WEBVTT - Brad Gartman on Flag and Anthem (Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Now on Bloomberg Radio, we take stock of small business.

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<v Speaker 1>Small businesses want more streamlining and less red. Take small

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<v Speaker 1>business and then accept the no, but maybe kill them.

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<v Speaker 1>There's so many people that have ideas and it has

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<v Speaker 1>to be more than that. It has to be making

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<v Speaker 1>it real. Bloomberg taking stock small Business in focus on

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Radio. Listen up, all you potential male fashion easts.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, maybe you don't want to wear the same

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<v Speaker 1>uniform as everyone else, but you don't want to look

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<v Speaker 1>like you're trying so hard you push fashion. The fashion

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<v Speaker 1>envelope right off the table will enter Flag an Anthem, subtle, smart,

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<v Speaker 1>well made style for the kind of guy who values

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<v Speaker 1>hard work but also knows how to unwind and have

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<v Speaker 1>a good time. And I think, as even I've just

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<v Speaker 1>met him, that sounds very much like the co founder

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<v Speaker 1>and CEO of Flag of Anthem, Brad Gartman, who's joining

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<v Speaker 1>us now in our New York studio. Welcome, Thank you.

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<v Speaker 1>So First of all, what is Flag and Anthem? You

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<v Speaker 1>have a long career in fashion, will get to that,

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<v Speaker 1>But what exactly is Flagg and Anthem? Um? We just

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<v Speaker 1>I started this brand last last summer with my partner Zadmohi.

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<v Speaker 1>He and I've been together for several years and we

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<v Speaker 1>just saw a massive void that we believe in the marketplace. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>We believe that on a on a ball, on a

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<v Speaker 1>broad scale, there's a lot of teen retailers out there

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<v Speaker 1>in the marketplace, and then there's a lot of more

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<v Speaker 1>conventional UH brands that have been around for a long time,

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<v Speaker 1>a very a lot of very traditional brands. And we

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<v Speaker 1>feel for a twenty five thirty five year old guy

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<v Speaker 1>who's just the average guy who's entering into the workforce, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>he wants a digestible price point, he wants high quality,

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<v Speaker 1>he wants a fit that he can UH, that he

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<v Speaker 1>can understand. We just don't feel like there's been anything

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<v Speaker 1>introduced in a very long time, UM that's gonna really

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<v Speaker 1>cater to the everyday guy in this country and really

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<v Speaker 1>internationally over the long term. Brad speaks, he speak to

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<v Speaker 1>the issue of price points because I mean a fifty

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<v Speaker 1>dollar hoodie for example, or a fifty dollar shirt, things

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<v Speaker 1>like that, there must be a less a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>competition out there for that shopper. What distinct wishes the

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<v Speaker 1>quality of the product and also the delivery, the experience

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<v Speaker 1>in the brand. That's a good question because there are

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<v Speaker 1>there is a tremendous amount of competition out there. We

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<v Speaker 1>feel that there's a lot of commodity type product out

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<v Speaker 1>there that you can go get at any price point

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<v Speaker 1>in the marketplace, but we also feel that there's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of UM. When you want to go get a

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<v Speaker 1>really high quality product with a with our taste level

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<v Speaker 1>and a lot of design detail, everything has some limitation

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<v Speaker 1>to it, whether it's so what we're looking to do

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<v Speaker 1>is provide that hundred and fifty dollars shirt that you

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<v Speaker 1>would get from some premium brand with a very comparable

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<v Speaker 1>or better quality UM, but we're going to provide it

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<v Speaker 1>for fifty on a shirt forty nine, which you know

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's always limited by fit, it's limited by being overdesigned.

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<v Speaker 1>There's always some limitation from our advantage point in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of what you see in the more premium brands out there.

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<v Speaker 1>So we want something that can really get out there

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<v Speaker 1>into the marketplace and in a very broad way and

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<v Speaker 1>something that America will understand. So, um, you like Bruce

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<v Speaker 1>Springsteen from New Jersey, how did you get from New

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<v Speaker 1>Jersey see down by the Shore to Macy's and where

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<v Speaker 1>you are now again. You have a kind of a

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<v Speaker 1>long and substantial career in the fashion industry. Sure, as

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<v Speaker 1>I mentioned, my partner and I are in this together

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<v Speaker 1>where UM. You know, we're tied at the Hippie's actually

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<v Speaker 1>in in Tokyo and traveling overseas and I'll be leading

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<v Speaker 1>UH this weekend. But we started as business majors in

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<v Speaker 1>college and we had, you know, a very financial driven background,

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<v Speaker 1>but we wanted to do something more tangible, so we

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<v Speaker 1>started out in training program, got a very solid foundation

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<v Speaker 1>of buying UM. We started Lord and Taylor Believe it

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<v Speaker 1>or Not UM, which was a tremendous foundation to our

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<v Speaker 1>to our careers and buying UM. In product development, we

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<v Speaker 1>did spend most of our careers at Macy's UM, where

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<v Speaker 1>we really had just an amazing experience and got the

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<v Speaker 1>entire life cycle foundation of everything with all of the sourcing,

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<v Speaker 1>all of the overseas production, building brands that we were

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<v Speaker 1>able to build from scratch into a hundred million dollar

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<v Speaker 1>plus entities UM and really build some really things that

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<v Speaker 1>we're very proud of over time. You also have the

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<v Speaker 1>photographer and artistic director Nigel Barker, who is a participant

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<v Speaker 1>as a judge and a photographer on America's Next Top

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<v Speaker 1>Model and is the host of the reality show The Face.

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<v Speaker 1>How key is that to the success of a brand

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<v Speaker 1>spend and market spend and market well. Nigel's involvement has

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<v Speaker 1>been just a real fortune for us because we've always

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<v Speaker 1>had a UH focus on product and being able to

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<v Speaker 1>sell product. Nigel really elevates just the entire cache of

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<v Speaker 1>our brand his involvement. What he's been able to provide

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<v Speaker 1>is a multitude of things. First is just his taste

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<v Speaker 1>level and creative element in our design input, UM, he's

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<v Speaker 1>his just his photography UH abilities, and having his involvement

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<v Speaker 1>in a lot of our creative assets and our campaigns

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<v Speaker 1>as we go forward is I can't think of anybody

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<v Speaker 1>better that we would ever want to UM have as

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<v Speaker 1>our advocate. UM. A couple of other things that that

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<v Speaker 1>Nigel will be doing UH is in the marketplace, really

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<v Speaker 1>being our advocate and a brand ambassador. So he's been

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<v Speaker 1>just a real real UM. It's been very fortunate to

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<v Speaker 1>have him out in the media where you know, wearing

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<v Speaker 1>our product, having his network of advocates because they all

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<v Speaker 1>share a tremendous taste level and very UM very aligned

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<v Speaker 1>with where we want to go as a brand. So

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<v Speaker 1>final question, what's what's your what's your dream, what's your vision?

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<v Speaker 1>Where can we see flag an anthem now? And where

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<v Speaker 1>is it gonna take you? Where you gonna take the company? Sure,

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<v Speaker 1>we just have we have very broad, very big aspirations

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<v Speaker 1>for the brand. So we've been very fortunate to get

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of big retailers really out of the gate,

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<v Speaker 1>which isn't your conventional startup brand. Uh. So we've got

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<v Speaker 1>a diversified approach of retailers. We've got subscription based UM retailers,

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<v Speaker 1>we've got online retailers, we've got brick and mortar retailers

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<v Speaker 1>both specialty, and we're in like the Ron Robinson's the

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<v Speaker 1>War Cash Cash a retailers of the world UM into

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<v Speaker 1>the Stitch Fix which is more of a subscription model

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<v Speaker 1>Buckle Dillard. So we've gotten a nice broad base to

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<v Speaker 1>start out UM. But where we want to go is

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<v Speaker 1>we we have much bigger plans. We we foresee this

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<v Speaker 1>can extend into other categories, accessories, more dress, women's, other

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<v Speaker 1>categories of business. We all feel can really elevate and

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<v Speaker 1>take this brand to another level. We've got to leave

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<v Speaker 1>it there, but I want to thank you very much.

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<v Speaker 1>Brad Gartman is the co founder and the chief executive

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<v Speaker 1>of Flag and Anthem. This is Bloomberg.