Nina Garcia, she of Marie Claire magazine and Project Runway fame, has joined the roster of Quarterly Co., a tri-monthly subscription service owned by former Netflix executive Mitch Lowe. Every three months, customers will receive a box of gifts selected by Garcia — similar to Birchbox or any of the other package-subscription schemes. Quarterly Co.'s other "tastemakers" include Pharrell Williams and Tim Ferriss (yes, the four-hour-workweek guy!), so Garcia's in good company. What to expect from her deliveries, which cost $50 per shipment? She answered a few questions en route to Milan Fashion Week.
What attracted you to Quarterly? These subscription business models are hot nowadays.
What I loved about my partnership with Quarterly was the fact that it bridges the online world with the real world. Sometimes we see these two worlds as separate entities and to be able to establish a bridge is very exciting. To curate a selection of gifts for my online followers was a thrilling and welcome adventure. I genuinely love gift giving.
What kinds of things do you subscribe to on a monthly or regular basis?
We have already seen this in the print world for years. However, in the digital age, we still see this old business model of subscriptions being constantly updated. Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and on-demand channels are examples of how the subscription models also work with media (of course, HBO started this trend). I'm a subscriber to several newspapers (New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, WWD — to name just a few) and then I'm obsessed with HBOGO and Netflix. I also order all of my groceries, beverages, specialty foods, children's clothes, and medicine online from websites that I subscribe to. Social media has really embraced this model as well — just think about how many people and pages we all "follow." It is a very similar idea.
Can you give us a hint about one of your first Quarterly items?
Naturally, it is going to be fashion-centric. You can expect it to be inspired by one of the key trends for fall. I can tell you that there's going to be an exclusive jewelry piece.
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