Today on Chill, we’re catching up with Emma Mcilroy, CEO @ Wildfang. Emma and Overdose’s Todd Welling will discuss all things digital commerce, omnichannel, expansion, and (of course) operating through Covid-19.
#010 : Today on Overdose & Chill, we’re catching up with Emma Mcilroy, CEO of Wildfang.
Emma walks us through her incredible story around purpose-driven brands, consumer connections, earned media, uniforms, finding 20k customers in your first 30 days, and our favourite new quote, “high potential bandaids.” One of the best.
WILDFANG is a US-based women’s apparel company featuring clothing that offers menswear inspired styling, breaking gender norms in fashion and society. The company was founded in 2012 by Emma Mcilroy, Taralyn Thuot, and Julia Parsley, who previously worked at Nike, Inc.
WILDFANG began in a studio apartment in Portland, OR. With equal parts nerve and naivety, the founders cashed in their savings and quit their corporate day jobs to build the now successful brand. The team had grown tired of asking “Are real pockets revolutionary?,” “Is it too much to ask for a button up without boob gap?,” and “Why is the fashion industry still clinging to outdated gender norms that serve no one?”
In answering these questions, WILDFANG was born, and ever since, the brand has been on a mission to rethink gender norms and how they show up in fashion. The brand embraces masculine, feminine, and everything-in-between.
Since WILDFANG started, they’ve given back over $500k to admirable causes and learned how to make some damn fine blazers. (With real pockets!)
You can visit them online or swing by one of their stores in PDX or LA.