Is Radical Transparency the Future of the Fashion Industry?

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While the fashion industry has been historically secretive, a crop of brands are pulling back the curtain to reveal more about how their clothes are created. But is this level of candidness a good business strategy?

Often, these revelations only go so far. A brand’s site might specify that an item is made in Portugal, but not show the actual inner workings of that factory. Another label might turn to Instagram to effusively outline the inspiration behind a jacket, but not show how that jacket is made.

At the onset of Story, Ms. Al-Rubeyi was still working a day job as a fashion-trend forecaster. Through her work, she’d noted that brands really needed a “heritage” or backstory to reel fans in. As a startup, Story didn’t have a backstory or, at that point, even a finished product. The posts and documentation of in-progress samples let the couple get supporters excited “before we actually [had] something to show them,” said Ms. Al-Rubeyi.The share-it-all strategy worked.

The brand’s use of Instagram as a non-stop focus group keeps customers engaged, and to Mr. Regele’s point makes them feel like part of the brand. Last month, Mr. Al-Rubeyi asked the label’s followers to help name the color of some ceramics the couple was about to launch. The fantastical name one follower generated for the hue of these mugs, bowls and cups was “The Bottom End of a Spring Onion”. A few months before that, he asked what products shoppers would like to see from Story.

There is a limit to how much Story will share. The Al-Rubeyis won’t give out their manufacturers’ phone numbers, and, while they’ll disclose the make-up of their natural dyes, they won’t share exactly how to make them—much the same way Heinz has made public the ingredients in its ketchup, but not the actual recipe. As Story’s grown, the couple has also learned to be hush-hush when necessary: A recent Reebok collaboration was kept under the lid until its agreed upon launch date.

 

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