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Below is our recent interview with Anine Bing, the Founder of Anine Bing:
Q: Anine, can you tell us something more about Anine Bing brand?
A: From day one our brand has been based around the idea of community and focusing on giving real women what they want. When I decided to start designing it was because I genuinely just wanted to make clothes that I personally wanted to wear every day. People liked our brand from the beginning because they saw me and other ANINE BING muses out in the world wearing and feeling good in the clothes. We are as dynamic as the women who wear our brand—effortless, bold, timeless, and confident with a little edge.
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Q: Tell us about the early days of Anine Bing. What were the biggest challenges?
A: It started very simple, just with a few pairs of denim, a couple white tee-shirts and a leather jacket—so basically the pieces I thought every woman should have in her wardrobe. At this point, we were doing everything. It was a lot at first because we were doing it all ourselves – packing the boxes, taking the calls from customers, and trying to make sure everything was perfect. I am grateful for this time because it taught me the ins and outs of our company. I still am learning and that time taught me it’s important to jump in and learn as much as you can about every aspect so you can better help the people around you to make the company stronger.
Q: You’ve recently announced $15m in Series A round; could you tell us something more?
A: My mission has always been to build something that will last; this goes for the clothes we’re producing and for the team behind the brand, which continues to grow… We just hired our 51st employee and still have specialized roles in mind that we’re looking to fill. With this next step, I want to continue expanding our brand globally and learning along the way from our customers feedback and what women are looking for. Through a mixture of data and customer experience, we’re really hoping to elevate our strategy even more.
Q: What kinds of products do you offer to your customers? What makes them unique?
A: When I started the brand I wanted to create an extension of my favorite pieces that I loved to wear, like a vintage tee or my favorite pair of denim. There was a gap in the market and a space missing for everyday wear for women in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond.. Whether women were running around after their young kids, or running a business, or generally living a busy lifestyle, I wanted to give each of them the opportunity at any stage of life to feel their best getting dressed for the day, without having a fight with their wardrobe every morning. Where basics also could be elevated and make women feel strong while wearing them. All our pieces are effortless while still being cool and fashion forward and I think they fit the dynamic women who wants it all.
Recommended: Q: As a successful entrepreneur what are the biggest lessons you’ve learnt so far?
A: I’ve learned it’s ok to not know everything but to surround yourself with smart people who you can learn from, and hire specialists as soon as you can. They will learn from you, and you will learn from them.. Make sure to surround yourself with the most positive, supportive, hard-working people you can find. My job has changed a lot through growing the business. Some days I may be in the design studio where I feel the most comfortable and like myself, and some days I am sitting in a board meeting and talking numbers. There’s always opportunity to listen and grow so I try to keep my hands in everything while also remembering to learn and keep an open mind along the way.
Q: What are your plans moving forward?
A: We have a lot of exciting plans in the works for the next year. We are opening more stores across the world and most immediately a second store in LA on the west side at Rick Caruso’s new property ‘Palisades Village’, which is exciting because it’s a completely different demographic and customer in LA. We are working on doing more collaborations and growing our brand to reach the women who want to wear our clothes. I am so grateful for how far we’ve come and I can’t wait to keep working with our amazing team.
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