Coterie‘s New York edition featured another conversation with The Daily as part of their education series. On Monday, The Daily sat down with The Real Housewives of New York City aka RHONY stars Rebecca Minkoff, Sai De Silva, and Jessel Taank for a conversation on being entrepreneurs in the fashion space. Discover our top takeaways from their discussion with Alex Dickerson, from business advice to influencer culture, luxury’s response to RHONY, and more!
1) Business education is essential for brand founders: “I co-founded [The Female Founder Collective] with Allison Wyatt out of a sheer desire of feeling at the time—this was in 2018—but it felt like it was catty.” said Rebecca Minkoff. “It felt like there wasn’t this campaigning of each other, and that it was a competition. I was like, There’s got to be more people out there that want to support each other. It really is a collective of founders where it’s not only community-based, but we’re teaching you. We’re bringing you experts. We collaborated on an event where all the unsexy things you didn’t know you needed to know about business, you get to learn. It’s not how to take a selfie. It’s just your CRM system, your e-commerce platform, all these things that…you’re so excited to launch your product, but then you have that Oh shit moment. That’s been really key to continue to grow.”
2) Sai faced backlash from luxury brands after joining Real Housewives: “I’m going to be very honest, as someone who works in the luxury industry, reality TV is frowned upon,” said Sai De Silva. “It is not necessarily a highbrow thing, especially because of its past history. There were a couple of fashion houses that were not okay with it, and sadly I no longer work with them. I’m obviously still very good friends with their teams, but they were very honest. They had to come to me and tell me, You know what? The Paris office doesn’t understand reality television, this is not their industry—so we can’t continue our partnership. I was definitely bummed in trying to figure out if this was something that was the right thing for me, but then I have to think about long-term. It definitely helped my platforms grow, especially at a time where there’s so much content and I was just stagnant at that point. I make my money because of likes, and it’s sad to say, but that is the reality of being an influencer or a content creator. It is the engagement. It is because my audience is into what I am putting out there. For me, it was a move where, Where can I grow and and what does that look like for me and the future?”
Sai De Silva
3) Rebecca joined RHONY to engage with her customers: “We almost lost the business during COVID,” said Minkoff. “My brother and I had a lot of late night talks, So do we keep going? Overnight, 70% of our business evaporated because wholesale shut down, and they couldn’t take in their orders. We got through it by working with our core team. We went from 60 people to 30 people. Everyone took a pay cut. My brother and I decided to forego most of our pay just to keep the team there. It was this moment of…we’re going to go down trying our hardest to keep this thing that we’ve spent 16 years building, because what else was all the hard work for, the sacrifices, the late nights, whatever it took to build? As we’re approaching 20 years, it was like, let’s explode this thing again. We’ve done a great job since COVID and coming back and growing the brand, and we’re stronger than ever. But it was an opportunity to speak to my core customer who grew up with the brand, who loves what goes on there. Also, everyone on the show is a hard-ass working woman—no one’s a housewife. I liked that it was a story to tell of female entrepreneurs, and female founders, and the stories that they have. They have an extra layer to them—they’re not just married to a rich dude.”
4) Jessel doesn’t respond to hate comments: “People are brutal,” said Jessel Taank. “The internet…people feel safe behind their screens, saying the most horrible things. I don’t have the energy [to respond]. You’re so sad. You’re sitting in a basement somewhere, watching our show, clicking my shit. I don’t care about you. I’m not going to respond.”
Jessel Taank
5) RHONY promo schedules are packed!: “I take my kids to school, and I look like a homeless bum,” said Taank. “Then I come home and I actually get a shower and get glammed up. Today, I may have had press interview since 9 AM. People are very curious. The first screener went out, so if you’re press, you’ve already seen the first episode. People have had a really, really positive response so far to the first episode. We’re excited about that! But a lot of press interviews. We just did USA Today, which was fun. Now we’re here. I have People magazine after. We have a brand dinner in the evening. So, it’s just is nonstop! NBC does not let us sleep or rest. They want us to be out there promoting the show, and we’re going to get busier and busier as the season goes on.”
6) Jessel’s done a full turnaround from publicity to being a public figure: “It is so bizarre, because I’m so used to being like, Oh, now you step in front of the red carpet, repeat, and take a picture,” said Taank. “But people are yanking me to get pictures! I’m like, Wait, no, wrong person. But it is very, very bizarre. It’s actually really interesting to to be on the flip side, because I know how the backend works, and so I definitely know what to do, and know what to say, and know what not to do.”
7) Sai says smaller brands should target micro-influencers: “When you’re a smaller brand, go after micro-influencers,” said De Silva. “They have a very engaged audience. They have people who are really into not just what they’re selling, but what they’re talking about. Reaching out to smaller content creators is very powerful. Just because you are a huge creator doesn’t necessarily mean it is the right fit. Also, just write them and ask them if this is something that they would be interested in. Not everyone is interested just because it’s a free gift. Make a list, write down all of your dream people that you would love to work with, and then where you can start, and how you find your audience, your brand, your message would pair well with a content creator.”
8) Rebecca’s dealt with influencer gifting: “I will get gifted things that are not related, not competitive. Not bags, not shoes, not clothing, but everything from supplements to workout gear to electrolytes to chocolate, to whatever,” said Minkoff. “The overwhelm that Sai said…opening the boxes, and then I’m like, I’ve got to support. Let me take a picture. When am I going to post this? I do feel for these brands, because I know what it was like. Our first event where we gave away bags in 2006, it was 18 bags for 18 editors. It was the most amount of money we’d ever given away in terms of what it cost us. I was sick to my stomach, because I knew how much that cost us as a company and brand to do, and then you hope the editor likes it. I feel deeply for these [brands], because we’ve been in that moment. But some of the things we did in the early days, which were again very affordable, is we would host influencers in our showroom—unknown people like Leandra Medine or Chiara Ferragni. We were like, Come into our showroom, come see the new collection, take a bag with you, and it’s a great way to build these longstanding relationships. Then when they get bigger, they remember, You took a chance on me.”
Rebecca Minkoff in LAGOS
9) Sai recommends brands should build organic relationships: “When you do reach out, make sure it is a very organic relationship,” said De Silva. “Please don’t come with a contract that says, Hey, here’s my lipstick, please post. That will completely turn the creator off, and they won’t even share. Just allow them to have their own voice, their own opinion. When you reach out, say, No posting is necessary. If you like it, show some love.”
10) Put in the work to celebrate your successes: “To sell the dream of, This is all easy, and it’s always glamorous, is lying. If you believe in that, you’re gaslighting yourself,” said Minkoff. “It is hard 99% of the time. Then you get wind in your sales and and you take it when you get it, and then you celebrate that. You mentioned, be a millionaire, be a billionaire. When I started, that was the goal. We were all drunk on this Kool-Aid of all these big brands [into] becoming this. How about just a really well-lived life, where your career pays for you to have a great life? What decisions did you make that are different? It’s not about this mythical thing, because that’s few and far between. Those are the unicorns. Set your life up to have a beautiful life that your dream pays for, and anything more is gravy. But, change, reframe that, because you’ll be disappointed if you don’t get the millions or the billions. You won’t be disappointed if you’re like, Wow, I had a great year, and I had a lot of fun, and it wasn’t as stressful because my focus changed.”
The new season of RHONY kicks off on Bravo on October 1st.
