by MILAN – A new fashion technology tool promises to make the life of fashion professionals much easier by combining functions usually split across different software into a single platform. She’s already helped put together Hunter Schafer’s Vanity Fair Oscar Party outfit, among other fashion moments.
Called Sève and introduced late last year by invitation only, the platform, accessible free via browser on desktop and mobile devices, was launched by HEC Paris business school friends Julia Sisto and Joshua Kelly.
The couple made good use of their background. Sisto, previously employed at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Diane von Furstenberg and Bergdorf Goodman, was recently Olivia Palermo’s right-hand man, experiencing firsthand the hurdles of keeping track of clothing swatches and the company’s “ever-changing wardrobe”. social personality. ”
Kelly spoke with his background in technology oriented towards process-intensive industries such as business administration, pharmaceuticals and clinical trials.
Sève helps image creators track sample requests, approvals and check-ins; collaborate with your team; and export PDFs of confirmed looks and final credit sheets, all from one centralized tab.
“I lacked a tool to centralize all the information,” Sisto said, recalling her experience with Palermo. “It seems like a lot of designers are swimming in a sea of screenshots and trying to make sense of all the clothes that are coming… [with tools that are] it just didn’t fit their workflow,” he added.
Joining forces in 2020, Kelly and Sisto began interviewing stylists from around the world who would then beta test the platform.
“The general sentiment was, yes, this is creative work, but half of their work, especially for assistants, is administrative and it’s a huge logistical job,” Kelly explained. “Sometimes it involves reaching 50 to 100 brands for a shoot, event or press tour,” she said.
“We’ve been lucky to have some really, really engaged beta testers who’ve given us a lot of feedback,” he offered. “I mean the app is really made by them,” Sisto added.
Leveraging a clean and simple interface, the platform allows stylist users to create new projects and worksheets for each of their celebrity styling jobs or editorial shoots, fill out a form with all relevant information including client, position and collaborators , and add documents such as calling sheets and moldboards.
Once created, the workboard is ready to be filled with fashion selections and screenshots, which can be organized via another form fill, adding brand, category tags (these can be created manually but an API tool needs to be implemented for automatic recognition of clothing categories), status of requests and contacts with the press.
The two young entrepreneurs said the game-changing aspect of the platform lies in the ability to sort all records based on multiple filters, giving stylists quick and helpful insights into their workflow.
Any worksheet configuration can be exported to a clean PDF, making it easy to share with press representatives and any other professionals involved in the job.
“Sève has totally transformed the way I work and communicate with my assistants, clients and collaborators. It’s a super functional tool that helps me tremendously with organizing my work and is so much more visual than a spreadsheet,” said early adopter, celebrity stylist Karen Clarkson. “I can see exactly how it’s evolving my preparation in real time and this allows me to be more focused creatively.It has really made my life so much easier.
“This is life-changing for us stylists: you can organize all your projects/requests in one place,” echoes Amandha Gaio, a New York-based fashion stylist and coordinator who works with magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Glamor and Forbes.
Sève co-founders Julia Sisto and Joshua Kelly.
Courtesy of Seve
Originally a self-funded project, Sève was recruited through incubator HEC Paris at Station F, a start-up incubation campus in Paris. Investors have been intrigued by the concept, Kelly and Sisto said, while keeping more details about a potential investment under wraps.
“The fundraising is underway; hopefully there will be some exciting news on that front soon,” Sisto said.
The platform currently has nearly 170 stylists registered and actively using the tool, including Elizabeth Saltzman, Tom Eerebout, Clarkson and Rachael Wang. It gained popularity first among celebrity image makers, but editorial stylists are adopting it more and more.
“We’re seeing a lot of organic referrals…and assistants have been instrumental in sharing the word of mouth,” Kelly said. “They work one week with one stylist and the next week with another and it’s great because they carry the tool with them,” Sisto added.
