Shoptalk: Moxsie (Plus a Giveaway!)

all images courtesy of Moxsie

Moxsie, a new San Francisco-based website for independent fashion, may have a slick Silicon Valley look and an executive team with veterans from Zappos and Netscape, but its goal of seeking out cutting edge brands at affordable prices brings out the mushy West Coast native in me. I’ve fallen for the simple interface and navigability of the site, and the steadily growing roster of international labels for womenswear, menswear, shoes and accessories: a virtual buffet for all tastes and budgets (a small sample includes cult fav shoes by 80%20, bestselling jewelry by Potluck Paris, organic basics by Spun, edgy accessories by Necklush and vegan-friendly bags by Deux Lux). A helpful bio and photo of each designer accompanies their “shop,” which is always useful information when encountering a brand for the first time. Read on to learn more about this addictive new site from my interview with Director of Marketing, Julia Kung and to enter the amazing related giveaway!

Can you tell us a bit about the background of Moxsie? What is the concept behind the site?

Moxsie.com launched in January 2009 with the idea of being the destination to find independent designers- designers you really hadn’t heard of. We wanted it to be a curated, eclectic selection and we wanted it to be affordable.

I love the name-- does it have a particular meaning?

The name Moxsie (a slight misspelling of “moxie”) expresses the spirit behind our company. Our team and our audience are scrappily confident, curious and just a tiny bit crazy, in a good way.

Our motto, “Discover Independent Fashion” is also really important to us. We want to tell the designer’s individual story- that’s why you get a bio of the designer, you get lots of details about the product and the background. We hope you have a deeper understanding of the pieces and that you fall in love with the pieces even more that way.


Deux Lux tote

How do you select the designers and merchandise? If an emerging designer was interested in selling items through your site, what advice would you give them about submitting pieces for your approval?

Our merchandising team is in constant research mode looking for new designers. We try to select the pieces ourselves after poring over look books, going to trade shows and showrooms, etc. Also, through my marketing research I see what the bloggers are buzzing about and I pass it on to the merchandising team. We’re on Twitter as well and I’ve had designers approach us through Twitter who we’ve then added. But the best way to get directly in touch with our merchandising team is to email our lovely director of merchandising, Shilpa at moxsie dot com. She has an incredible eye!

Can you tell us about some brands that you’re excited about right now?

Right now I’m very excited about Necklush-super versatile and fun- all the girls at Moxsie bought one. We just shipped a few to an online magazine to use on a photoshoot. I’m living in my Sust sleeveless boatneck dresses for work with Matiko’s statement sandals.

In the last week of July we’re adding two new brands that are going to be huge. One is called DustieDoll- It’s got extraordinary details, a little punky and girly. Think tie dye legging or a mini dress with draped chains and studs. The second one is TT Collection, 100% pure silk- simple but luxurious and sexy dresses that might show a little bit of skin or be demure and flirty.

Who are the ideal Moxsie customers?

I think anyone has the potential to be a customer for Moxsie- as long as they don’t want to wear things just to fit in... We encourage bold sartorial statements (see Dimepiece), but if you want your style to whisper a little je ne sais quoi (see Ach Ach Liebling), we carry that too.

Dimepiece "Scrabble" leggings

I noticed that you have a separate sneaker and jewelry shop on the site. Can you tell us about those and about any future projects and collaborations in Moxsie’s future?

We created the sneaker and jewelry shops because these were our top selling categories and we wanted to make a destination to enable our customer to browse quickly through the categories. We will be adding a few more focused shops and remodeling the entire site to make it easier to navigate. Lastly, we are exploring collaborations that will promote designers who don’t have any manufacturing process set up- designer contests, giveaways, etc. The exploratory stuff should all begin happening in late fall or early winter.

MOXSIE GIVEAWAY

Did you know that Moxsie donates a portion of your purchase to a charity of your choosing (from a list of pre-selected worthy causes)? In the spirit of giving, we’ve arranged for a special related giveaway courtesy of Moxsie! One lucky reader will win a Necklush neckpiece (a seriously cool piece to jazz up a boring neckline). Rules are set forth below. Good luck!

Necklush neckpiece

RULES:

• To enter to win a Necklush (color may differ from picture above): follow this blog via Google Friendconnect and leave a comment in this post about what intrigues you the most about Moxsie. Please leave an email address so that we can reach you if you win!
• For a second entry, link to this giveaway on your blog or Twitter and leave another comment about the link.
• This giveaway is open to citizens of the world and one lucky ducky will be chosen by a random number generator.
• Deadline is Thursday July 30th at 11:59 pm NYC time. The winner will be announced the following day!

To learn more about Moxsie, visit http://moxsie.com!