MM: You could use those resources for 10 minutes twice a year, or you could use maybe a little less of them to do little things the whole year.
SKU YOU vs. LESS IS MORE
One of the ways the sisters tried to work better and smarter was by reducing the number of SKUs they produced. This was cost-effective, more responsible, and emphasized a strong point of view editorially.
FM: [Before the pandemic], we were developing large collections, like 75 to 100 SKUs every season. We sat down, and we said, let’s cut development to 40, 35 SKUs; we’re making half the styles, but we’re really honing in and focusing on what we think we can really stand behind and [express] Marina’s point of view—and we’re only going to produce that. That made quite a positive impact on the business. You go out, and you show a collection of 90 SKUs, and you end up producing 20% of it; I think that’s very wasteful.
MM: This decision we took by basically shrinking the style count or skew count down by half was excellent because I have a certain point of view … sometimes the merchandising side just sort of creeps in. It was better because I got to really just edit and show what I stood behind as the creative and as the designer.
CHANNEL SURFING
Designers now have to be Jacks of many trades, producing not only multiple collections but a constant stream of content.
FM: We had a lot of bright moments. I think there are so many moving parts and things that you have to do all at once. Navigating that in today’s industry is so challenging. The celebrity, the sales, wholesale. Are you doing a runway show or are you not? You do your PR strategy, production development, creating content …
MM: We do two to three collections a year—two main collections, and we redo our core collection and lifestyle home collection when we feel the need. We’re not loud, we do something, maybe a little cocktail party. We try to maintain the integrity of the products through the visuals. And of course, you have to be showing [your work] on Instagram because that’s where people look. I enjoy that because that’s part of the artistry of it all, but when you’re served so much on all these channels, and there’s newness every day, especially in luxury, and how many collections a year, it feels a little bit to me gluttonous and also even tone death.
And as I said, luxury to me is discretion; that’s very hard to navigate because you’re being served something shinier, newer, better, bigger, and it’s new every other month, whereas what we’re doing is giving you something evolutionary to a product that already exists twice a year. So for me, that’s a big challenge, creatively.
WHOLESALE/RETAIL
Marina Moscone was caught up in the Saks debacle; the company declared bankruptcy and was unable to pay designers, leaving them in the lurch. There were multiple factors in their decision to hit pause, but chief among them is the broken wholesale system, which has resulted in the redistribution of responsibilities to brands at the same time that payments are delayed for six months or more. There is also the competition for attention and resources between conglomerates and independents, and an unimaginative, impersonal retail landscape.
