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PLUS Model Magazine Exclusive Interview with Ashley Stewart – The People’s Brand

What do you do when the industry is going through so many changes and your brand is feeling its own challenges? The answer: you bring in individuals who are ready to take the reigns and meet the journey head on.

PLUS Model Magazine had the privilege of meeting with Kathy Clair, Vice President of Marketing; Bonita Underhill, GMM; and Celia Clancy, President CEO & CMO for a one-on-one exclusive interview about the revolutionary changes at Ashley Stewart.

PMM: Congratulations on a great showing during Full Figured Fashion Week.  We are seeing a lot of changes at Ashley Stewart. What has the feedback been about using visibly plus size models?

AS: The commitment we made about using plus size women is still the same. All of the feedback has been positive online and in store. We have had a lot of positive feedback about using plus size models. We are committed to the plus size business overall.

PMM: Many brands have told us that it’s difficult to use bigger models because of the sample size.  How are you able to get around this?

AS: We are accommodating to the model sizes. Speaking from a buyer perspective, we are telling the manufacturer which size we need and we start at an 18 and either go up or down from there.

We know the customer is basing their opinion of the product on the picture and how well the image comes out and if she sees herself in it.

PMM: Stepping away from size diversity for a moment; many customers have asked about the absence of darker African American models.

AS: We have not walked away from who we are and what we stand for.  It’s a balance of our history and moving forward. For me, step one was finding the right size woman – it’s a work in progress and we are not walking away from our core customer.

PMM: Talk to us about the direction of Ashley Stewart and where you are headed.

AS: One of our key goals to regain our fashion edge. I’d say we are a good deal of the way there. We are on trend. And we want that forward and “wow” factor back into our stores. This is our number one goal. In addition, establishing that we are proud of who we are, we serve a plus size customer and we serve a predominately African American customer and we are proud of that.  We are going to be the best AS that we can be.

The last piece of this will be how the consumer engages with the brand.  From a marketing perspective, we are working on how to speak to her and how to get her back into our store.

PMM: How important is social media in this process?

AS: As a merchant it’s very important because our customers are very vocal. We will post something on Facebook and she will tell us how much she loves it or what she does not like about it. Sometimes the feedback will make me look at an item again. Maybe we change the fit, maybe we change the color or we look to see if it’s not doing well online but selling in stores.  The feedback does give me insight on what they like or do not like.

 

Read the entire interview here:

Check out the August 2012 Denim Issue of PLUS Model Magazine