What do you get when you mix conversation surrounding retail, digital media, and fashion? Macala Wright’s sharp-witted blog FashionablyMarketing.Me, of course. With her mind on business and her eye on style, Ms. Wright has made it her mission (when she’s not working on her column for CNN’s Mashable.com) to expose her readers to the tools they need to market their products, build brand awareness, and engage customers on various social media platforms—all while keeping one leg in the fashion world.
Below, Ms. Wright shares some of the wisdom she’s accrued after seven years in the fashion-tech mix.
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Barneys New York: What inspired you to start your blog?
Macala Wright: Three years ago, when I was working in-house at a jewelry brand, I really wanted to start exploring how social media was going to impact fashion. I knew it would be a catalyst in our industry, changing many of the ways we market fashion, accessories and beauty products to customers online. I wanted to be at the forefront of that. In fashion, we’re always fashionably marketing to the “Me” factor of our customers (hence the blog’s name).
BNY: In your opinion, how has social media changed the fashion industry for the better?
MW: It’s a great way to manage customer relationships and build new customer bases. Simple conversations, connected through your brand, can drive so many different things – online sales to in-store sales, new customer base development and even customers participating in how and what you should carry in-store.
BNY: What did you want to be when you grew up?
MW: Like most people, I stumbled into fashion. I have a degree in 19th-century literature. One day I decided that I was a woman with great taste and wanted to inspire other women to buy quality products that could help them feel confident, beautiful and like they could take on the world. So, I started marketing pretty things and seven years later, here I am! Moving forward, there’s nothing else that I could ever do. Fashion is art and technology is science. The two combined fuel my soul. It’s like Alexander McQueen said: “There is no way back for me now. I am going to take you on journeys you’ve never dreamed were possible.”
BNY: If you were accidentally locked in Barneys overnight, what would we find you wearing in the morning?
1. Current/Elliott Roller skinny jean; 2. Acanthus Press New York, Portrait of a City; 3. James Perse tees (I’m from L.A. If I didn’t [include this] I’d be shot); 4. Maison Martin Margiela Line 22 lace-up loafer (my favorite shoe in the world); 5. Armand Diradourian fringe scarf; 6. CO-OP Barneys New York Cocoon shrug cardigan (I’m actually buying this next week!); 7. Marc by Marc Jacobs Jumble Logo iPad case; 8. Chloé Medium Paraty Satchel (in L.A., we’re all about our handbags); 9. Balenciaga Arena classic bracelet
MW: I’d also be waiting at the register to check the price on Simon Doonan…
BNY: What is the fashion capital of the world?
MW: That’s a loaded question, but I’m going to have to go with my gut and say New York, followed by Paris and London.
BNY: What is the most coveted item in your wardrobe?
MW: Whiting & Davis vintage chain mail necklaces. My vintage jewelry is getting pretty impressive.
BNY: What words of wisdom should all luxury fashion brands follow?
MW: Fashion—no matter how much technology impacts it—is always aspirational and inspirational. Nothing can ever take that away from luxury. But social media gives luxury the chance to be co-creational and invite new brand advocates, enthusiasts and followers into their world.
- Alisha Prakash
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