WEBVTT - Fashion to Figure's Kaplan on Growing Plus-Sized Market (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Charlie Pellet. A record today for naz DAK up

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<v Speaker 1>one point four percent. I'm Charlie Pellet, and that's a

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Business Flash. You're listening to Taking Stock with Kathleen

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<v Speaker 1>pim Fox on Bloomberg Radio. Fashion fashion for women and

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<v Speaker 1>teenagers sized at twelve to twenty six. That's the focus

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<v Speaker 1>of Fashion to Figure. It focuses exclusively on women's plus

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<v Speaker 1>size clothing and related accessories, and here to tell us

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<v Speaker 1>more is the co founder and chief executive Michael Kathleen. Michael,

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<v Speaker 1>thanks for coming in, Thanks for having me here. Tell

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<v Speaker 1>us a little bit about your background and how you

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<v Speaker 1>came to create Fashion to Figure. Well, it's it's a

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<v Speaker 1>bit of a mixed combination of um wanting to continue

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<v Speaker 1>a great legacy that my family started in intern of

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<v Speaker 1>the last century when my great grandmother, owned by the

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<v Speaker 1>name of Lane Bryant, created special sized clothing and really

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<v Speaker 1>pioneered the category bringing fashion to the figure. Are our

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<v Speaker 1>company name really draws its history from a famous quote

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<v Speaker 1>of hers which was never asked a woman to conform

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<v Speaker 1>their figure to fashion. Always bring fashion to the figure.

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<v Speaker 1>And when I was at in graduate school, I saw

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<v Speaker 1>a great opportunity to kind of modernize the retail experience

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<v Speaker 1>or the shopping experience for this consumer, and so my

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<v Speaker 1>brother and I literally started the proverbial single store that

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<v Speaker 1>we ran ourselves every day for a year and a

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<v Speaker 1>half and a decade later, we now sell our our

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<v Speaker 1>very contemporary fashion product and five channels, um our own stores,

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<v Speaker 1>digital marketplaces online at Fashion to Figure dot Com, through

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<v Speaker 1>wholesale partners, and through new disruptive um subscription box companies,

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<v Speaker 1>and really what we do is provide up to the minute,

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<v Speaker 1>very fast fashion trends across a very contemporary on trend

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<v Speaker 1>lifestyle that people can really forget about being special size

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<v Speaker 1>or size related. They're really getting access to the latest

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<v Speaker 1>fashion that that really anybody would deem as contemporary. Now

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<v Speaker 1>your background, you worked at Lazard, Your brother Nicholas was

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<v Speaker 1>previously at Sacks. What was it like going from the

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<v Speaker 1>banking industry into the retail business that already Well, it's

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<v Speaker 1>very it's very different. I mean, I think working on

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<v Speaker 1>wall streets very different than main street. And I think

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<v Speaker 1>in our case, um my brother and I brought a

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<v Speaker 1>great combination of skills, his with the retail background in

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<v Speaker 1>mind with more of a finance background. I don't think

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<v Speaker 1>that either of us would be here without the combination

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<v Speaker 1>of those skills coming together. But for me, it certainly

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<v Speaker 1>was an adjustment. But it's much more rewarding work now

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<v Speaker 1>with all the people that work inside of our business

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<v Speaker 1>being really both our customers and our employees who we

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<v Speaker 1>call ft F family members, seeing how real hard working

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<v Speaker 1>people are out there in shopping malls across America and

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<v Speaker 1>shopping and consuming American products and you know, really creating

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<v Speaker 1>the economy. It's very different to be out there among

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<v Speaker 1>the people and serving them than it is behind a

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<v Speaker 1>desk in Rockefeller Center and analyzing reports. Now you mentioned customers,

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<v Speaker 1>you mentioned your employees. Tell us about your vendors, because

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<v Speaker 1>that makes you a slightly different retail company in that

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<v Speaker 1>you don't create the products yourself. You work with I

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<v Speaker 1>guess over a hundred vendors to bring those products to market.

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<v Speaker 1>We actually do create the product ourselves. Basically, we Um.

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<v Speaker 1>We bring hundreds of styles across basic dressing and casual categories,

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<v Speaker 1>so that our customers literally every time they come to

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<v Speaker 1>our website or every time they come to our store

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<v Speaker 1>can see a new dress, a new top. They can

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<v Speaker 1>always get a basic item of any need or or

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<v Speaker 1>in any for any area of their life in a

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<v Speaker 1>different color, in an updated, you know, style or contemporary trend.

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<v Speaker 1>We create all that stuff with our own designers, and

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<v Speaker 1>we have terrific um manufacturing partners all across the world.

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<v Speaker 1>They can manufacture things anywhere from four tough you know,

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen weeks for us and get a very fast flow

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<v Speaker 1>of product to the floor, so that our customers always

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<v Speaker 1>see that newness, that freshness of fashion. At fashion and

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<v Speaker 1>Figure dot com, for example, you'll see new things there

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<v Speaker 1>every single day and you'll rarely see an item more

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<v Speaker 1>than you know, sixty five dollars. Where you mentioned the

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<v Speaker 1>price point and I just want to offer detail right

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<v Speaker 1>dresses around fifty dollars, tops around thirty five dollars, in

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<v Speaker 1>jeans retailing for about forty dollars that we we think

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<v Speaker 1>that what our innovation in the market has been has

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<v Speaker 1>been to offer very up to the minute trends at

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<v Speaker 1>a quality and price point that is has a combination

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<v Speaker 1>of that fashion, quality, price point, speed of flow that

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<v Speaker 1>is not matched anywhere in the large size market. We

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<v Speaker 1>think that we're the fastest moving assortment of on trend

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<v Speaker 1>fashion at a quality and price point that our customers

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<v Speaker 1>can have so they can always feel great with us,

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<v Speaker 1>looking great and really with up to the minute items

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<v Speaker 1>across any of these channel and touch points that they

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<v Speaker 1>have with us. Now, while we started as a store business,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we're we're very much into the every aspect

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<v Speaker 1>of the new economy now, whether it be a box

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<v Speaker 1>subscription partner that we have, whether it be our own store,

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<v Speaker 1>whether it be you know, digital market places or third

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<v Speaker 1>party brand of vendors or any of that. What's your

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<v Speaker 1>estimate for how big the marketplace is for plus size fashion. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a very fast and dynamic run market today, UM

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<v Speaker 1>and I think this is one of the opportunities which

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<v Speaker 1>is why a lot of people are jumping on the

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<v Speaker 1>bandwagon or you know, dusting off the kind of UM

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<v Speaker 1>brand story of businesses and vertically expanding into the spaces.

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<v Speaker 1>Because it's about an eighteen billion dollar market for apparel

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<v Speaker 1>in today's in the US economy. Today, it's about seventy

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<v Speaker 1>million women in the United States economy, depending upon how

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<v Speaker 1>you slice the numbers that are wearing above sized fourteen,

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<v Speaker 1>so it's really one in three women in America. So

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<v Speaker 1>really to call it a specialty market is a bit

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<v Speaker 1>of a misnomer. Having said that, there's a real paucity

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<v Speaker 1>of suppliers and retailers serving that market, and that's why

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<v Speaker 1>many people are entering in the market today, whether it

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<v Speaker 1>be teen retailers, whether it be department stores, whether it

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<v Speaker 1>be online startup companies or others. So a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>people going into this market and you know, I know

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<v Speaker 1>it's a little counterintuitive for us to say, but we're

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<v Speaker 1>happy that our customers have more choices. Um, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we're really a terrific fashion option for them at a

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<v Speaker 1>compelling price and value. Now, Michael, just last point where

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<v Speaker 1>I know you're raised about four hundred thousand dollars from

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<v Speaker 1>Angel investors. I believe to your first store when we started, right,

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<v Speaker 1>We've raised significant amounts of money after that, and we're

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we operate in eight states today with our

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<v Speaker 1>own stores, a global website, third party marketplaces, subscription box partners,

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<v Speaker 1>and traditional wholesale partners. So we've come a long way

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<v Speaker 1>since that first story that we borrowed one or dollars for.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to congratulate you and thanks very much for

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<v Speaker 1>coming in and telling your story. Appreciate being here. Look

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<v Speaker 1>forward to seeing you soon. All right. Michael Kaplan is

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<v Speaker 1>the chief executive and the co founder of Fashion to Figure.

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<v Speaker 1>This is taking Stock. I'm pim Fox, my co host

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<v Speaker 1>Kathleen Hayes, Thank you for listening. Our producer Sam Lenga,

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<v Speaker 1>our engineer Reggie Basil. Coming up Bloomberg Law. This is

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