The Lead Announces The Defiant 25, Explores Market Innovation In Fashion, Retail And Technology
The Lead’s Defiant 25 honors the top executives in fashion and retail
Forbes
You’ve seen them on the street perhaps, or all over your Instagram and Facebook feeds — brands like Warby Parker, Everlane, Cuyana, Allbirds, ADAY and KOIO. These direct-to-consumer brands are proliferating on the retail market more than ever, and in the vast retail landscape, it can be difficult for fashion brands to navigate the best strategies for mixing fashion and lifestyle labels with an e-commerce site, but now a new platform called The Lead will help retailers discover the best strategies for their business.
“The Lead is to focus on the sweet spot in the fashion, retail and technology markets where innovation is shifting behavior and creating new business opportunities,” said Awais Khan, head of research at The Lead.
Timo Weiland, an investment banker-turned-fashion designer, and Noah Gellman, who has worked in start-ups, venture capital, and business development, partnered up to create a vertical media company called The Lead that bridges the fashion and retail industry with Silicon Valley through research, a quarterly print and digital publication, conferences and exclusive events curated specifically for senior level executives, founders, and investors from the worlds fashion, technology, and retail.
“Our analysts track the emerging technology companies innovating at the intersection of these two industries,” reads a statement from The Lead. “We produce three lists of innovation leaders that the Fashion Brand and Retail community must know: The Leading 100 B2B Start-Ups, The Leading 50 D2C Start-Ups, and The Defiant 25 Executives taking chances and pushing their businesses forward.”
On June 21, The Lead will inaugurate the first edition of its conference called Assembly, which will have guest speakers who include Marc Mastronardi, executive vice president, New Business Development, Innovation, Macy’s; Daniella Yacobovsky, co-founder at BaubleBar; Mariah Chase, CEO of ELOQUII; Aaron Sanandres, co-founder and CEO of UNTUCKit; Anna Harman, director, Store No. 8 / Walmart; Jan-Niklas Kokott, head of user experience, Glossier; Laura Del Greco, head of content commerce, NBCUniversal; Renee Paradise, senior director, general manager, eBay Fashion; Russell Scherwin, CMO at IBM Watson Commerce; Bai Gan, chief product officer at Zenni Optical; Brian Long, CEO, Attentive; and Charlie Youakim, CEO, Sezzle.
In addition, The Lead will also honor The Defiant 25 a list that recognizes the leaders, risk takers and visionaries leveraging innovative technology to transform their business. This conference’s honorees are:
David Lauren, Vice Chairman & Chief Innovation Officer, Ralph Lauren
Pete Nordstrom, Co-President, Nordstrom
Angela Ahrendts, SVP, Retail, Apple
Ian Rogers, Chief Digital Officer, LVMH
Lubomira Rochet, Chief Digital Officer, L’Oréal
Stephen O’lander, VP, Global Digital Innovation, Nike
Gregory Boutte, Chief Client and Digital Officer, Kering (Gucci)
Christopher Bailey, former President and Chief Creative Officer, Burberry
Lucinda Newcomb, VP Digital, Sephora
Greg McKelvey, Chief Strategy and Digital Officer, Fossil Group
Marc Lore, President & CEO, Walmart E-commerce
Marc Rosen, EVP & President Global E-commerce, Levi’s Strauss & Co.
Tricia Nichols, VP Global Consumer Marketing, Estee Lauder
Wen Zhou, CEO, 3.1 Phillip Lim
Adam Brotman, President & Chief Experience Officer, J. Crew
Marc Mastronardi, EVP of Business Development, Macy’s
Katrina Lake, CEO, Stitch Fix
Stephanie Phair, Chief Strategy Officer, Farfetch
Noam Paransky, Senior Vice President, Digital, Gap
Mary Dillon, CEO, Ulta Beauty
Wilfried Guerrand, EVP & Head of Digital, Hermes
Michael McNamara, EVP & Chief Information and Digital Officer, Target
Uri Minkoff, Co-Founder and CEO, Rebecca Minkoff
Yael Aflalo, Founder & CEO, Reformation
Christine Beauchamp, President, Amazon Fashion, Amazon
