Moda Operandi A New Style of Fashion Retail - Case Study Example

A case analysis of Moda Operandi Aslaug Magnusdottir and Lauren Santo Domingo are the founders of Moda Operandi: a fashion retail new style. Asalaug had worked in the industry of fashion for a number of years when she realized that there was an opportunity to enhance efficiency of the system. In spite of the institutionalized fashion press and sales surfeit channels being in existence, Aslaug realized that retailers and designers are still not sure of the demand of consumers, especially for pieces with many high-end and conceptual runaway.

This issue made her approach Lauren Santo Domingo whose industrial experience complemented her own, about co-starting a retail venture. The two, then, launched Moda Operandi on the month of February, year of 2012. It was an online trunk show business which centrally combined practices of old trade with the new technology. After its launch, the website (Moda Operandi) consisted of the high-end fashion designers’ collections on their immediate appearance on the seasonal fashion weeks’ runaways.

For three to seven days, the members of the site could pre-order magnificent pieces for their wardrobe of the coming season. Then, Aslaug and Lauren (founders) planned that their organization would hold trunk shows for luxury fashion accessories and jewelry, on top of clothing (Khaire, 2012). Moda Operandi dealt with demand and tastes’ uncertainty in fashion. It also addressed the conditions (commercial and aesthetic which caused inefficiency of the system and messed about the most creative pieces of the designers.

This organization allowed direct access to runway pieces and facilitated the purchase of great designs that buyers kept away from due to lack of mainstream appeal. The pre-order system allowed buyers to receive their products of choice despite their location or size of clothing. The system also gave instant feedback to designers on runway styles, thus easy prediction of demand patterns (Genlhar, 2005). Magnusdottir and Santo Domingo had their responsibilities split by expertise. Magnussdottir was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and dealt with strategic planning and daily operations.

Santo Domingo was the Creative Director, managed the reach of the brand and was in charge of the Moda Operandi magazine whose aim was to provide online editorial content. The founders realized that the website was essential for the success of the firm. Therefore, they hired Matt Pavelle, who was an expert in search engine marketing and e-commerce, as CTO. Other major positions of management were covered up by persons with experience and skills complementary to that of the founders (Khaire, 2012).

Magnusdittor and Santo Domingo positioned their firm towards the hitting end of the market. Initially, they only associated with prestigious, most promising emerging and established designers. The founders had an intention of building and maintaining the positioning of the venture by building special partnership with high-end brands; restricting membership; designing unique packaging and making a great experience of shopping by offering guidance on personal style and high quality (descriptive and editorial) content online.

The business model of Moda Operandi differentiated the organization from pre-order (offline trunk shows) at high-end stores of department or boutique, as well as retailers, online and offline that sold products during and after the season. The competitive capabilities and positioning of the company caused the founders to facilitate rapid growth by presenting additional services to designers, enlarging the base for membership and raising the purchase rate, and broadening product range on the site.

Upfront payment of cash and high gross margins caused the business to attract with in terms of finance (Khaire, 2012). Work cited Khaire, Mukti. “Moda Operandi: A New Style of Fashion Retail.” Harvard Business School, 9-812-040. May 2012. Print. Genlhar, Mary. “The Fashion Designer Survival Guide: An Insider’s Look at Starting and Running Your Own Fashion Business.” Chicago: Kaplan Publishing, 2005. Print.