe Shartzer have done as cofounders of Nyopoly, an exclusive members-only shopping experience. Every price is tailored to your budget and on your terms: you negotiate your price on upscale chic finds. This one of a kind e-commerce market launched in November 2012 and continued to expand. They will have some huge news to announce over the next several months in regards to adding other well-known brands, expanding product lines, and launching their own app. Check out how this duo is revolutionizing fashion. RAINE: What inspired you to start Nyopoly? Like style, price is personal. Shawn owned a fashion retail business prior to Nyopoly, and experienced the pain of the inefficiency of fixed prices. I was always trying different promotions and sales to fix the fact that I was trying to find a single price that would work for a large group of people. Nyopoly was born out of this frustration, allowing shoppers to pay their personal price in a unbiased and non-competitive approach was the solution. RAINE: How did you fund Nyopoly? Nyopoly has been essentially bootstrapped over the last two years.
Photos by Nyopoly
RAINE: What is your competitive edge in the online fashion industry? We allow our shoppers to negotiate their personal price on current season and on trend designer brands, getting what you love, every day, at a price you want to pay. We are sourcing current season goods, getting products you’ll find at/on the most popular department stores. This makes us super competitive with larger department stores, and differentiates us from the likes of flash sale sites who do not carry current season goods. Our personal pricing model, which is non-competitive and unbiased, is a key competitive edge from fixed-price retailers, and when coupled with our large cash-back this would require a complete business model shift for most retailers. With Nyopoly, brands can sell to the most price-conscious shoppers without publicly advertising a discounted price, as we never tell a shopper what to pay, so we don’t show a price with a slash through it then a new price. We only present the list price, then allow the shopper to determine their personal price. This approach protects brand equity for brands and designers. We filed a patent on the Nyopoly technology and approach. RAINE: Who is your target demo and market size? She has designer name aspirations, and will buy at the right price, including out of season and last years luxury, but frequently buys current season from smaller brands. She is technology savvy, and has grown up in a world of eBay, Amazon, and Facebook. (25 - 34). She has grown to rely on technology to get her shopping done. (35 - 55). She’s college educated and has an average household income of $70K. She loves the treasure hunt and discovery. She is used to finding new ways to shop, and enjoys learning more about those ways. RAINE: Who are your competitors and how do you stand out from them? While Nyopoly is unique in purchase process, we know that shoppers have
choices. We see our competitors for current season and on trend goods being both Nordstrom, and shopping experiences like Gilt. Offering current season and on trend fashion at her personal price and our large cash-back, we are positioning well to show her we are the best way to shop. RAINE: How would you forecast your growth over the next three years? We are heads-down focused on executing and listening to our shoppers to make Nyopoly better every day. We see Nyopoly being a major ecommerce player in three years, with a target of $20mm in revenue, and 200,000+ active shoppers.. RAINE: What challenges have you faced as entrepreneurs and how have you overcome them? Executing as a bootstrapped startup is a great challenge. I have been able to bring on a very talented and committed team, and our collective skills and relentless resourcefulness, overcomes most financially constraints. RAINE: What is it like working as a team as opposed to being a solo entrepreneur? Our team is the single reason we’ve been able to bring Nyopoly this far. We’re still a small team, so we have the advantages of mobility, flexibility and hustle that a solo entrepreneur has, with the bonus of different skill sets and ideas when problem solving. RAINE: Did you build Nyopoly out of a need for innovation or out of necessity for a job? Nyopoly was built from a person frustration with the inefficiency of flat, traditional pricing and markdown models. Shawn owned a luxury apparel business, as the economy started to take a dive it became increasingly difficult to determine what the best price was to excite shoppers, but not go out of business. Though unsuccessful in the latter [which is part of being an entrepreneur], the innovation of allowing shoppers to get their personal price in a non-competitive and unbiased way was built from that experience. RAINE: What consumer insights have you gained from Nyopoly’s paywhat-you-want model? The main insight that we have gained is that she does not need huge discounts to buy. When presented with fair options, she makes fair choices. The ideal of the win-win lives, and we are seeing it every day on Nyopoly. RAINE: What designers have been the most exciting to feature on Nyopoly? We’ve been able to work with fabulous designers like Melie Bianco, Luis Steven, Big Buddha, Gucci, and more. We are constantly in talks with brands, adding great new brands every month. Honestly, brands get it. Because we only show the brand supplied list price, and the negotiation happens discreetly between the shopper and Nyopoly, our platform protects brand equity, while being able to sell to the most price conscious consumers.
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Gold and White Beaded Jacket-Vintage; Flower Silk Peplum- Worthington; Blue Skinny Belt-Vintage; Black & White Printed Crops-Worthington; Gold Clutch-Vintage
Photographer: Whalen Bryce; Wardrobe Stylist: Donald Hicks; Makeup Artist: Victor Noble using M.A.C. Cosmetics; Hair Stylist: Dalessa Weary; Photo Assistant: Maria Maltseva; Stylist Assistant: Apneet Kaurgrewal; Models: Viviane Orth @ IMG, Aysche Tiefenbr @ DNA, Jessica Russ @ Elite, Nana Kieta & Jing Ma @ Muse; Studio Location: M.A.C. Pro Studios NY
FAS H I O N TO LIV E F O R
SUN
U P TO SUN D OW N
Sweater- jumpsuit Katie Ermilio, Earrings- Isaac Mizrahi
BU SI N E S S | T IP S
NEVER USE THESE 10 WORDS TO DESCRIBE YOURSELF BY CHRISTINE PEREZ
How often have you been advised to perfect your elevator pitch? Summing up all your achievements and goals into a 30 second rehearsed speech may seem like a good idea, but is it really genuine? When it comes to resumes, we’re encouraged to use action-packed buzzwords. Even our Twitter bios hail us as gurus and mavens. The thing is, people don’t normally introduce themselves as “highly innovative serial entrepreneurs” when meeting someone new. When asked what you do, your answer is typically simple and straightforward with embellishments provided upon request. Enough is enough. It’s time to throw out the buzzwords and stop trying so hard. INNOVATIVE Few people or products are truly innovative. Show how you are innovative by describing your achievements. SELF-STARTER Congratulations, you’re successfully able to motivate yourself. Independence is no longer a standout trait in the information age. Detail successful projects you initiated instead. AUTHORITY Anyone can claim to be an authority on anything. Don’t just say it, prove it. Were you the keynote speaker at a conference or perhaps a sought-after commentator for fashion week? As Margaret Thatcher says, “Power is like being a lady; if you have to say you are, you aren't." TEAM PLAYER This is one of the ultimate clichés. Working well with others is pretty much a requirement in work and in life. CREATIVE Everyone is creative from the time they pick up their first crayon. We all have unique perspectives and ideas – the difference is how results driven your ideas are. Not to mention how uncreative it is to use this incredibly common adjective. OPTIMIZER This new addition to overused career buzzwords is quickly gaining popularity, and therefore will not help you standout from the crowd. MOTIVATED It’s one thing to say you’re motivated. It’s another, more appealing thing to say what motivates you and why. SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR There are very few successful serial entrepreneurs. Unless you have several multimillion-dollar ventures, stay away from this one. EFFECTIVE Yet another term that needs to be proven and not just stated. Facts and figures are your friends! GURU/MAVEN/NINJA/ROCKSTAR Unless you have a black belt in social media, stay far away from these. If you come across as bragging, potential customers and clients can be turned off. The bottom line: sometimes it’s best to let your work speak for itself.
CU LT U R E | F OO D
THE “SKINNY” ON GOURMET FOOD RESEARCHED BY NOAH PERLIS
Brenda Laredo is an entrepreneur, mother, and wife who has always been passionate about health, good food, traveling and design. She has a natural sense for problem solving which lead her to fill a need in the weight loss food market. Skinny Gourmet Creations was a venture formed in 2011 by Brenda and her two partners, Mike and Chloe to develop manufacture, market and distribute new weight loss products based on her and her family’s personal food intolerances and needs. With over ten years of experience in the weight loss industry, Brenda had a unique perspective and vision when it came to bringing healthy food to the weight conscious consumer. Entrepreneurial spirit
helped her recognize that there was an industry gap for those needing Vegan/Vegetarian, Kosher, Halal, Dairy, Nut and Gluten-Free products, and she worked relentlessly to fill it. Her attention to detail lead her to oversee every step of the production process for all of the Skinny Gourmet Creations products. Creating the SKINNY line of products was never about making money, but about realizing the inherent value and promise of developing incredible, good tasting and healthy products that she would feel good serving to her family. Now, Brenda and her partners are on a mission to make the SKINNY food line more easily available to anyone and everyone. Brenda needed to take a lot of risks and overcome a lot of obstacles with the development of her SKINNY weight loss product line with no guarantee for a positive reaction to her products from the health conscious consumer. However, being a risk taker, Brenda leapt at the opportunity to live her dream! The packaging concept makes Skinny Gourmet Creations a pioneer in the food industry. Instead of choosing to have
food images prominently displayed on the packaging, Brenda took a more high tech approach and used QR codes to lead the consumer to the Skinny Gourmet Creations website. This will allow the consumer to see images of the food. Taking risks and making innovative business choices comes easily to this Montreal native with Moroccan roots. Brenda believes that one of the best rewards about being an entrepreneur is being responsible for your own decisions, whether they are good or bad. In the end she has learned that when it comes to creativity and design, it’s best to just trust your instincts or else you are just wasting your time. Brenda’s new high tech packaging concept has been met with glowing reviews at trade shows and in the media, while having distributors clamoring to put Skinny Gourmet Creations products on store shelves. Products currently available are low calorie Skinny Veggie Burgers, three delicious flavors of energy bars, as well as a low calorie SKINNY dessert line. Meanwhile, a low calorie wine as well as shelf-stable, Mediterranean inspired meals are in the works. Skinny Gourmet Creations products are great for those who are Vegetarian/ Vegan or require a Kosher/Halal, dairy, gluten and nut free diet. Throughout this business venture, Brenda’s family has been her greatest support and inspiration. Her parents’ Moroccan background lead Brenda to recognize and appreciate the growing trend for Mediterranean inspired foods. This is most evident in her developing shelf stable line; which has dishes such as Moroccan Meatballs and Mediterranean Rotini. Hers and her husband’s struggles with a low tolerance for gluten inspired the creation of many healthy gluten free options for her SKINNY weight loss line as well. Brenda wakes up every morning with the passion and the inspiration to educate as many people as possible about how they can eat healthy delicious food, while losing weight at the same time. She understands that the goal of every brand is to create consumer commitment to the company’s vision. She feels confident that the brand’s mission is already established but realizes that it’s a continual process of making Skinny Gourmet Creations a household name that defines our current direction. Brenda knows that she still has some difficult challenges to come but as long as she continues to think outside of the box and work along side other amazing people she will continue to add products to her SKINNY weight loss product line while making people healthier and happier at the same time.
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exclusively from the region’s Nebbiolo grapes, a classic Barolo is a rich, highly structured wine that is also a bit difficult to appreciate at first. The Nebbiolo grape is sweet, tannic and rich. One has to wait at least three or four hours after opening a bottle so that the tannins recede and the richness fully appears. We had the privilege of visiting five wineries, set up by the Strada del Barolo, each of whom makes fantastic wines. This gave us a way of contrasting the larger producers (Ceretto www. ceretto.com/ Salvano www.salvano.com) with the smaller ones (Borgogno Francesco www.cantinaborgogno.com/ Le Strette www. lestrette.com/ Anselma Giacomo www.anselmaitalia. com/ Castello di Verduno www.castellodiverduno.com/ Dosio www.dosiovigneti. com). Our impressions were that the smaller houses produce more personal and subtle wines. The larger ones produce sturdy and still magnificent wines. We were very aware that the smaller winemakers consider themselves to be simple farmers. Many also raise olives, hazelnuts and other crops and make olive oils and foods, oils and drinks using hazelnuts and fruits. After wine the most sought-after product of this region is the white truffle. Claudio Borgogno, the winemaker at Borgogno Francesco, is also a truffle hunter along with his two white dogs. We were lucky to taste his wonderful wine the morning after he and his dogs brought back a haul of white truffles from the nearby woods. And what an amazing aroma they had!! Since we were in Piedmont during mushroom season many of the restaurants we visited offered an amazing display of a mushroom varieties supplied by local mushroom hunters. We ate in four outstanding restaurants in the region: CERETTO TASTING ROOM
La Cantinetta in Barolo (Via Roma, 33, Barolo, Italy – www.bit.ly/ y5Belv) has been serving the same formula since 1995. A series of antipasti followed by their signature pasta, raviolone wrapped around an egg yolk and topped with a few truffle flakes. Meat dishes such as beef and rabbit in a Barolo sauce follow the pasta. Everything is fresh and tasty. As for the wines (from the website Barolo di Barolo www.bit.ly/y5Belv), it’s obvious as soon as one enters that La Cantinetta is a temple to Bacchus& Co., with shelves filled with a magnificent array of large bottles of Barolo, Barbera and Dolcetto d’Alba. Osteria La Libera (Via Elvio Pertinace, 24/A, Alba, Italy www. lalibera.com) is a modern, stylish restaurant in the center of Alba, the “White Truffle Capital of the World!” Owned by the charming Flavia Boffa, a prize-winning sommelier who is also the first woman to be appointed as a truffle judge in the annual White Truffle Competition in Alba, the restaurant has become a centerpiece for anybody visiting Alba, especially in Truffle season! Chef Massimo Corso (whose waitress wife is the only English speaker in the place) is passionate about his menu of traditional and delicious Piemonte dishes in a sleek, modern style that complements the restaurant’s décor. Don’t miss the Carne cruda battuta al coltello (veal tatare –a local staple of the freshest veal meat served raw), the handmade raviolis, and the pigeon and white truffles if you want to treat yourself. Italian families are renowned for clannishly sticking together and conquering their worlds. In 1998 the three brothers, Alessandro, Massimo and Tiziano Della Ferrera, fulfilled their (and their mothers) dream of working together in a restaurant close to their birthplace. After restaurant careers overseas, they returned to their home in Barolo wine country to open Trattorria La Coccinella
SALVANO WINES
RISOTTO ANND FOI GRAS CHOCOLATE (Via Provinciale 5, Serravalle Langhe, Italy www.trattoriacoccinella. com). They wanted to devote themselves to their passions, the wines and dishes of their native Langhe region. The three brothers are a remarkable team. Alessandro and Tiziano work the front of the house, warmly welcoming guests and taking orders. Massimo is the genius of the family. He has mastered and then added his unique innovations to traditional recipes from the Langhe area. Every season there is a new menu created around the best local products. During the mushroom season, of course, most dishes have some kind of mushroom component. But what mushrooms! Massimo is in love with his mushrooms. At lunch he served us (among other things) Giardiniera with Chicken and Black Truffles, Carne Cru with Ovuli Mushrooms, Mille-Feuille with porcini mushrooms, Onions stuffed with Capocollo, Butter Pumpkin Ravioli and many more surprises. La Ciau del Tornavento (Piazza Baracco, Treiso, Italy – www.laciaudeltornavento.it) is one of the culinary wonders of the world. Located in Treiso, a mountaintop village in the midst of Barolo Nebbiolo vineyards, the dining room offers spectacular views of the scenery from every table in addition to a large terrace. The chef, Maurillo Garola participates in all parts of service, from cooking (rare in many Michelin star restaurants such as this!) to
greeting each guest and even serving the dishes and the cheeses. There is an ongoing dialogue throughout the meal with him and the waiters about the preparation and ingredients on each dish. One sees the love and passione that goes into creating dishes based on local traditional Piemonte recipes but amplified by a vivid imagination and elegant presentation. The dining room was dominated by a spectacular display of the local mushrooms. Among other delicious items, our mushroom dishes included porcini mushroom soup with the blanc de blanc wine and sweetbreads with marsala wine porcini mushrooms and peaches. Other dishes included Risotto and fois gras chocolate and cow cheeks braised in Barolo wine cooked for 5 hours with vegetables and grilled semolina and sugar. Since it was the start of the famous white truffle season, the chef was offering a special truffle dish served in a wooden box (to preserve the aromas). And the wine cellar! More than 60,000 bottles from more than 450 producers are displayed in racks on tables and even in “wine arches” on the ceiling. The selection includes the best Barolos and other Piemonte wines, as well as some of the top French labels. Our time in Piedmont confirmed beyond any doubt that this is truly a region of wonderful wine, delicious food and spectacular surroundings, indeed, filled with passione.