Launching a Size-Inclusive Brand with Crystal Cave of Poppy Row

Crystal Cave is a celebrity stylist turned style educator and fashion designer. She is the Founder + Creative Director of Poppy Row, a size-inclusive, eco-conscious clothing line.  Following her employment in branding + marketing, Crystal decided to follow her dream of becoming a celebrity stylist and worked between NY and Los Angeles on the teams behind many major brands including Taylor Swift, Usher, Willem Dafoe, Kate Upton, Mercedes, Billboard Music Awards, among many others.  After working with women across the globe, she realized there was a need in the marketplace for functional, transitional and stylish staples that were sustainably made, which lead to the creation of Poppy Row, a Los Angeles-based line of size inclusive, modular staples made from eucalyptus, carrying sizes 2-40.  Crystal’s style advice has been seen by over 1 billion people globally. She’s the recipient of Rent the Runway's Project Entrepreneur Class of 2018 and has been seen in Elle Magazine, Essence Magazine, ABC, NBC, CBS, Bustle, The Boston Globe, Live About, Mind Body Green, Huffington Post, The Curvy Fashionista, and many more. In this episode, you’ll learn: How a degree in advertising and a career in styling lead into starting a fashion brand The problem with the “inclusive” sizing options that many brands offer How to launch with inclusive sizing without overextending your development or finances How to test if it would make sense for your business to add additional sizes The benefits of pre-selling What kinds of marketing Crystal did during her Kickstarter campaign to test the best way to connect with customers and share her products How Crystal validated her brand idea and decided on the initial pieces she launched with How her styling background helped her design clothing her customers really want Why marketing to a launch on Kickstarter differs from marketing other launches Why Crystal sold her house and moved from New York to Los Angeles to start her line What Crystal’s long-term goal for Poppy Row is People and resources mentioned in this episode: Poppy Row website Crystal’s LinkedIn Poppy Row email email Poppy Row on Instagram Crystal’s Instagram Do you want fashion business tips and resources like this sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for the How Fitting newsletter to receive new podcast episodes plus daily content on creating fashion that fits your customer, lifestyle, and values.