Stefan Siegel is the founder and CEO of NOT JUST A LABEL (NJAL), the leading global platform for showcasing and nurturing today’s pioneers in contemporary fashion. He and his brother Daniel founded NJAL on a shoestring budget in 2008, and it now represents over 18,000 designers from 100 countries.
With NJAL Stefan creates extraordinary retail experiences – he recently took over an iconic department store in Berlin for online retailer Zalando, bringing pop-ups into the digital age.
Stefan will be speaking on the Main Stage at WIRED Retail, our second annual one-day summit focusing on the future of retail, being held in London on November 23.
He will take part in the session, "Retailers won’t be the only ones retailing", alongside Steve Callanan of WIREWAX, Si Brown from skignz and Valtech’s Jean-Christophe Hermann.
What are you planning to speak about at WIRED Retail?
NOT JUST A LABEL (NJAL) has had a tremendous year -- as a digital platform we have successfully created five large-scale retail activations on three continents. All of them have turned the business model around, by prioritising the curational aspect above all other elements.
Is there anything you’d like to achieve by speaking at WIRED Retail?
Share the experiences and knowledge acquired at NJAL. Retail is changing and our past successes are the proof of that.
Who are you looking forward to hearing and/or meeting at WIRED Retail?
The list of speakers is impressive, and the excitement to change a rigid industry is palpable.
What do you think could be the most significant challenges and developments in the field of online fashion retailing over the next five years?
E-commerce is not just convenient but it’s also 30 per cent more sustainable and environmentally friendly than traditional retail operations. However, I don’t think it spells the end of bricks-and-mortar stores. We rely increasingly on interfaces every day and making less of a distinction between online/offline, and its holistic duality will have to become a commodity.
On a consumer level, I think there’ll be an urge to return to the tactile sensation of the experience in an immaterial age. I believe that the future of bricks-and-mortar retailing will have to embrace e-commerce wholly and its evolution will include a compelling mix of sensory experiences that go way beyond the established model. It will have to be both physical and digital shop windows into immersive encounters that will be inspirational, aspirational, entertaining and informative.
We’re a content-driven generation, and traditional retailing has to embrace this by making traditional shopping simpler and more tailored, while making it specially designed, engaging and interactive on a broader level. At NJAL, we’re a digital platform first and foremost and we choose to go offline in a strategic way, perhaps to permeate a new market or reach a new audience, and physical impact is still very powerful.
In Dubai, we opened an immersive-experience pavilion as part of an opening event at the Dubai Design District with a mix of art, performance, music and engagement, while also adopting the conventional model of retailing. In Berlin, we collaborated with e-commerce giant Zalando and brought it offline.
The key in Berlin was engagement, and we did that via immersive fashion installations, engaging talks and lectures, and a curated selection of product with seamless digital interaction and customisation.
It’s a cohesive fusion between the digital and physical that will take us into the future. Whether that means physical retailing will become part of a more divisive marketing strategy rather than an enshrined mode of retailing is to be seen.
What’s next for NOT JUST A LABEL?
There is some big “offline” news coming from NJAL, which we will announce at WIRED Retail. We have just come back from a fantastic event that was organised in Los Angeles in order to support the local manufacturing industry. In early December we will be working with the NYC Mayor’s Office and will open a unique retail concept in Manhattan.
WIRED Retail returns to London on November 23 at St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. Last year’s event sold out, so secure your place now: WIRED subscribers save 10 per cent. We also have a limited number of half-price tickets available for retail sector startups. Click here for more information.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
