Living between Paris and Shanghai for the past five years, Marie-Cassandre, founder of the namesake Shangai-based PR agency, can proudly boast of accompanying young designers and emerging brands in every stage of their development, helping them create communication strategies for both buyers and fashion journalists. Graduated from Sciences Po Paris with a specialization in luxury marketing in high-growth markets and building experience working alongside Maria Luisa Poumaillou and Diane Von Furstenberg at the buying and communications department respectively, Marie-Cassandre has become familiar with the most innovative young designers whether in Paris, Shanghai or any other fashionable city. Besides acting as a consultant, she has enlisted the knowledge of fashion and latest trends, as well as her understanding of French elegance to offer her clients a variety of additional services – helping with pricing the garments, styling shoots, organizing shows and dealing with the buyers. We caught up with Marie Cassandre to discuss the challenges young brands face, deciding on what services to include in her agency and personal struggles as an entrepreneur.
Marie-Cassandre
You are splitting your time between Shanghai and Paris. Do you operate any differently when working in either one of these cities?
When I am in Paris during Fashion Week, it’s more about the business aspect of the job; getting buyers from multi-brand stores to discover the designers at the showroom and buy their collections. It’s the most stress-inducing part for me and the designers as well, because the commercial success of a collection will depend on these teeny tiny Fashion Week time slots. It’s very intense. Meanwhile in Shanghai, where the agency is based, I focus more on PR, consulting, creating communication strategies and collaborating with press, bloggers and photographers worldwide.
When you decided to go freelance, how did you come down to the services to provide your clients?
I started in the fashion industry working as a luxury womenswear buyer for Maria Luisa Poumaillou. She was my mentor; she had this amazing eye for finding new talents who would become big fashion designers and, thanks to her, I got to be more interested in young brands. Ultimately, I realized how difficult it was for new designers to stand out from the crowd. The fashion industry nowadays is so competitive. Unfortunately, a lot of designers only know how to create beautiful garments ; many lack marketing skills. They don’t know how to sell themselves nor do they know how to make commercially viable clothes that will cater to an audience. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to have extreme wearable pieces of art in your closet, but when you are a buyer, you need to fill your stores with clothes that you know you’ll sell to your everyday customers – not everybody can be as exuberant as Anna Dello Russo.
In order to have a better understanding of the challenges many young designers were facing, I decided to work closely with a promising young designer in Paris – who is now a regular on the Paris Fashion Week official calendar – and we learned from each other. That’s how I eventually came up with all the services we now provide at the agency, from helping with the pricing of the garments to styling a photoshoot, through organising fashion shows and dealing with the buyers.
How did you land your first clients?
Either I contacted young designers I really wanted to work with, or they contacted me. My five-year experience spoke for itself, and I’ve found that young designers find solace in the fact that I can relate first-hand to how hard their work is. My motto is “slowly but surely.” In the fashion industry, one day you’re in, the next you’re out. This is the first thing I learned. I don’t want the brands I work with to be just a fad. Too many brands are launched every year, so it’s better to take small steps, in a timely fashion, to ensure steadiness. I’m in it for the long run. It’s challenging, nerve-wracking sometimes, but it’s a beautiful and gratifying job.
How did you build your knowledge and experience on styling and personal shopping?
I have to thank my mother for that! She was a model in the 90’s, and she always had an unusual sense of style. She wore Jean-Paul Gaultier a lot. It was fascinating. Later on, working as a busy bee in fashion, I attended photoshoots, worked with stylists. As a buyer, I also enjoyed spending time in our stores to watch the customers. You learn a lot from watching women trying to look polished. Personal shopping is something I offer to private clients in Asia, China mainly. Style is very personal, but there are simple habits – fashion 101 like choosing the right cut and fit – that are acquired over time and easy to replicate.
I know every client is different, but is there a particular strategy that is successful with every designer?
We work with designers who are at different steps of their brand development. Some just launched their brand, others already have a substantial distribution network… There’s no overall strategy, but we pay attention to what the designer’s goals are. We communicate a lot to make sure we’re all on the same page. Then we carry out a tailored strategy, whether a young designer needs us to reach a specific market or wants to revamp the brand’s image.
It’s one of the reasons why I enjoy my work so much. Everything is different all the time. Young fashion designers, with their own experiences and stylistic approach, always bring something new to the table.
What are you most proud to contribute to your clients’ needs?
Seeing my clients being commercially successful, growing bigger, finding new retail opportunities, opening their first store… I think having press coverage and being commercially viable go hand in hand. After all, the reality behind the press facade is to expand the retail network of a young designer’s brand. So when I can help my clients achieve a bigger and stronger customer-base, it makes me happy. I also like when a young designer I work with ends up on the official Fashion Week calendar. Being able to spot a true talent and do whatever it takes to make a designer shine is what I’m the most proud of. That’s why I only work with a few brands at a time. If not, I wouldn’t be able to make a really good job. It takes time. Success doesn’t happen overnight.
What channels do you use to promote your personal and your clients’ business?
We use social media a lot because you can reach a significant number of people. My favorite right now is Instagram, as it allows you to be very creative working on the visual narrative you develop to tell a story.
What has been your biggest business struggle as an entrepreneur?
Being your own boss is a long and thoughtful process. When I was three years old, I told my mother I’d become a lawyer. I studied political science, then I found my calling working in the fashion world. But I always knew I’d be an entrepreneur. I am too much of a free spirit. My goal was to reinvent a life for myself. But frankly, I had moments when I wished I had accepted a position at LVMH like some of my college mates. Entrepreneurship does put a lot of pressure upon one’s shoulders.
However, I don’t regret a single thing. I travel a lot, I can work from virtually anywhere on the planet and I get to pick the brands I work with. I worked hard and made a lot of sacrifices beforehand to get where I am right now. Surely that’s why everything ran smooth when the time came for me to set up my own company in Asia. I’m so grateful for everything. My other half has been very supportive too. It would have been almost impossible otherwise.
What are your future plans?
I am lucky enough to find time for projects that aren’t fashion-related. It helps me keep my sanity. I have a special beauty/lifestyle idea that I’m developing in China right now but, most importantly, I’m planning baby number one!
www.mariecassandre.com
Images © Marie-Cassandre