Yeah, and welcome, everyone.
Thank you so much for tuning into this week's episode of Building with Schiller, the weekly
space series hosted by Ben Roy and myself, where we get to dive into the stories, experiences
and thoughts of founders and builders in the Web3 community.
This has been just such an awesome series to run this year, and just truly appreciate
all of the support, both from the audience as well as the founders that have been brave
enough to hop on stage and let us lovingly grill them about their lives and how they got to
where they currently are.
Today, we are thrilled to be chatting with Colby Magrabie, CEO and founder of Merch, which is
an incredible company, an art and culture company, creating Neo-Culture. I'm butchering the pronunciation
of that Colby, I'm sure you'll correct me after this. Creating generative fashion and one of one
of ex-garments under the premise that your clothing should be as unique as you are. It's
been amazing working with Colby and the Merch team via Schiller, but we haven't had a lot of time
to actually just chat about Colby's background and how Merch really got started. So yeah, just
very excited to have this conversation today. Extremely excited about the merger of generative
art and generative production and design with fashion. It's been incredible to see
Web3 and these tokens we know and love to permeate the outside world at a greater and greater
capacity in more thoughtful, nuanced ways over the past year. And to me, fashion is an avenue that
just makes so much sense and something I'm really excited to learn a bit more about and think the
space needs. I'm pretty sure you could put CryptoBro Starter Pack into Google and just
see the heinous fits that we're all known for wearing all the time, mostly speaking about myself.
But yeah, with all of that said, thank you Colby for being here. Thank you to everyone that showed
up. Whether you're into generative art, entrepreneurship, fashion, culture, all of the
above, I think this is going to be an awesome conversation and would appreciate if you could
take a moment to give the pin post a quick share or the space to share. Feel free to drop a little
GM. Could be your favorite fashion gif. I've had some fun delving into what Tenor or Jiffy have
on offer. And yeah, if you have any questions, just drop them in the comments. I don't think Colby
has a hard stop per se, but if we have some time at the end, we'll bring folks up and you can ask
about absolutely anything related to Colby's story, thoughts on fashion, questions about merch,
anything that might come up. But this space will be recorded. So if you have a little
question that pops to mind as we're chatting, definitely drop it in the comments below.
And with all of that said, just want to do a quick mic check. Ben, are you with us?
I am so with you. I'm stoked, man. I'm just chuckling about all the black hoodies that
I have in my closet from various merch events. So excited for this one, man.
Yeah, absolutely. Same. I feel like I wear just probably too much of the wrong merch. I need to
finally get some actual merch, merch with two M's, so I can look a little more stylish. I need
something to match the prestige of my Birkenstocks and Genstarch socks that I am just constantly
wearing. Colby, let's do a little mic check. Can you hear us? I can, and we definitely need to hook
you guys up with merch soon. Absolutely. Yeah, I'm really, really excited for that.
Awesome. Well, yeah, let's dive into things right away. Ben, do you want to kick us off?
Yeah, for sure. Let's do it. So one of the fun things that we've done with a lot of the founders
who have come through is just explore more the pre-crypto era of what you're up to, who you are,
just to inform a little bit of the conversation. And so I think that would be fun to pose
that question to you, Colby. Maybe just how did you get to where you were before you started merch?
That could touch on school, design, any passions you've had, side projects. What's the Colby 101
story? Definitely. So I have had, and I've been very lucky to have, a deep love and passion
for fashion and art since I was a little girl. Since I was about eight years old,
cutting up magazine clippings, I got my first job. I grew up in Chicago. I got my first job
at a retail store in Chicago where I worked on the weekends just because I wanted to be around
clothing and just learn. And I was just fashion obsessed. And that's something that was really
sort of innate. I mean, my mom is an interior designer, so I always grew up around fabric
samples and things. But I feel like when you have that deep of a passion,
when you're that young about something, I mean, it's like you're sort of bored with it in a way.
It wasn't necessarily taught or acquired through school or at any point later in life.
And then I started working. I got my first internship when I was a freshman in high
school. I worked for a brand in New York for a week leading up to my spring break,
a brand called Phillip Limb. And he was a really hot New York designer at the time,
where these sort of contemporary New York brands were kind of just on the rise. This was around
2008. And through my relationship with Phillip, I ended up staying with him. My parents cancelled
our spring break, which was two weeks, meant to be the two weeks following my internship.
And I stayed on with Phillip working the whole time. So I worked for him for three weeks. And
then he introduced me to the editor in chief of Teen Vogue. And again, this was sort of,
it's so crazy to think like this wasn't that long ago, but how much the world has changed
and evolved since then, especially the world of fashion and media. So this is when Teen Vogue
was also sort of in its heyday. I mean, it was like the Bible for most teens living
around the world, but especially sort of in the US, we all live to Teen Vogue for the latest trends.
And so they hired me as their fashion week correspondent. So from a teen's perspective,
I wrote about the fashion shows in New York and Paris. I continued interning throughout my
four years of high school whenever I could. I got summer jobs. I was never someone that enjoyed
going to camp. So I started working during the summers since I was very young. And then I moved
to New York to go to the Gallatin School at NYU in 2011. And the Gallatin School is where you design
your own major. So, you know, traditionally, obviously, you would declare a major and take
whatever courses satisfied, satisfied that major. But at Gallatin, you basically take whatever
courses you want for four years, and then you craft a major around the courses that you took.
So I studied art history and fashion business. And then sort of my interests expanded to include
architecture and design. And I wrote my senior thesis on artist books. And I created my own
artist book, which was in the style of the old-fashioned paper doll book. And I used spring,
summer 2015 runway images as the clothing and an artist called Cindy Sherman. I used
characters from her murder mystery series, which was one of her earliest bodies of work.
I used those as the paper dolls. And anyways, it's now in the Met's collection of artist books
in the library. So that's very exciting. And so after I graduated at NYU from NYU,
I launched a website called MiniMuse, which was basically an extension of sort of the interdisciplinary
nature that I approached my, you know, education for four years, but applying it to original
content. So MiniMuse was a digital digest where I produced original content surrounding the history
of art, fashion, architecture, and design. So my whole sort of thesis was, you know,
I would cover fashion shows, but rather than touch on all the direct references that, you know,
a lot of other different media outlets would cover, I would maybe contextualize the collection
and talk about it in, you know, the context of architecture or, you know, compare an artwork to
a chair or something like that. So it was all about trying to see, you know, the world through
different creative lenses and drawing connections between time periods and references. So I kept up
with MiniMuse for about five years, but always, and, you know, produced some content that I'm still
so excited by today, I still reference today, created some incredible sort of relationships
with people both in fashion and art and, you know, curators and different institutions around the
world. But I sort of realized early on, I'd never be able to scale it to the level I'd initially hope,
just given, you know, how saturated online media is, how like truly niche my content was. But,
you know, I think we can see this across, you know, whether it be in fashion or art or,
you know, in web three, that kind of the more focused and niche you are, the more really like
diehard and powerful your community is. So it was, you know, I had some really committed
readers, but, you know, not maybe at the scale or level as I had initially anticipated.
And then that's sort of what led me into web three in March of 2021,
which is when I first sort of got a taste of NFT mania.
Wild. There are so many threads to pull on there. And I think we'll have to circle back to some at
the end, once we get through some of our scheduled programming. But the first thing that kind of
comes to mind, just as I listened to you is, there's a little throwaway line, which I will
butcher and paraphrase, but effectively, it's like, what you find yourself doing at 31 is probably
what you were doing at 13. And it's interesting to just like watch that thread for you of
all these interdisciplinary things, like all the fashion stuff, the art stuff, the culture stuff,
and fast forward, right, you kind of move past the high school years. And here we are, right,
kind of in the same mix. And so that's a special thing. Totally. I mean, I couldn't agree with
that more. And it's funny, I was just thinking, like, there's so many consistent narratives in
like every sort of, you know, kind of cycle of my creative existence or professional existence,
like even going back to when I was a kid, and even, you know, just articles that mock articles
that I used to make for myself on my computer in high school, you know, like I referenced those
later and turn them into like real articles that I posted on MiniMuse and just sort of this really
interdisciplinary approach that I would take to original content for MiniMuse is the same exact
approach that I take to creating product for merch or thinking about how we can really translate
web3native mechanics through the medium of fashion. So it's really, you know, always about
sort of drawing connections between different fields and how we can creatively express those
connections in a new way. Totally. That's very well said. Well, before we bridge into the
whole kind of conversation around what merch is, I'm curious what the bridging story was. Like,
how did you get into the web3 kind of crypto space? Maybe what were the first NFT headlines
or things related to that that caught your mind? Yeah, that story would be fun to just explore.
Definitely. So I think in, you know, March of 2021 was a lot of people's sort of first
taste of what NFTs were because after the people sale happened at Christie's sort of,
you know, from one day to the next, everyone, you know, had NFTs on their mind. So my husband
is an art dealer. So, you know, that's exactly what happened in our household. After the people
sale took place, he started getting, you know, calls like right and left from, you know, what's
an NFT? Who's this artist people? You know, can you offer me a beeple? And I'm a total research
junkie. So he always talks on speakerphone. So I was overhearing all these conversations
and just started researching the space. So web3, the Metaverse NFTs. And it was really
instantaneous that I realized that this is where the future of my brand, you know, should live.
This is as if I'd started MiniMuse 20 years earlier at the beginning of the dotcom boom.
So, you know, it wasn't necessarily immediate on what my footprint might look like in the space,
but I definitely went all in. And my first idea was I had started a small business over COVID
where we were all out East and we were taking beach walks and I was collecting seashells on
the beach and I started painting seashells with brand logos on them. And I started selling them
through Instagram. So I basically invested the money I had made doing that into buying land
in the Metaverse. My first idea was I wanted to be, and just sorry to rewind quickly,
I knew obviously that whatever path I was going to take into the space, obviously was going to
involve fashion because, you know, that's probably the space I know best. And also one that I see
a huge opportunity in, obviously web3, you know, that I saw then and that I'm all in on now,
you know, just understanding that the future of fashion is in this space. So my first idea was I
had purchased land in the Metaverse and I wanted to be, reach out to brands and be their web3 native
partner to sort of onboard them into web3. So I think at the time Gucci was the only luxury
brand that really had any sort of presence in the space. So I reached out to a handful
of brands that I had close relationships with through working with them through Mini Muse
and had conversations with them, sort of proposing that, you know, I own this land,
let's partner on a virtual pop-up shop, let's release virtual product and let's potentially,
you know, tie it to physical products. So sell, you know, virtual handbags as NFTs
and then holders can redeem the physical versions. And sort of one by one, the brands were like,
you want us to sell virtual product in a virtual space? Like we're in the business of selling
physical products. Meanwhile, you know, the first brand I spoke to launched their first NFT
project eight months later. So and most of them now do have web3 strategies and a web3 presence
in some capacity. So after getting, you know, that same response from, you know, two or three
of the brands I spoke to, I thought, okay, they're not getting it, they need a proof of concept.
So I hired architects and I built out one of my pieces of land in crypto voxels.
I built Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House, which is one of the most iconic structures
of the 20th century. It's in Plano, Illinois in the Midwest. And, you know, my whole idea was,
okay, this is the perfect proof of concept. This is, this can show, show these brands that,
like, you can do something super, super high level. It can be, you know, kind of multi-layered
and it's just super cool and this is the future. So the next brand I reached out to was this company
called Beatra, which is like the Swiss Herman Miller. So they make office furniture, but,
you know, they're pretty innovative and they're super innovative and have definitely pushed the
boundaries in the past. So I proposed to them that we opened the Beatra Design Museum
on one of my pieces of land in the art and design district in Decentraland.
And, you know, they were open to the idea. We had a month's worth of conversations. Finally,
at the end of the month, they were like, I'm sorry, you know, we're in the business
of selling physical furniture. So that brings us to August of 2021. And I had a dear friend who
launched an NFT project. So I finally got sort of bitten by the NFT bug, waking up in the
middle of the night, checking OpenSea trading stats, like sitting at dinner with my husband
and like him, you know, refreshing the OpenSea page on his phone, like me with my computer next
to me, and just, you know, totally sort of getting immersed and really geeking out over it.
And then I also, over the course of that month, discovered art blocks and started
learning about generative art and really becoming fascinated, you know, with the
mechanics of generative art and obviously, you know, putting sort of my art historian hat on,
being so intrigued by how game changing this will be in the future when you're looking back
at the history of art. I sort of equate it to like when the camera was invented, obviously,
it opened up the meaning of artists to a whole new sort of group of people. And suddenly, you
know, photographers were considered artists. You weren't just a traditional, you know, sculptor,
painter, and sort of making, drawing that connection with the past. And then, of course,
you know, through learning a bit more about generative art, I immediately, you know, thought,
oh, why has no one ever applied a generative design process towards products, specifically
fashion product? And that's sort of where my journey towards merch started.
That is so cool to hear. Yeah, I know we've chatted, you know, a bunch over the past
couple of months, but it's really, yeah, just fascinating to hear. I think anytime we get to
understand someone's journey before web three, and then getting into web three, there's always
these kind of shared mindsets that I think we all have, where it's just this deep excitement,
deep passion for things, for things culture adjacent or directly as a part of culture,
and just loved hearing your, I guess like, you know, just you share about, you know, sitting
with your husband, finally being invested to the point where you're like, Hey, can you refresh,
open, see, like, I just need to check on how the floor is doing. Just it'll just take a second.
Like, I that was so real. I think that we've all we've all been there and now are there on
a daily basis. And just love to hear that kind of, I guess getting close to the inception point
of merch. And also just another reminder, you know, all of those companies you were chatting to
are probably thinking back to the conversation you had as well, being like, damn,
would have been great to follow through on that and, you know, really dip our toes in
the kind of virtual space and what three space, because those those ideas are just on so on point
so much in terms of where things are going. I'd love to maybe just before we dive into any of the
more niche parts of what you're currently building, could you just give everyone an overview of what
merch is? I think that would be super helpful. Definitely. So merch is a generative fashion
brand. We're developing a new category I called Neo Couture and Fungi you said it perfectly at the
at the intro at the, you know, beginning of the conversation. And what was really interesting to
me about Neo Couture and again, like putting my, my fashion history hat on is when you look back
at the history of fashion, you know, like any sort of market, it's pretty cyclical in sort of the
moments of innovation that happened. So, you know, all clothing really started before mass
production as one of a kind, like it was all Okator. And then suddenly European designers
started introducing sizing, which was called Preda Porte. And then the industry expanded
when sort of the Western ready to wear designers came into play like the Ralph Lawrence,
the Tommy Hill figures, and kind of the next cycle of that was fast fashion. So Uniqlo, Zara, H&M.
And in my mind, the next cycle, which is the Neo Couture cycle is when the one of one nature
of Okator meets the speed and scale of fast fashion. So that's something that, you know,
we're kind of hopefully spearheading and what we see is definitely the future of fashion.
And that's that Neo Couture positioning. And the only way you can truly achieve that
at scale on, you know, at least on the creative side is through taking a generative approach to
product design. So that, you know, it all sort of goes back to generative design,
which is really kind of the core nucleus of this concept and thinking about how we can expand it
and apply it to different areas, whether it be fashion in the future, maybe other potential
categories. I think generative furniture is something that I find really cool and could
definitely be a great medium for generative design, obviously. And we've seen some examples
of that already. And then in terms of merch's kind of product positioning, you know, the blockchain is
kind of the underlying layer to everything that we do. So every single merch product exists first
in its digital form as an NFT. Each NFT is then redeemable for a physical version of whatever
composition of product you have in your artwork. And then each NFT also gives you access to a
virtual version. So my whole sort of idea with positioning merch as, you know, a Web3 native
luxury brand, but really luxury adjacent in kind of the historical meaning of luxury is, you know,
luxury denotes craftsmanship, it denotes quality, it denotes material, which our products, you know,
I kind of uphold those standards fully. But in my mind, too, the future of luxury will be
people having a product and being able to use it in whatever capacity they desire. So, you know,
having it in your wallet, being able to wear it IRL, and then also being able to explore and wear
it in the metaverse. So I think that's, you know, that sort of product triumphant is something
that's really core to merch. And I see as being core, you know, to the future of not only merch,
but of other brands. Thanks so much for going over that. And I think it's a really,
really thoughtful approach. Yeah, I'll maybe save my kind of bold thesis for generative fashion
towards the end. I don't want to just be pumping organizational bags here. But I think it does
make a ton of sense. And I think having that bridge between virtual and physical is such a meaningful
touch, where people do want to express themselves in virtual space. You know, I find myself in a
lot of these platforms, we've been working with Nifty Island, an awesome new gaming company in
the space, we'll be in On Cybers, we'll be in other in other arenas like Mona and HyperFi. And
it's always very cool to have, you know, versions of your PFP as avatars. But the only logical kind
of evolution of that is like, okay, well, I really want to differentiate this avatar, I want to make
it, you know, more so myself, I want to express myself and show up as I might, you know, to an event
in IRL space. And then yeah, I think the way you've you've kind of merged those two worlds is
really, really compelling. And yeah, I'd love to, I guess, maybe step back a moment to ask, you
know, you have this idea for merch, what was that moment like? And what were the next steps?
When did you say, let's form group, let's form team and kind of how did that all proceed?
Well, the sort of initial ideas I had regarding merch, and when I started, obviously,
exploring generative art, which was in August 2021, I'd say by September, October,
I really started having conversations with people and really started developing this out more,
started making, you know, little decks on my computer of what this could be.
You know, kind of writing my ideas down, creating some sort of thesis around the concept,
my creating my own version of like a business plan, which I now look back at. And I'm like,
Oh, that's so cute. It's evolved a lot since then. And then I'd say I started working on this
full full time in December of 2021. So, and there's just, I mean, it's a totally, besides the
underlying kind of core concept, you know, being the same, everything around that concept just
has completely evolved in the last two plus years. So, you know, I started by working on,
you know, the NFT artwork, knowing that everything, you know, our primary distribution
mechanism would be our collections beginning first as NFTs. So, you know, it's been, we've done a full
180 with the artwork since then, but I started, you know, researching different illustrators,
having conversations with individuals that, you know, are specifically in kind of the manufacturing
world in fashion. And, and even though, you know, I've loved and appreciated fashion since
I was a little girl, I never had an interest in being a fashion designer. So, you know, with as much
as I may have, you know, learned and, and as much information as I may have acquired about the history
of fashion, like truly knew very little about the world of manufacturing. So every single conversation
I'd have with people about, about this concept that, you know, people from, from that part of
the fashion industry, you know, they all explained to me that this, this hasn't been done because
it can't be done. And there's a reason why it hasn't been done. And it's just, you know,
there's no factory in the world that's set up to produce one of one product at scale.
And they were right, there is not a factory in the world that's produced that set up to produce one
of one product at scale, but we've managed to sort of devise some hacks to the traditional
method that has made it possible. So that's something that I'm truly so, so proud of.
And something that obviously we plan to continue innovating on top of moving forward.
And to your question too, just about the team, you know, my, my team started super, super small.
I had someone working with me through mini muse who was sort of like my only employee at the time
and, and she was helping me out a bit, but, you know, web three wasn't really her passion. So
my, the first member of my team that, that I hired is our head of product, who, Daniel,
who's amazing, who I got connected with through actually my friend's project through their
community side. And so he was, he's been with me since the spring of 2022. And then we've just
been slowly growing moving forward. I think something that I've definitely learned through
setting up a team and through setting up a incredible team. And I'm just, every single
person on the merge team, I find, you know, to everyone has their specialty and everyone's
super passionate. And we couldn't do it without any of them. So they're all amazing. And you know,
I've, I've gotten most of the team members just through word of mouth and through friends. So I
think that's been kind of the most eye opening element to, to setting up the team is just, you
know, tap into your existing network and have people tap into their networks. And you know,
one of the other earliest people I hired was our director of manufacturing and she's a 30
year industry veteran. She worked for 10 years through for my friends that have a fashion brand
based in New York. So, you know, she has really spearheaded the physical production side,
which has been a huge undertaking, but also hugely rewarding, hugely rewarding that we got it done.
And yes, so we've just been slowly growing team member by team member and, and most of the people
that we've hired since then have all come from within one of our networks. So now we're nine team
members strong. And yeah, like I said, we're, we just started building out our engineering team,
which has been really exciting. And yeah, there's so many different sort of facets to the merch
brand that it's been really great to sort of build out these different verticals and have,
you know, each team member really have their unique specialties, but then see how they
really collaborate and how they're all interested in kind of the inner workings of each other's
each other's kind of categories of product has been really cool to see.
Thanks so much for speaking to that. Yeah, your team is, is really stacked. And I have wondered
that just how, how did that itself come to be? I think that's one of the hardest things to do
from what I've heard, or maybe, maybe hardest isn't the best word, maybe one of the most
important things to do, to really make sure that those who are early in helping you succeed and
fulfill your vision for your company, those choices have to be made very carefully. And yeah,
it's been interesting to hear how much of that just came through your direct network. And yeah,
I'm not sure if you were going to speak to some of the advisors you guys have listed on,
on the website, but absolutely stacked. Absolutely stacked group of people. I see Casey
from AOTM is here. Priyanka Desai from, from Tribute is, is there people? Mary, Catherine
later from Uniswap and seed phrase, who I think we're all pretty familiar with. Yeah.
It's so true. I mean, I'm so proud of a not only our sort of core merch team that we've assembled,
but also our advisors are, you know, have just been hugely, hugely helpful in every single way.
They, again, all have their own sort of specialties, but it's been really great to see how
much people want others to succeed in the space. I think like the traditional fashion industry can
be pretty sort of ruthless. And, you know, I know it gets a bad rap sometimes, and some of it's
not true, but like other things definitely are. So I, I love just the community, community sort of
nature of web three and how, you know, people want to support each other and sort of, you know,
we're all in this together. And I think that has been really exciting to see and, you know,
is something that you see both hopefully across the merch brand and also kind of the community
we've cultivated and, you know, our group of advisors and team members that we've put together.
I love that. That's such a good lineup. Pre used to be my boss. So she's kind of like my mom. I love
that. I didn't even know she was involved with you. That's so fun. I want to ask, just hearing
you talk, it made me think there's so many moving parts here that are very crypto specific,
right? Like even the concept of generative art, while that's not a crypto thing,
it's kind of, you know, most of us only came across that because you're involved in refreshing
open sea for our blocks, floor prices and whatever, right? So I'm curious, how do you
think about packaging the story of merch for people who are entirely outside the industry?
Like what's the way that this expands to new people?
Um, new people, sorry, outside the fashion industry, you're saying,
or outside of the outside of web three? Yeah, I mean, look, I think that one of
our, you know, true sort of value ads in both capacities is our deep understanding of the other
industry. So like, you know, I've really tried cultivating a team that has a really deep
understanding of web three. Um, and maybe, you know, predates my, uh, my presence into the space.
Um, and also, you know, immerses himself in the space and vice versa with fashion. And,
you know, obviously I go back in fashion a long ways. So I feel like we're uniquely positioned
to sort of be that, um, the, the lens into the other side of what merch is. So for the fashion
industry, we can really be there, you know, entrance into web three and sort of help make a
lot of these kind of mechanics more digestible and, um, more approachable for someone that might
not have an understanding of the space, but really loves fashion and loves product and, you know,
wants a cool hoodie or, or, you know, a new backpack or, you know, whatever sort of product category
we expand into in the future. So I think I really want to position, that's one of my ultimate goals
of merch is, you know, merch is a web three native generative fashion brand, but I really
want to position it as an onboarding function to bring more sort of traditional fashion
consumers or traditional art collectors into the space. And then also vice versa with web three,
you know, everyone loves hoodies, everyone loves merch, uh, merch in the traditional sense and
hopefully the neo couture sense. Um, but you know, it doesn't, you don't necessarily have to
have a deep understanding of fashion to engage with our brand or our product, but you know,
I hope that merch does kind of, uh, spike people's interests and, and get them to maybe
want to understand more about fashion or maybe want to understand more about the manufacturing
side or the material side. Um, and we definitely have, uh, you know, sort of made, hopefully
made it possible for people to learn about the product in a whole new way and really, you
know, geek out over the product. Um, we also, um, launched a, a medium called the juice box
where we're writing articles every other week, sort of about the brand and, you know, articles
similar to what, uh, the type of content I post on mini news and a lot of those leading
up to our drop will be more sort of fashion specific and about our products. So, you know,
even though people can engage with the brand, not knowing anything really about the manufacturing
side or, or sort of the granular details about the production, but we also sort of
provide avenues if people do want to get their hands a bit dirty and, and, and get in there
and understand more about how we actually made this happen. I love that. Well said. Um,
that's, that's super helpful. I want to flag for people that we're going to have a little bit of
time for questions in a little while. So if you do have questions for Colby on any and all of
these topics, just, uh, either drop that in the comments and we'll tee it up or we may have some
space to actually bring people up on stage. Um, but yeah, before we get there, I just want
to do some zoom out questions. Um, I'm curious, like these things take so long to build. You
already had that anecdote of all my very cute first business plan versus the reality of trying to
actually make merge happen. Um, when you think about like a five year time horizon, I mean,
it's harder to go kind of beyond five years, but the point is just like to zoom out and think of
the long view. What do you hope to accomplish? Like, what will you have accomplished in five
years invest in a best case scenario? I mean, I think one of my primary goals is definitely
onboarding people into the space through the merch brand and really having, you know,
merch engaged, not only with a web three native community and cultivate that community,
but really bring a traditional fashion consumer, um, or, you know, our collector into the space.
So, you know, that's hopefully one of my shorter term goals also to, to do, you know,
incredible drops with some, you know, amazing collaborators. I think our first drop is not
co-branded, um, but our, every single drop moving forward is the opportunity to co-brand with,
you know, either someone native to the web three space or native to the traditional
fashion and art space. So I think so much about my background, um, has been just obsessing over
sort of these incredible sort of history making collaborations in the fashion industry and the
convergence of fashion and art. So that's something I'm really exciting, excited to do is sort of use
merch as a vehicle for collaboration. Um, and, you know, creating incredible product that we fully
stand behind and that hopefully people, people want to collect and want to want to purchase. And
then I also think, you know, on top of that, the innovation, um, that can happen on the
manufacturing side is something that really excites me. Um, like I said, you know, there's no
factory in the world that set up to produce, um, to produce product, one of one product at scale.
And even though we've been able to devise and develop some interesting sort of hacks
through inverting the traditional manufacturing process, like it still could be, um, exceedingly
more efficient. So I think it's really exciting to me to think about, um, what kind of efficiencies
we can develop on the manufacturing side. Um, and also on, on the tech side, um, there's some really
exciting things that we're building in-house, um, around our, the NFC trips in our garments.
So what does that technology look like and what, you know, utilities can we, um, can we sort of
develop, uh, around our product. Um, and then lastly, I think I'm excited to see where the
virtual space, uh, goes in the next few years. I think right now it's obviously premature. We're
kind of focusing primarily on, you know, the NFT and the physical for this first drop, even though
there is a virtual asset, but my, my original cute little business plan two and a half years ago
definitely did put, um, a lot of emphasis on the future of virtual. So I'll be excited to,
to track and see where that space sort of evolves into over the next few years.
I'm excited to follow along. I think especially on the like factory side of things,
this is just me speaking personally, uh, you're kind of front running a whole theme. Like you
mentioned furniture before, there's a few different interesting areas here where the world is just
not set up for this concept. The way that I try and talk about it with new people is like,
you go to Ikea and everyone buys that same picture of New York to hang on their wall.
And what would it look like to, you know, every, have everyone show up and get something actually
unique for their house. Uh, but the same thing goes for, for fashion, for architecture, for
all sorts of things. And so in the, yeah, that hardware sense, like the real physicality of it,
I'm excited to, to track, track along. Um, I have two more quick questions that are more
entrepreneurial related kind of general before I can pass it over to Fungi. Um, and I think this
is just with kind of being mindful that there are going to be people in the audience who might want
to start something themselves or be early in that process. Um, so I'll just, I'll start with one
thing. What's some advice that you've been given that you continue to come back to? Like what's
something that's stuck in your head could be from anybody. It doesn't have to be from web3
specifically. I'm just in how you start new things. I'd be curious if there's something to
share there. I would say it just all goes back to the mantra that nothing good is easy and nothing
easy is good. So I think it's this idea. And especially, you know, in this culture of
immediacy that we all live in, we all think that things happen overnight. Um, and that's not true.
Things take good things, things worth happening and worth doing take a very long time to build,
um, and to really refine and iterate off of. Um, and I just think, you know, the entrepreneur sticks
with it and has conviction about their ideas and what they believe in and the market they want
to enter and the product they want to create. And, you know, nothing, nothing necessarily worth
doing to that level happens overnight. So I just think that that entrepreneurial drive to stick with
something and believe in your idea and not saying it will definitely succeed, but just believe in it
enough to be able to see it through and to build it to the absolute best of your ability. Um, and
to the highest level that you can, I think is something that's really important. Um, and so
yeah, don't, don't focus necessarily on, on the short term when you're really building your core
product. I think, you know, have, have that perseverance to see it through, um, to, to
the best that it possibly can be. Wow. Love that. I feel like that, that covers so much that I actually
don't think I'm going to ask a follow-up. Um, that the, the throwaway line is really helpful too,
that nothing good is easy and nothing easy is good. Cause so, so much of it really just does
come down to showing up again and again and again for like a long period of time. Obviously,
like you're saying, it's not like that guarantees success, but it seems like that's a theme across
a lot of people we've had the chance to talk to, but just generally, right? Like even at the high,
high level. So love that. Yeah. Thanks so much for that, uh, for that response. Um,
I think this space is very rich with people that are incredibly creative and incredibly
hardworking and passionate, uh, who often just need a little nudge in the right direction,
whether that is just hearing how someone else did it and realizing like, Oh, I'm also just a
human being as they are. And I can go do that too, in my own way, uh, or, or having some more
specific advice. And it was cool. Like in preparation for this, um, I did a little digging
on YouTube and heard you speaking, uh, or saw you speaking on the team Vogue YouTube account
14 years ago. Um, uh, which was, which was amazing. Are you dying that you need to send that for me?
Yeah, I'll drop. Yeah, I'll drop it in a group chat. But, um, you were saying, uh, you had your,
you were like, I got my first internship at 14 and I'd say, you know, to anyone that wants to get
into the fashion industry, you have to be willing to work as hard as you absolutely can. Um, and
you have to really, really want it because it's, it's very hard and there's a lot of competition.
And I think, you know, those sentiments are very translatable to, um, uh, to entrepreneurship
as well. Uh, in general, um, there are a lot of people, uh, that are always looking to bring,
you know, their, their idea, their value as they see it to, um, to the public. Uh, and it's,
I think being early as you have seemingly always been, uh, which is often another shared attribute
with a ton of the folks we, we chat with, uh, both on this series as well as outside of it. Um,
I think all of us are, are kind of trend spotters. Um, we all have, uh, uh, a shared optimism and
excitement for what could be and what we could do with the technology and, and, uh, kind of, uh,
people around us that share excitement for it. Um, and yeah, I just really love it. Sounds like
your advice is, is like the same 14 years later, which is super cool. Um, and yet you've done so
many things since then, uh, which, which yeah, is, is just great to, great to hear your, your own
wise 14 year old intern for sure. I think they called you on the Teen Vogue, like super intern,
cold. So funny. I love that. I'll never forget though, like back to that point and
just in reaction to what you're saying, you know, I think that along with the nothing good is easy
and nothing easy is good kind of mantra. I think there's no job too small to, you know, I like
when I interned for Phillip, the first time for the brand I worked for, like I was so honored
to go get his coffee. I was like, I called my mom from Starbucks the first day. I was like,
oh my God, I'm getting Phillip Limp his coffee. Um, so I just, and I think that those, um, that
like, you know, kind of joy of just like the small things has been kind of like a little
bit overlooked today. And I just, you know, I think it's so important to, to do any tap,
no task is too small. And like, I still, you know, abide by that mantra today too.
And I'll never forget I was, I was sitting, um, you know, there was like, uh, you know,
some quiet time one day at work at, you know, one of my early internships and I asked the person if
I could go, um, organize the sample closet. And they looked at me like I was crazy. Like no one
has ever wanted to do that. And it's like, it's those little acts that really make you stand out.
And, you know, I think today more than ever, because I think so few people you find are
willing to do those things. So, um, I think that's, you know, another, or maybe not, uh,
well, it all sort of feeds, I think into this entrepreneurial mindset, but definitely another
piece of good advice, um, for anyone listening is, you know, no act is too small. Um, and no
job is too small. And I think, you know, do it and do it the best and do it better than
anyone else. And, and you'll get noticed. Yeah. So well said. And I think when that's combined
with passion too, um, like there's, there's so many things that would feel much harder if they
were in service of something that was not aligned with, you know, what I'm excited about or
passionate about, uh, but when it's all contributing to that, you know, much larger vision of where
you're trying to go, even if that's just like a strong feeling. Um, I think those, those speed
bumps are, you know, kind of just pebbles beneath your feet rather than any form of
tangible friction. Um, which, uh, yeah, is, is something that again, I think we all,
uh, all the builders that we've spoken with and many have spoken with privately, um,
share that sentiment. I think like one thing that stands out and there's probably, uh, a lot of people
wondering, something we always ask, um, the founders we speak with is how can folks get involved
in what merch is doing as it stands and maybe in the upcoming, uh, weeks or months?
Definitely. So, you know, we have, we just have sort of started our, our, um, you know, introducing
merch to the world, um, started our presence sort of on various platforms. Obviously, you know,
you're welcome to DM us and, um, we have a great, great, uh, community manager. Um, shout out to
loose tooth who, um, manages our different social channels. So, you know, we're always, we love
hearing from people, um, whether you have ideas or whether you're interested in getting more involved
in the brand. Um, and then, you know, we have our first collection coming up in mid-March. Um,
so there'll be a lot more, um, from us, a lot more updates from us in, in the days and weeks and
months moving forward. Um, but yeah, hop into our DMs. If you have questions or if you're
interested in learning more, um, go to our website, merch.xyz, and it's M-M-E-R-C-H.xyz.
Um, and yeah, subscribe to our newsletter. We definitely have a lot of different, um, sort of
channels through which you can reach us and through, um, that we're hoping to, you know,
cultivate an audience and a community and, and, and build those out and, and communicate, uh,
communicate to our, our base and our core community.
Thanks so much for covering that. Yeah, I always love to just make sure, um, that founders get
a chance to, to share that because, uh, I know all of the spaces that I listen to where I'm like,
this sounds fascinating and this sounds really interesting. Um, it's nice to just have that,
like, here's the three things you can do to stay in the loop or reach out about. Um,
and yeah, big shout out to Loose Tooth and the rest of the team. You, you guys are, are really,
really stacked, um, uh, with, with awesome people and some great advisors and yeah,
it's been a joy to work together. Uh, it's, it's just from the beginning, extremely apparent how
committed to building this in, you know, an ethical, meaningful, but really impactful way, uh, you all
are. Um, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Our, um, I'm really proud of, you know, the team that
we built and obviously these different channels that we're building out. So, um, I hope everyone,
everyone gets to us and is excited about what we're doing and yeah, follow us on, on Twitter for updates.
Let's go. Yeah. An awesome article too. I, I pinned it above, um, as well as, uh, a teaser put out today.
Um, I loved just that, that chat energy. We make cool shit. Um, you absolutely do.
And, uh, yeah, also gotta say like the, whoever is doing the GM posts is phenomenal. Like they are so,
so good. Uh, and like, that might sound like a trivial thing, but, um, the way in which art from
past and present, uh, you know, tokenized art from the web three space is being paired with, um,
kind of similar pieces and vibe or aesthetic, uh, from, uh, you know, more traditionally known artists
is, is super, super thoughtful. I feel like I've discovered, uh, a ton of, a ton of artists, um,
that I, I should probably know given how much time I spend looking at, at art in this particular
industry. Um, but yeah, so big, big shout out to them. I love that. Thank you. Shout out to Loose
Tooth. That is all Loose Tooth. Well, let's, let's open up the stage. Um, if anyone wants to come
and ask any questions, whether it's about fashion, generative design, um, entrepreneurship, uh, anything
whatsoever, if there's like some way in which you'd like to get involved, I'm personally like
super curious to see how direct artist collaborations go in the future. Um, I think one thing I'll maybe
start us off with just in this Q and A, um, what was your first business? You posted about that
before. I think the options, I should, I should read the options out, but, um, let me see if I
can, if I can find them quick. Uh, it was option A was, um, selling hot dogs at your brother's
football game. Option B was closet cleaning and organizing. Um, option C was creating and selling
duct tape wallets at school and option D was walking your neighbor's dogs. This is going off
memory. So correct me if I'm wrong. That was a hundred percent right. And I cannot believe
everyone guessed correctly. It was option C selling duct tape wallets at school. And I kind of love
that that's on brand for me enough where people guessed it. Um, but I, uh, yeah, I started a
little duct tape wallet business. Um, and I was selling them out of my locker and I think this
was in seventh grade and the school shut me down. They said I could only, you can only sell things
at school that benefit the school. So I offered to split, to split the revenue with them and they
still said no. So then I ended up having to quietly sell them out of my locker. Um, but I,
again, that entrepreneurial grit did not, that, that no was more of a suggestion.
But yeah, exactly. Exactly. Um, yeah. So it was the duct tape wallet business.
Were, were the other businesses real? I need to know. Um, I mean, look, I definitely enjoyed
cleaning and organizing people's closets, but I always did it for free. So I don't know if you
could qualify that as a business. Um, and yeah, no, I did more eating hot dogs than my brothers
football games than selling them, but that also could have been good. I'm like walking dogs. Um,
sure that could have been real, but, but no, I would say duct tape, a hundred percent. Yes.
Closet cleaning close second, but never profited from that.
Incredible. Yeah. It's always, but I've just like you brought up all of these memories of,
uh, me doing not to say I wasn't as crafty, uh, but I, I have some memories of like
being like six or I think I was like seven and my parents were doing a garage sale. Uh,
and before anyone showed up, I went and checked all of the prices and it was like, oh no,
we got to change these. Like if I can sell this for more, can I have a cut of your things? And
then did the selling of, of them. Uh, and yeah, it was like, I didn't sell wallets,
but was selling candy at school. Um, and yeah, it's, it's super funny. Um,
one thing I wanted to ask just in general, um, it's, it's been part of the, one of the reasons
I'm really excited about what you're building, um, and what merch is building, uh, is that I feel
like fashion has been somewhat slept on as a great, um, bridging opportunity between the kind of
traditional culture world, um, and, you know, quote unquote web two. Um, and I, I feel like a
lot of the focus and talk has been on gaming. I feel like that might just be a bit more of an
accessible topic, um, to consider, uh, or chat about. Um, but I, I feel like fashion makes so
much sense. Um, and I, I know there are a couple of companies kind of working close to this,
uh, and some really rad virtual, uh, fashion companies in this space. Um, but I'd love to hear,
I guess, just your take in terms of like where you saw that fit for, um, luxury or near luxury goods,
um, uh, as, as a bridge to, uh, to web three. Um, definitely. I mean, you know, I think in the
context of luxury, especially when you think of like, you know, um, soft, soft goods. So like handbags,
for example, when you think about the world of luxury handbags, it's all about scarcity.
And in many ways it's all about design attributes, which is sort of why I love taking a generative
approach to product design and really, you know, which enables you to break down products into
different traits and attributes. And it's, it's all about sort of the collectability. So there's
so many, um, kind of, uh, collector tendencies and motivations that I think are mirrored between,
you know, web three sort of, um, digital art collecting and, and, you know, kind of the,
what traditionally you would think of as luxury fashion. So I think there's that,
that desirability and those collector tendencies, there's huge overlap between those two worlds.
And then it comes down to, you know, great products. So I think the more and more examples
of great products there are in the space and obviously the easier it becomes to engage with
the space. So there's, you know, I, I, I said many tiers sort of setting up my first, uh,
metamask wallet and, you know, figuring out how to fund it and figuring out actually how to buy
something. So I think as soon as that process becomes infinitely easier, where you really are
able to onboard people without them even knowing that they're, um, that, you know, there's the
blockchain powering, uh, you know, kind of the blockchain infrastructure layer behind whatever
they're doing or purchasing. Um, I think that will obviously be a huge, huge unlock. Um,
and I'm really excited to see what the next year brings. Cause I think, you know, like ourselves,
I'm sure there's been a ton of innovative ideas and, you know, entrepreneurs kind of building,
um, building out these, their, their concepts and their companies in the last 24 months. Um,
and I, you know, I definitely see fashion as a huge category, um, you know, in the future of
web three, but also in the near future. And I'm exciting to see what other excited to see what
other fashion, uh, related projects sort of come to market in the next 12 months.
Yeah. Super well said. Yeah. There is something so strong, uh, just from like an industry's sense,
uh, where, you know, the fashion industry, I just looked up some stats. Uh, I think it's, uh,
Google is telling me $1.53 trillion in 2022, um, uh, in terms of worldwide, which I'm just going to
accept, um, uh, for, for time's sake, uh, and gaming being around 217 billion in the same year,
probably quite a bit bigger now. Um, but then intrinsic in that culture is this, uh, passion
for collecting, um, and this kind of prestige that comes with that, or that taste making that
comes with that, um, in similar ways that some of the more like collecting side of, of gaming
might show up. But yeah, it's really interesting to consider, um, fashion as perhaps one of the
largest potential, uh, kind of building blocks towards a greater sense of adoption. So thanks
so much for answering that. Uh, I definitely have more questions, but we are blessed to have,
uh, Ed balloon join us on stage. Um, Ed, I'm going to pass you the mic. Would love to hear
what you have to say. Yeah, I don't think I have much of a question. Um, or maybe it will
turn into that other than the fact that the fact that I'm so bullish on, um, March, I was able
to meet them at my offer. And, um, before I even knew before the space, before I even knew
they were in the space and I saw them with their dope ass hoodies and I said, Oh my gosh, this is,
this is what we need. Um, and so I think, um, in regards of, in regards to fashion
and honestly product, um, and this, I'm not going to like do, uh, disregard the other, um,
I would say, um, artists who are creating, um, fashion brands in the space, um, like
Gossamer and others, like they definitely are doing it. Um, but, uh, in addition to meeting,
um, the team, the March team, what I was so, uh, proud to see was, man, um, the patience to work.
I think a lot of times when it comes to like us being in the space with so fast and things like
that, which I mean, there's a time for that, but in regards to like having quality and thinking things
too, and how they are using the tech to only, you know, uh, I would say like to bring more, to make
it more, to make their product more powerful. I think a lot of times too, we forget of like
how we want to incorporate the tech into our work. And so just seeing like how they're using
the tech with fashion and in a way where it's also just like, man, I really want this. Like when
I saw their work, I mean, when I saw like the hoodies, I was like, Oh my gosh, this is something
I want. And I also love, uh, the quality aspect of it too. Like when it comes to like the
rarities, like, I think there's just so much in this and, and, and, and, and what you guys are
doing that this space has not seen yet, but definitely needs. And, and I'm just so happy
that you guys, you know, are doing it and I will be patient with, patient with it because
I think you also do know that you guys have a gem here and you definitely know that,
okay, we have to make sure that this is, uh, you know, we have to do this right.
And I'm just, I'm just like very bullish. And I'm also looking forward to the collaborations
because I already know like music and fashion is like linked. It's good. You know, there's
so many things that I see with you all and yeah, shout out to merch. Keep going. I can't
wait for this drop. Um, I can't wait for what you guys do. Um, yeah, that was just pretty
much me going on a whole rant of just saying like how happy I am. But I think if you guys,
if you guys just saw like how I was when I, when I, I came across them and I'm at Morpher
and like how I was told how they were using the blockchain and like the technology,
but also like making these incredible hoodies. And I mean, it's, it's really important when it
comes to fashion. I just feel like we get, no one's doing it. I mean, a good amount of people
are not doing it the way that it needs to be done. And so I think we need people who
have been doing it for some time and, and understand fashion and under, and understand
audience and understand, you know, all these things. Um, and, and, and, and, and, and,
and the space as well. And we just need more people of that. Not saying that there's not
people already, but we just need more and it's really good to see much here. Thank you. Um, yes.
Thank you so much, Ed balloon. We loved meeting you in Marfa. We were a few of the
merge team members were lucky enough to be in Marfa in September for, um, the art blocks weekend.
And obviously it was so great to, you know, meet incredible community members like Ed and,
and so many others and be able to really, it was our first sort of IRL, um,
IRL activation. So be able to share, um, the physical nature of our product that I think,
you know, has existed digitally for, for so long, either in our minds or, you know,
through decks that we've circulated with people. So to actually be able to,
to show people physical samples of what we've been working on and, and, you know,
just getting their reactions and responses and seeing, engaging that excitement was, um,
just super rewarding. And again, is I think part of that entrepreneurial journey where it's like
five steps forward, 10 steps back, eight steps forward, two steps back.
And that whole weekend felt like, you know, a tremendous leap forward. So that was really
exciting and we love our Ed balloon and, and, you know, thank you so much for your kindness.
I love y'all. And I, I really just have to say, I'm sorry. Like I don't, I care a lot about,
I do like fashion a lot, but like their hoodies are really great. They're really good. And I'm
not just saying that they're like really good. And I just, I'm just really thankful that you guys
put intention to it. It's, it's really important. And shout out to all the people who are doing
fashion in this space who really put attention to it, because it's really important. I think a lot
of times when we have projects and I can say this, um, I think people want to go into this,
the state of fashion, which is cool, but no one wants to do the work. It's very quick. And it's not,
it's not quick when you really care, when you have intention and you really care about the audience.
And that's exactly what you all are doing. So thank you. I'll, I'll come down now and get off,
you know, talking, uh, cause I didn't talk forever. Um, but I'm looking forward to it.
We absolutely love to hear the live audio Ed balloon,
merch bull posting. Um, thanks Ed. No, I really do love to love to hear that. Um,
wish we could have liked in, in Marfa. Uh, it was really cool that, that you and some of the team
made it out there Colby. Um, but next step, it looks like we've got Jen up on stage. Um,
would love to hear what you have to say or what question you had to ask. Uh, the mic is yours.
Thank you. Can you guys hear me?
Yep. Okay. Awesome. Um, yeah, this is so cool. I heard a little bit about March last week. Um,
I think there's been a lot of talk in spaces anyway, about how this, how making things fashion
physicals is like really, um, it's, it's something people are getting very excited about. And I think
Colby, the way you have set up merch is like a model for everyone to follow. I had a couple
questions, but your website answered them. Um, and I'll just say what they were just, just because
I'm sure other people might be curious, but I was wondering like where your products are made.
I see, um, USA and Italy, um, which I like to see because it just, it just, it's good to know
all these things up front. Um, so anyway, I really don't have any questions. I'm super
fangirling over here cause I'm just excited to see what you're going to do and what you're
going to bring to the space. And I think, um, you know, physicals are definitely a thing
that, um, that have been talked about. So congrats and, uh, can't wait to see what you,
what you bring. Thank you so much. And, um, it's great to connect with you and I'm so happy
that our website answered your questions because that was another thing that we, we spent so long
obviously developing that site. And you know, we have amazing brand and communications, um,
Maestro on the team and he just put so much thought, um, and we put so much thought as a team
into those FAQs and, you know, trying to take what could be a really kind of complex, um, proposal
of an idea and, you know, trying to distill it down to its most, um, its purest form. So I'm so glad
it was informative for you. I'm so glad you learned something from the site and I'm so psyched
that you're excited about the project and about the business. Thank you so much.
Yeah. Thanks so much for, for hopping up, Jen. Um, I appreciate you sharing some kind words, uh,
and definitely feeling excited to, um, and just fired up like right before the space. I saw that
video of, of Colby, the 14 year old super intern, just being like, you gotta work as hard as you
can. Fashion's hard, you know, let's see how it goes. And, and now it was launching like an
incredible web three generative, uh, one of one fashion company, uh, which is just absolute goals,
uh, and super inspiring. Um, so yeah, thanks, thanks for that. And definitely feeling the energy
too. Um, I think Connor, uh, DMed a question, uh, and I'm not sure I'll check the comments
in the space too. Uh, don't see anything there, but, um, yeah, Connor from our team just wanted to
ask, uh, if you had seen the KIF, uh, loyalty program, um, and just what you thought about that,
um, in terms of, uh, uh, rewarding, you know, past years of transactions and granting exclusive
access. Um, and yeah, just, just curious on your thoughts around, uh, a brand like KIF, um,
getting into the, the points meta. For sure. I, I had seen that. I think it's super interesting.
Um, I think it definitely speaks to consumers tendencies today to want to be sort of rewarded
for things and also for, which is, you know, obviously, you know, they're supporting brands
and, and I, I see that sort of full circle mentality, which is amazing. And it's incredible
to see that KIF has kind of spearheaded that initiative in a way, um, on kind of a luxury
level. I think these are types of, um, activations and sort of programs that you see a lot more
at, um, you know, like a Starbucks level, for example, or, you know, like it, perhaps like an
Ikea level, but to see a, um, to see a brand and store like KIF, um, really position themselves
in that way is super interesting. And, and also like very kind of web three minded, I feel like,
um, and you know, just kind of community-based points I think is, is, I think there'll be a
leader and I think you'll see a lot of different brands and stores follow suit. Um, but I'm really
impressed by a lot of the kind of initiatives that, and, and different collaborations that KIF
brings into the space. So I, I think this is, uh, one of those examples and you'll see a lot more.
Awesome. Yeah, no, thanks so much for your thoughts on that. Um, I'm curious. I think another
Connor brought up, um, but also just out of my curiosity too, are there any current kind of
movements in the fashion world? Um, any releases that you've been really excited about? I saw you
sharing, um, just some of the Marjela show, uh, which wasn't like, I'm not even a fashion head
and like seeing that was crazy. Like the, yeah, I don't even have words to quite describe
intelligently. Um, and yeah, also the, I think Connor commented on like Western style seems to
be making a comeback, uh, and, and name dropped, uh, LV. But yeah, just curious if you have any
other thoughts just on, uh, I guess current trends, um, outside of, outside of Web 3.
I mean, that Marjela show to me, it's like, uh, it takes me back truly to my childhood
when I used to like, those are the shows that made me fall in love with fashion. Um,
and I emailed John who's the creative director of Marjela, John Galliano. He used to be
the creative director of Dior and of his own brand. And he was the reason why I came up with
the name mini muse. Cause when I was a little girl, I dreamt of becoming John Galliano's muse.
And he was the reason why I fell in love with fashion. So it was the first collection I had
seen in, you know, at least two decades that sort of ignited that type of sort of response and emotion.
And it was just a complete triumph. And I think it really reenergized, um, the fashion industry
in a way that, you know, you haven't seen in years. So I just, and I love the fact that,
you know, those are the types of shows that are so, they're so fashion, but to the level where
you can also love and appreciate them and understand them, even if you don't have a deep
understanding of the history of fashion, or if you're not into fashion, it's shows at that level
sort of expand the industry. Um, and I think he definitely achieved that. Um, in terms of
trends, I mean, yes, like I was joking with a friend the other day, you know, a week ago,
my whole, um, explorer page on my Instagram was like all Western accessories. And now,
now they're all like, you know, Marjela. So Pharrell is no longer all over, you know,
my suggested page on Instagram, but, um, but, you know, I think Western definitely,
I think there's those big brands, like the Vuitton's of the world that everyone looked to,
to sort of set trends. Um, I think what Pharrell is doing, uh, you know, positioning Louis Vuitton
outside of just a fashion brand, but really, you know, around culture, around music,
I think is super impressive. And I think, you know, I've seen some trends sort of leaning
into the more kind of surrealist realm. Um, obviously, Scapparelli is a really, um, really
hot brand right now. Um, and Scapparelli is a hugely important brand to the history of fashion,
but, you know, they have an amazing creative director named Daniel Rose, Roseberry, and he
has really reenergized the house. Um, and I think you kind of see nods to surrealism then,
um, kind of filter down from, you know, the, the top of, of the fashion spectrum,
like the Scapparelli's of the world and just, you know, into, um, more mainstream examples,
which has been super cool. I've always loved kind of that, um, high fashion nod to surrealism
that, you know, like I said, goes back to the 1930s and 40s when, when the founder of Scapparelli,
Elsa Scapparelli and Salvador Dali did a number of collaborations. So, you know, I like any trend
that is a subtle nod to the history of fashion. Um, and yeah, so that's definitely one that we've
seen a lot of. Amazing. Yeah. Thank you so much for that. Um, it's just really cool to hear,
hear some of your thoughts on, you know, what's been going on in the industry and also cool to,
uh, kind of step back and go to that inspiration of Minnie Muse. Uh, again, wild, wild to think
that you're now, you know, on email, uh, friend basis with, um, with someone who was such a big,
big source of inspiration, uh, for you. Um, so yeah, I just want to thank you Colby. This has
been such an awesome conversation. Uh, I feel like I've gotten to learn a lot about you and your
journey. Uh, I've also learned a bunch about merch, uh, that I didn't already know. Um, and yeah,
just really appreciate you sharing some of your time and sharing your thoughts today and highly
recommend if anyone here is interested, definitely go give merch a follow. Uh, I'm super, super
excited with what they're building. Very, very proud to be helping out via Schiller. Um,
and just stoked on all that's to come. Um, yeah, I, I cannot wait to get my, my hoodie.
I'm not going to lie. Um, and excited to see, uh, everything else that comes to follow. I,
I've been thinking like since I saw Claire, um, tease that brain drops AI fashion collection,
uh, I've just been like, Oh my God, when, when can we start lining up some incredible artist
collabs? Um, cause I know there's so many, uh, so many creators in this community that would be
just amazing, uh, to work with. Um, so yeah. Uh, and again, if anyone is, is interested in
learning more, has any questions, has any ways they want to get involved, um, definitely
recommend reaching out to Colby or the team. They're super responsive. Um, and yeah,
just want to thank everyone for joining us today, uh, for another episode of building with Schiller
and a big thanks to Ben for co-hosting. We'll be back tomorrow for our weekly office hours,
which if you haven't been before is just, uh, about an hour and a half to two hours of Bernardo
and I, and sometimes Buna, uh, just being available, uh, to chat, be sounding boards,
offer feedback on anything related to, um, collecting, uh, marketing consulting strategies.
So whether, whether you're an artist, a builder or someone just trying to figure out how the hell
to navigate this nebulous, exciting space that we're all working in, uh, we are there,
the space is unrecorded and everyone's welcome on stage. Um, so that said,
have a great rest of your day and a big thanks again to Colby.
Thank you guys so much. Thank you for having me. Thank you everyone for listening.
And I'm just so grateful and excited for your kind words about merch.