Cofounders of Woodley + Lowe, Rachel Thebault and Neda Talebian Funk, join ChedHER to discuss why they launched a direct-to-consumer clothing brand for teens and tweens, and what retailers and brands can learn from Gen Z.

chedHER

How Woodley + Lowe is Reaching Socially-Conscious Gen Z Shoppers

joining us now are co founders of Woodley and low Rachel tabo and need a tail bean funk, you're gonna start with, you, can you just break down the story behind your direct to consumer clothing brand and what you guys saw was missing from the market when you decided to create it. Sure, um you know the teen market for apparel has evolved significantly over the years. I started my career as a teen analyst many years ago when um Abercrombie, american eagle, Aeropostal really were the reigning teen retailers and the mall was king. Uh since then, you know, the landscape has changed significantly. There are, you know, those teen retailers are not as in favor anymore and there's been a lot of new brands that have come to the market, really focused on millennials and gen xers, but we started seeing a hole when it came to teen retail and you know, teen retailer, teen teens were only able to choose mostly from fast fashion brands and so Rachel and I connected a couple of years ago and we're both former entrepreneurs and had been talking through some ideas, Rachel has three teen and Tween daughters and immediately started voicing frustrations and pain points from a shopping perspective when it comes to brand messaging, sizing fit, quality, sustainability and we felt there was just so much opportunity to build a brand that spoke to how today's gen Z shops today, how they consume media and content today. And so that's where Woodland Lo was came from, Rachel Needham mentioned teens tweens, I think we also even mentioned kind of gen Z but who exactly is the Woodley and low customer. How are you guys reaching them and what has been their reception? Sure. Our customer is primarily female identifying 10-20 year olds who are looking for fun, stylish and comfortable everyday wardrobe essentials and they really want to put their money towards brands, who are doing the right thing, especially when it comes to sustainability and brand messaging. I think historically the traditional marketing playbook for a lot of teen brands has been to feed off of insecurities and we are really more about um, wanting to highlight and boost our community. So we reach them a lot through social media. Um, and we have a robust ambassador community where we highlight our different actual customers of our brand and we have them bring their friends along as well. Nina, I'm curious what are some of the biggest trends that you guys are seeing with with Generation Z right now. Um, and even more broadly what can retailers in general and fashion brands learn from this generation. Uh, you know, what we're seeing as fashion always is what's old is new. Again, things like the 90s have been trending with this generation trends from the 90s, I'd say, uh, you know, this generation is constantly changing. It's very hard to stay up on the trends, you know, thanks to things like Tiktok, you can, you can follow along and see that their styles are changing day to day, but this generation likes, you know, the fashion trends are very much comfort driven sweats are a huge staple of their wardrobe, which is why it's a big part of what we offer. Um, you know, they like things that are both feminine but not, not also not feminine. So they really uh, ban across various trends from, you know, sporty too girly too frilly to crop tops to oversize. It's, it's, it's super interesting to look at this generation, see that there isn't just one trend, There isn't just one look that it's all about mixing and matching and finding what's what's right for you as a person and how you want to express yourself Rachel as we kind of noted earlier. Obviously gen z is a generation that does seem to be putting their money where their mouth is, they're socially conscious and your brand seemingly aligning with that 3% of your revenue goes to different causes and nonprofits. Can you tell us a little bit more about Woodley and lows? Give back pledge? Yeah. So when we were first developing the business, um, we knew that we were filling an important need and we wanted to start this company, but we also didn't want to just pump more product into the world. And so we wanted to really do it thoughtfully with intention and um, Right away, we decided we're going to take 3% of our sales regardless of whether or not. We're profitable and we're going to put them towards causes that are important to our community. And we found a really fun way to do it so that when shoppers come to our website and they're checking out, they can actually see read about a few different organizations that we're partnering with and they can allocate which one they want the proceeds from their sale to go to nina before I have to let you go here, what, what's in store for the future of Woodley and Low, we set out to create not just a brand of apparel, but really a platform for this for this generation, a platform for them to engage for them to learn from, to uh, network and to consume content. Uh, you know, we see this as a lifestyle brand where we'll incorporate other categories as we grow, you'll see us in real person, whether in our own stores and other boutiques. Um, you know, we're really trying to create a movement for this generation that goes beyond selling sweats, really appreciate your time. Ladies co founders of Woodley and low Rachel, the vault and I think if you're wrong, your name wrong there Rachel, but need a tail band funk, thank you so much