Since 2012, Fashion Digital Founding Principal Sandy Hussain has focused on building a community within the fashion world.
She has undoubtedly achieved this goal, building her empire to include events held on the east and west coast of the U.S., installments in London and Australia, and a new mobile-focused conference. Targeting technology companies and e-Commerce professionals in the fashion industry, Fashion Digital events have garnered up to 600 attendees and 100 speakers at a time.
Exceptionally pleased with the latest installment in New York City, “I felt like, as leader of the event, our mission was very clear,” Hussain said in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “For the first time, I saw that community between technology companies and fashion retailers. That was always my dream.”
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The Fashion Digital team also has perfected its content strategy, focusing on the unique pain points and opportunities fashion retailers have in the ever-evolving e-Commerce world. “We’re definitely at the point now where we’re delivering the content that is most relevant to our audience,” Hussain said. As a result, the audience, which consists of executives with sophisticated technology and e-Commerce knowledge, “were highly engaged and the interaction between speakers and the audience was the best I’ve ever seen. The energy, overall, was very positive.”
Riding high on the growing success of Fashion Digital, Hussain has announced that the event is going to Australia for the first time in November 2015. But first, Fashion Digital will hold FD Mobile on March 24, 2015, in New York City. The invitation-only event will target retail executives who lead mobile commerce initiatives and have a title of VP or higher. Hussain aims to have up to 200 attendees for the inaugural event.
Building A Community Of Female Leaders
All Fashion Digital events are becoming mainstays for brands, retailers and technology companies. Despite this success, Hussain has a larger goal in mind.
“People always ask me why I became the Founding Principal of Fashion Digital,” Hussain said. “Some people assume it’s because I love fashion, and while I do, it was really tech that I loved most. I entered the fashion tech industry because it was the only area of the tech community where I was listened to.”
Hussain’s inspiration for establishing Fashion Digital brings to light a common challenge many women face in the tech world, she noted. “My love was tech and tying that to fashion was the only way I gained credibility. I think that tells a story in terms of where women are in the tech world.”
As the fashion industry ventures into 2015, Hussain plans to tap into the momentum of Fashion Digital to further develop the community and bring together female executives from all around the world.
“It’s striking to me the sheer number of female executives that are in fashion,” Hussain said. “We make up one of the largest, fastest-growing industry today. So I want to add a few programs that will foster that community of female executives globally so they can better assist each other and show each other new growth areas.”
Fashion Digital will establish a global series that will bring together 20 female founders in 12 cities, according to Hussain, creating a “network of education in e-Commerce for women across a variety of markets.”
