There is no doubt that lockdown has changed the way of living and habits of every individual. Take something as fundamental as our experience of space – our mobility is now as restricted as we could hardly ever imagine – going out on Friday night looks more like a conference call, jogs and walks are restricted to a couple of circles around the house and shopping only requires an internet connection, sofa and pyjamas – or a pair of jeans for fancy ones.
On the other hand, we are all trying to sustain our pre-lockdown connections and avatars in every possible way and rectify irreversible damage that has already been caused to our planet – single-use masks, gloves, and plastic wraps for each fruit will hardly do any good. This is where business owners or future entrepreneurs may think of how to help a consumer to do that in a safe, easy, and efficient way.
Following this lead, Daria Shapovalova decided to rethink the industry that almost everyone is connected to – fashion and spun her company into a fashion tech space. Dress-X was born as the first international digital fashion multi-brand retailer that carries digital fashion collections from the most well-known contemporary brands and 3D designers. Social media has already become an inevitable part of everyone’s life and furthermore – everyone’s way of communication and networking which requires showing our best side. Talking about Instagram – the better content you produce, the more interactions you have and in this way, trendy clothes are your best friends. Unfortunately, this pattern by the nature of the case results in ‘fast fashion’ – buying more than necessary.
Daria Shapovalova is a serial entrepreneur, mother to her 8-year old son, mentor of start-up founders and fashion designers. During the span of her 15-years career in the fashion industry, Daria built a number of successful projects. Daria spent her lockdown in Los Angeles and re-launched her company reacting to the events happening and to the new habits being born.
This is the pure example of a lockdown driven idea that grew into business and Daria Shapovalova eagerly shares her 5 tips on how to take advantage of the current situation and build a sustainable business with us below.
Rethink your business sector
From the industry vantage point, the fashion market has rapidly changed since the pre-social media era. A great way to rethink your business sector is by examining the constant change in society, and as an entrepreneur, you can react to it by pivoting your existing business model. There is a significant demand for fashion ‘consumption’ for the sole purpose of digital content creation, meaning that purchasing and physical ownership for these ‘consumers’ is at least partially redundant
Think positive
Lockdown and quarantine became a serious test for all working moms. Even though it’s hard to work when kids are doing homeschooling, try to stay positive in these new circumstances. While trying to find the balance between business and private life, you may start to spend more time with your children working on developing their various skills, and creating a new type of environment at home that allows both you and your children to follow their interests and passions.
Self-care
In order to stay calm in the current environment of change, try to regularly meditate. As an entrepreneur, you’ll find this to be the most effective in finding balance and growing your personality. Everyone should try a different meditation technique and find the one that suits your personal temper and lifestyle. A true balance can be achieved through self-care and meditation.
Go digital
Recognise the growing ‘purchase, Instagram, return’ trend that exists today for most retail companies, clients purchase garments but many of those return the garment after receiving online the ‘validation’ of their digital content wearing the item. Maybe it’s possible not to buy fashion after all?!?
Don’t compete – cooperate!
There is this flawed perception that businesses need to compete with each other in order to thrive. In fact, when you cooperate with your competitor you are both building a sustainable business. Rather than spending your time focusing on what your competitor is doing, you can focus on creating new products and services together.
