Yuli Ziv is one of those women that makes the fashion industry a better place. This entrepreneurial phenomena is a co-founder of My It Things, an online fashion and beauty magazine where readers can write their own posts and mingle with other industry related fashionistas, and is also a founding member of Style Coalition, a collaboration between independent online publishers who try to save the fashion world one step at a time. One of those steps was their provoking DON’T SHOP! campaign that raised a few eyebrows here and there, but what a fabulous concept it was! The Style Coalition is also the brain behind Inside The Tents, which links social media to New York Fashion Week so that fashion news unfolds as it's happening and readers are treated like insiders.
Ziv is a social media expert and loves to share her knowledge and experience and because of this, she gave birth to Fashion 2.0 – a series of networking events and panel discussion in New York where she brings together her two loves: technology and fashion. A true entrepreneur, Ziv is faster than fads and always adjusting to the technological environment, which makes her a woman on a mission to change the world of fashion.
FACTIO MAGAZINE: How did you come up with the My It Things concept? YULI ZIV: I’ve been fascinated with fashion since moving to New York in 2003. I often felt that people on the streets were more interesting than those featured in magazines as style icons. MyItThings.com was driven by the idea to allow people to contribute their thoughts on style, and together create an online magazine. The site was launched in March 2007, and shortly after thousands of respected bloggers, trendsetters and fashion lovers started contributing content and interact on the site daily. Last year we’ve expanded our audience to include aspiring fashion designers, who can showcase their work, contribute articles on fashion and interact with their future consumers in a social environment.
FM: Can you tell us more about the idea of Inside the Tents? YZ: Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York, until not long ago, was covered by an exclusive group of magazine editors who often don’t provide extensive coverage until their spring issues hit the stands. As more audiences express their interest in fashion via online channels, there is a curiosity about the fashion week events that mainstream media isn’t able to address in an instant manner, achievable online. In contrast to magazines, InsideTheTents.com provides an instant insider’s view - a fresh voice in real time through the use of the best social media technologies such as Twitter, Flickr, live blogging and video. Readers get to experience this major fashion event, almost as if they were insiders, through the eyes of about 100 fashion and beauty bloggers, covering the events.
FM: What’s the idea behind your interactive art projects? YZ: I haven’t had an opportunity to create art in the last few years since launching my online business, but I hope one day to continue to explore the concepts of interactivity between the human and the machine. It was the idea behind Adam 001, where users had to connect to a virtual human being through certain points on his physical body by using various senses and this way exploring intimacy. Another large scale project Suprematism v. 005 translated human motion into vector animation to create dynamic paintings, again exploring the connection between human beings and computers via sensors.
FM: Please explain the Style Coalition concept. YZ: The idea for Style Coalition was born as a result of networking with other publishers and bloggers in the fashion space and finding out that we all face similar challenges related to professional ethics and standards in the fast-paced constantly changing web world. These challenges include the conflicts of interest raised by juggling editorial and business sides of the publication, as well as advertising revenue channels, which are mostly controlled by large ad networks. Rather than continuing being dependent on other networks, we decided to address the need for new and alternative revenue solutions. In addition, Style Coalition organizes networking events and collaborative opportunities aimed to advance bloggers skills and reach. We are driven by our love for fashion, passion for social media and technology and a strong desire to grow our businesses as part of this industry.
FM: How do social media and fashion link, in your opinion? YZ: Social Media is the ultimate democracy, and this concept might not fit into the traditional very exclusive fashion industry perception. I’m personally excited about the growing influence of social media on fashion, because it’s about time fashion brands and designers listen to what customers want, instead of forcing new trends and certain looks on them every season. There is a huge potential for designers to build personal connections with their customers, and those who will figure out the best ways of doing that – will see tremendous growth in the near future. Obviously considering they have a product these customers want…
FM: What’s the idea behind Fashion 2.0?
YZ: Fashion 2.0 was created to help facilitate and grow the relationships created via social media, by connecting the online community offline. It is a monthly networking events series in NYC sponsored and hosted at the W Hotels, bringing together entrepreneurs, emerging designers and online publishers who are passionate about fashion and technology. Running for more than a year, the group has close to 700 active members who gather monthly to network and hear from the industry leaders on how they utilize modern technologies in the fashion space. Our past speakers included executives from Bluefly, Tory Burch, Lacoste, Gilt, Avelle, The Accessories Council, as well as investors from NYC Seed fund, Virgin Ventures and more.
FM: Did you always know that you wanted to do this? YZ: I was always interested in creative arts, but my passion for fashion grew only in the last few years, since my move to NYC. At some point combining my digital background with the fashion interest seemed like a natural thing to do.
FM: Where does your love for fashion and social media come from? YZ: Social media is the evolution of my work expertise – starting as a graphic designer, then moving into web and interactive projects, and later working as a Creative Director at a digital agency I had a chance to experience the shift brands have gone through in their marketing approach. Brands become more social, and this is the process that most fascinates me. It is particularly interesting in the fashion space, where many brands are driven by personalities of their designers, and where the emotional impact they have on a consumer is so important.
FM: Who are your favorite designers? YZ: The list is different for designers who I admire conceptually (Hussein Chalayan, Gareth Pugh, Viktor & Rolf ) and designers I love wearing (BCBG, Marc Jacobs, Tracy Reese, Calvin Klein, Gilles Montezin).
FM:If you were to design your own clothing line, how would it look? YZ: It will be very graphic and sharp, focused on shape and precise fit. I would love also to experiment with technology integration within clothes, as well as convertible clothing concepts. There is so much room for innovation within this area, and I feel designers often don’t explore technology because it’s not directly connected to the traditional fashion world. I would love to do that.
FM: Please tell us more about Fashion For Thought. YZ: I personally think many people in this industry take fashion too seriously. We often miss the comic view on fashion, and Fashion For Thoughtis a web series providing that view. Each episode, me and my co-host Julia Dinardo from FashionPulseDaily review another fashion magazine issue and try to provide a comic perspective, point the ridicules our outrageous facts, which readers may not notice or think of by just flipping through the pages. It often raises some serious questions about fashion elitism, perception of beauty and endless anti-aging wars.
FM: What’s NY Tech? YZ:NY Tech meetup is the largest (over 10,000 members) group representing people from all parts of the New York technology community. Each month, several companies and developers demo the most innovative technology they've been working on in front of a large crowd. I serve as a community committee member of NY tech, representing the online fashion industry and working towards its integration with the online technology community here in NYC.
FM: How does an average work day look for you? YZ: I start working with my first cup of coffee, checking on the night’s content submissions on MyItThings.com, then Twitter, Email, write a couple of blog posts. The day at the office starts around noon (privileges of being your own boss) by catching up with my business partner on everything that’s going on. After that it could be pretty much anything from working the next site or feature, meeting strategic partners, coming up with new promotions and contests, creating presentations for potential sponsors, brainstorming on PR strategies to shooting my daily look or another video episode. My weekday evenings are usually packed with industry events – both tech and fashion. Later, I continue working from home with TV in the background, so the work pretty much never stops for me, but I love every moment of it!
FM: What’s your advice to new entrepreneurs in the fashion industry? YZ: Have a mission behind any concept you develop. This industry is often perceived as shallow, so it’s especially important to find your niche and the value you offer – whether it’s a style advice for plus size women, makeup tips that help women avoid plastic surgeries or daily visual inspiration that stimulates creative minds.
- Chloé van der Wel
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