CEOs Libby Wadle of J.Crew Group and Jonathan Saven of L'Agence talk customer centricity, collaborations, item icons and other tactics to enliven their brands and get them top-of-mind among consumers.
L’Agence and J.Crew have distinct approaches to fashion and a shared challenge — how to keep their brands animated, alive in the minds of consumers and evolving.
“Bringing the brand to life is more important than ever for us,” said Libby Wadle, chief executive officer of J.Crew Group, in conversation with James Fallon, chief content officer of WWD and Fairchild Fashion Group, at the WWD Apparel and Retail CEO Summit. “You have to be able to lean into your brand and tap into what the customer loves about you.”
Also in on the conversation was Jonathan Saven, the CEO of L’Agence, who said, “It’s essential, regardless of where you work in the company — in the warehouse, in management, in product development — to focus on customer centricity. We started off as a wholesale company, as a lot of brands do, and taking that journey into direct-to-consumer means you’re going to be more customer-facing at all points in time, and you’ll be more brand centric and under the microscope. So we created a culture internally that puts brand and customer first.”
As Wadle and Saven would suggest, bringing a brand to life doesn’t imply it’s dead. It means doing what it takes to get the customer excited about your brand, and loyal to it. Crew, with its modern spin on classic American style, are distinct from each other, stylistically and strategically, when striving to stand out.
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