Last February, I stumbled upon Gregory Littley via data insights from New York Fashion Week and Jennine Jacob’s Evolving Influence Conference. Attensity (the social media metrics software most of you know I’m obsessed with) identified Gregory as a key influencer in driving conversations surrounding the conference and its main sponsor, American Express. When I published the report, Gregory tweeted his thanks and gratitude, and our Twitter fashion affair began that day.

As our company and this website have evolved, I’ve watched Gregory grow as well. Gregory is now Director of New Media at The International Office. Impressed with some of their recent work on AHAlife, Joor and Improvd, I sat down with Greg and the entire team at The International Office for digital insights on how technology is impacting the New York fashion industry.

FMM: New York has become the hub of fashion related start-ups. From indie fashion sites such as Etsy and Fashism, to sample sale sites Gilt and Beyond The Rack to more emerging luxury sites StyleTrek, AHAlife and Fashion Stake. What do you feel this has happened, has Silicion Valley moved east?

Michael Raisanen (President of the International Office): New York is the fashion hub of America, if not the world. I think that it is natural for these new fashion start-ups to incubate and launch here. Fashion as an industry has always been slow to embrace new media and technology so it is nice to see that so many new ventures and business concepts are starting to take root and proving themselves successful.

Also, New York is the media capital of the world so that helps disseminate the new concepts as well as generate the content that so many of these sites live and die by. From a technology perspective, these sites are not close to being as complex as most start-ups coming from Silicon Valley. That in turn eliminates huge initial investments and dependence on the risk capital community that tends to be centered in the Valley. It boils down to a different sort of creativity. Silicon Valley has provided the tools and infrastructure. It is now New York’s turn to utilize these assets through its cultural and aesthetic creativity and commercial savvy. It’s a natural progression.

FMM: A few California based fashion start-ups, such as Closet Couture, has had to move their base operations to New York in order to secure more funding or maintain their funding. Because of VC and investor understanding, or lack thereof, of the fashion industry, is this going to continue?

Michael Raisanen (President of the International Office): The VC community in Silicon Valley is centered around technological innovation. Historically, this is how they have made their money, and continue to do so. So, it is natural for a Facebook or a Twitter that bases its business around proprietary technologies to migrate towards northern California. On the flip-side, fashion start-ups tend to have entirely different value propositions that are not easily understood unless you are acquainted with the ins and outs of the fashion industry, which in many ways is very mysterious to the average engineer or lawyer. After all, fashion is one of the few industries that isn’t driven by real innovation. What governs fashion is trends and the flow of the culture. These things are very hard to predict and I think pretty contrary to the mindset of a typical Silicon Alley VC. New York, on the other hand, is in the business of setting the trends. So it makes perfect sense that the new fashion start-ups come here to be understood and seek backing.

FMM: Conversely, there have been many successful start-ups in California including Polyvore, Moxsie, The Sugar Network, even ModCloth now calls San Francisco home. Is there a formula for fashion start-up success?

Norman Rabinovich (Partner and Creative Director of the International Office): Unfortunately, there’s no silver bullet. Ultimately, you have to tap into the cultural zeitgeist and come up with a concept that resonates with that culture in fresh new ways. But in terms of general structure, there are four main components that are are crucial in the success of any fashion start-up: content, commerce, aesthetics, and technology.

FMM: You’ve recently launched Joor, a site that connects fashion designers and brands to boutiques and retail locations. How does this site differ from its competitors such as Not Just A Label or Madison Buyer? The online buyer connection, or extension of traditional tradeshow has proven challenging for sites such as this; was Joor in fact launched because they feel there’s still room in online space for a site such as it to be successful?

Norman Rabinovich (Partner and Creative Director of the International Office): Joor as an online platform doesn’t only concentrate on the upcoming or avant garde, it’s a private network consisting of opportunities for more established brands, peppered with indie newcomers looking for an additional outlet of business and exposure. Part social network, part creator of unique content, part marketplace, Joor is an online solution for centralizing purchasing and product exploration in one arena.

Joor was launched in early 2010, and in some ways was one of the first in this space that offers an opportunity or a complement to the tradeshow experience. Is the market saturated? Hardly. From an offline standpoint, look at the abundance of showrooms representing designers in New York City. Joor is at the forefront of an online opportunity for designers and buyer to connect in an environment that supersedes time and location. As this type of business grows, as will the technology and opportunity for the space to evolve.

FMM: In your opinion, what happens if a larger, more established tradeshow such as WWD Magic or indie retail show such as Brooklyn Flea or Renegade were to launch something similar?

Norman Rabinovich (Partner and Creative Director of the International Office): I think the possible advantage to a tradeshow coming to market with an online application is their established relationships and distribution lists. But we can’t forget that even tradeshows have their own personalities and specialties. And those aspects of their business personalities can be both an asset and a limitation in terms of online scalability and success.

FMM: You’ve recently moved into the luxury space as well, having worked with Shauna Mei on the web design and art direction of her recently launched AHAlife. How has technology changed the way the luxury shopper is consuming products online? Do you feel product curation and storytelling is going to become the norm?

Norman Rabinovich (Partner and Creative Director of the International Office): It’s basically a paradigm shift in the way we consume luxury. Gone are the days where the success of luxury is based on the limited and inaccessible. Technology allows for us to have control over the immediate, and when a luxury brand doesn’t offer an immediate opportunity, our lives are way too busy with the everyday to not click on to the next brand that does.

FMM: With such companies as AHAlife, people have these amazing opportunities to be exposed to products and people that are not in their immediate grasp. AHAlife taps into a more transparent take of presenting and selling a product through the use of devices such as storytelling and product curation. At the same time, do you think that storytelling and product curation will become the norm?

Norman Rabinovich (Partner and Creative Director of the International Office): I think it always has been a standard in the success of a living, breathing brand. To truly fall in love with a product, there needs to be a connection, a story, a sentiment, an idea that propels an endorsement. A consumer needs to not only say that I love this product, but they need to say that this product is a representation of my life, what I stand for and who I am as a person.

FMM: As we well know, most large changes in the way we market to consumers start with luxury brands and trickle down into every other facet of the industry.  What other trends do you see in online luxury good marketing coming to fruition in 2011-2013?

Gregory Littley (Director of New Media of The International Office): We are seeing more and more luxury companies no longer having hesitations when it comes to reaching a larger audience. This trend shows no signs of slowing down. Sensitivity to strategy separates these brands from your average ‘online’ outreach. What we are seeing now is an astute seriousness being brought to the tone, method and overall voice that a high end brand engages its consumers with via the web. Departments are being created within these companies out of this ‘new’ need – and the rise of a brand’s “Community Manager” will only increase. Basically, people in power have sat up and realized that you must care how your brand is translated through social media. That can’t be ignored. We’ll see more activations and promotions solely powered through platforms like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Twitter.

FMM:  You’ve seen an influx of new ways that brands are using technologies to touch consumers by creating open lines of accessibility to ideas and products that were once difficult to attain especially within the fashion industry; how has this idea of customer centricity impact our industry?

Michael Raisanen (President of the International Office): For a long time the fashion industry has resisted new media technology and specifically the power of social media. I think there has been a strong fear of loss of brand control; the perception has been that if we engage with social media our brand will be taken over by the consumers out there and ultimately stripped of the aura and mystique that fashion brands live and die by. In many ways this fear has been propagated among media and branding pundits who have claimed that in the age of social media, your brand now belongs to the consumer. With a bit of hindsight on the social media revolution, we can now see that this clearly isn’t the case. Luxury and fashion brands are plenty more resilient than previously thought and that no matter what, people are still going to chatter and buzz about your brand. Most brands have realized that since the conversation is going on regardless, they might as well engage in it and try to leverage the power of social media to create stronger bonds with their customer base. I really don’t think that the future of fashion brands will be micromanaged by consumers. People will continue to look to fashion brands instruct them in terms of trends, culture and current tastes, not vice versa.

FMM: What are your three most favorite social networks or social platforms? What are three sites (aside from ours) that you read daily?

Gregory Littley (Director of New Media of The International Office): I came from the celebrity weekly world, so the most effective way to educate people on my new ‘social media’ career path was to Tweet about it. Instantly I was able to communicate and broadcast my new work, clients, and links to thousands. You aren’t able to quickly harness that type of influence on Facebook — that is not Facebook’s strength. Whenever I meet a freelancer in the creative world, my number one question is, “Are you on Twitter?”. Right now the tech community is lucky to have so many free platforms for marketing and self promotion — it boggles my mind when I find out brands don’t use these resources. It also shocks me that large companies still (Lego — call me!) do not engage with their audience online.

My “go-to” platforms are Twitter, Foursquare ( playing around with Gowalla), and Tumblr. Facebook is six months away from becoming Myspace. For professional use I’m not a fan of Facebook, but I recognize the importance to remain active across all top platforms. We are operating in a world where your effective worth is measured in ‘follower count’. I’m aware of this and conduct myself accordingly.

My role is based on keeping current with all forms of online media, from social to cultural influencers. Daily, I’m hitting Mashable, Viperchill, JustJared, The Sartorialist, and the newly revamped The Hollywood Reporter.