EXCLUSIVE: Executives of Theory, Frame, M. Gemi and Public School Unite to Unveil BestKeptSecret
Months into the pandemic, retail has been hit hard, but recent reports have shown consumers might be ready to shop again.
Seeing an opportunity to help the fashion industry at large, Andrew Rosen, Maxwell Osborne, Dao-Yi Chow, Ben Fischman and Jens Grede have announced a five-day shopping event featuring more than 35 American fashion brands including Rag & Bone, Rosie Assoulin, Frame, Mansur Gavriel, Jason Wu, Re/done, R13 and Alice + Olivia, among others.
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The digital shopping platform and five-day event, called BestKeptSecret, was created to help solve the fashion industry’s global inventory overflow that many companies are dealing with due to this year’s unprecedented disruptions. Moreover, the company aims to generate more than $1 million in charitable donations for its philanthropic partners Baby2Baby and Know Your Rights Camp.
“Instead of each brand going at it alone, this is a community of brands coming together to create lots of possibilities for all of us,” said Andrew Rosen, partner of BestKeptSecret, special adviser to Theory, and former chief executive officer of Theory. “This is a combination of merchandising, marketing, networking and technology with a never-before-seen shopping event, driving tons of traffic to one web site enabling brands to move their inventory. Online sales have been done before, but never an amalgam like this, with the energy of five days of shopping and this many brands on one platform, the possibilities are endless.”
With each purchase, a $5 donation will be attached to each product with 100 percent of the proceeds donated directly to philanthropic partners. Additionally, shoppers may purchase a $25 VIP donor ticket for early access.
“BestKeptSecret was designed to tackle the fashion industry’s response to COVID-19 while supporting social issues at the forefront of the global zeitgeist,” said Maxwell Osborne, partner of BestKeptSecret and cofounder at Public School NY. “We’re not only thrilled to bring BestKeptSecret to life, we’re proud to be supporting causes that will aid communities across the country during these difficult times.”
The event promises to unify a diverse group of American fashion brands to offer a broad assortment to consumers and will host exclusive sessions with influencers and designers. Throughout the event, consumers will be met with frequent merchandise drops and surprise announcements.
According to Rosen, the event was created in a time of necessity and an opportunity to develop a new kind of sale event. “This came together fairly quickly — and when you bring together entrepreneurs like Ben, Jens, Max and Dao-Yi with expertise in merchandising, marketing, networking and technology, you hope we have come up with something truly unique,” Rosen said. “We wanted to do something uniquely different and innovative through a seamless digital shopping platform and engage with customers anytime — day or night — no matter where they are and offer incredible merchandise at incredible prices.”
Sponsored by Afterpay and Klaviyo, BestKeptSecret will run from Aug. 11 to 15 and is powered by Shopify Plus.
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