Michigan Fashion Media Summit



On April 13th, I attended the Michigan Media Fashion Summit. The summit was a one-day conference focused on fashion, retail and media at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

The mission behind the MFMS was “to inspire and educate the next generation of fashion industry leader by connecting them to creative and professional opportunities across the retail world. A premier platform for students and industry professionals to collaborate and shape the future fabric of fashion.”

The summit was filled with industry-defining keynote conversations from the top names in retail, exclusive networking opportunities with the world’s largest brands, a student brand showcase from elite up-and-coming talent and an MFMS Fashion Show to cap it all off.

Morning Keynote: Gary Sheinbaum, CEO Tommy Hilfiger

To kick off the conference keynote speaker and CEO of Tommy Hilfiger, Gary Sheinbaum, talked about what it takes for a brand to be successful and how they stay on top of this at Hilfiger.
In his opinion, the most important factor for a brand is to have a clear brand image whether you’re positioned as a lifestyle brand or not. The second most important thing is to be consumer-centric. The product is king and it needs to align the consumer values. Simply adapting to change and staying relevant is how you survive as a brand.

At Tommy specifically, they do this by causing disruption through celebrity collaborations. They merge pop culture and their brand as one of the ways to stay relevant and think global by working with influencers known outside of the US. 

He ended his talk with an interesting statement as a reminder of how we each succeed in our future career. “We’re corporate athletes, we need to dream, dare and do too”


Behind the scenes: Finessing fashion’s influence

A panel discussion was moderated by editor in chief at Glossy, Jill Manoff, and panelist included Ashley Sanddal, Director of strategic partnerships at Council of Fashion Designers of America, John Mezzo, VP of HR at Michael Kors, and Meredith Paley, VP of PR at Talbots.

They discussed anything from corporate partnerships to influencer collaborations and which calls to make when looking to position their brands accordingly.
One of the key takeaways was from the discussion between rules vs authenticity when it comes to the use of influencers and how brands now are giving influencers more creative freedom to promote their brand to make it more authentic. As long as the influencer speaks to the brand and values they trust they will benefit them.
Another interesting point was how influencers now can change the stigma and perception of a brand simply by connecting it to their own brand.

Shifting the shopping experience: the millennial algorithm

The second panel discussion was moderated by Marly Graubard, international fashion/luxury director at Marie Claire and the panelists included Gerry Bonomi, president of Madden Girl, Gina Pak, VP of consumer experience of theory and Zara Terez Tisch, founder and CEO of Terez.

Across the globe, brands are trying to solve “the millennial algorithm. At this panel tackling this equation was exactly what they discussed. In the discussion, they highlighted how authenticity is crucial when capturing this audience and drive engagement. You need to find a emotion and connect with them through that emotion.
The future career advice from this group was not to worry too much because “you don’t know how to connect the dots until you’re looking back.”


Fashion’s future: where collaboration meets convenience

The last panel discussion I attended was moderated by Marcus Collins, Head of social media engagement at Doner and the panelist included Mike Hondorp, global lead for shopping at Instagram, Jennifer Bandier, Founder and CEP of Bandier and Wendy Steinberg, President of Betsey Johnson a division of Steve Madden.

The discussion was about how collaboration and convenience come together. How Bandier’s “high-end activewear” manage to evolve into an entire segment. How Instagram Shopping changed the consumer experience for the everyday scroller. And how Steve Madden and, in turn, Betsey Johnson continuously dominate women’s footwear trends.
They all agreed that convenience is not a nice to have any more, but a need to have – and that’s what dictates brand strategies today.  It’s therefore not unlikely anymore that a crazy idea can be mainstream in 6 months. Especially in relation to Instagram and how influencers promote brands on the platform and how that’s relevant to you.

The overall conclusion of the conference is that people don’t hate advertising, they hate irrelevant advertising.


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