Ridiculously Amazing Startup Fashion Tech Mentors
I love fashion tech apps and the fact that they're constantly changing and getting better. What I love most about these apps is how they give me the ability to showcase my unique style and gain inspiration from others around me. Psassy and Combatant Gentlemen are two successful companies who have managed to combine fashion and tech seamlessly.
Psassy is a fashion social network that inspires people with fashion tricks, wardrobe advice, and amateur modeling. Combatant Gent sells quality, modern fit menswear for an affordable price. I had the chance to speak with Mahmood Bagheri, founder of Psassy and Vishaal Melwani, CEO of Combatant Gentlemen about working in the fashion world and the people who have influenced them.
Who in the fashion tech world influenced you to start your company?
Psassy: Probably Chris Morton, CEO and cofounder of Lyst, and Imran Amed, founder of The Business of Fashion are the top two individuals I have been influenced by. Chris's vision in building a technology platform for personalized and couture online shopping experience and Imran's profound analyses of how tech and fashion are transforming each other have certainly played key influences to start and develop the idea behind Psassy.
Combatant Gent: Neil Blumenthal, Brian Spaly, Tom Ryan. They had the ability to take something that was such a high-point-of-touch business and relay that through great UI/UX and convert metrics that offline retail only dreamed about.
What parts of the company are represented with these people?
Psassy: In a sense Psassy is an evolved version of Chris Morton's Lyst, an e-commerce site that is constantly updated in a social networking scheme where "your friends are your fellow shoppers and the designers you love" as he puts it. Amed's analyses of trends in the fashion sector and tips on where the future of the luxury is headed have certainly guided us in why marrying fashion with social media is a great idea and how digital tools like Psassy will enhance the physical retail experience of consumers.
Combatant Gent: With Neil you have the simplicity of design and execution. With Brian - merchandising amazingly through the online world. Tom - pushing the limits to test out new ways the user can purchase.
If anything, what would you say is the biggest challenge to breaking into the industry.
Psassy: Convincing the fashion industry that the idea of serving customers in separate retail channels is an outdated one and how brands and consumers can benefit from real-time conversational nature of social media on one platform.
Combatant Gent: Having the ability to remind yourself that brand trumps scale every time.
It's clear that success did not come easily to these two startups. With such amazing influencers Combatant Gent and Psassy were able to rise to the top and make their mark in the fashion world.