The 28^th of January is a busy day for FBC members. It’s the first official meeting of 2010 - marking the club’s 4^th birthday - and we’re excited to have FBC member and founder & CEO of my-wardrobe.com, Sarah Curran as our guest speaker to kick it all off.

Well, to add excitement to the mix, a few FBC members are dashing over to the BT Centre hours before the meeting to take part in the Drapers/Retail Week E-commerce Summit.

According to the Summit’s site, Britain is thought to have spent £50 Billion online in 2009, which is expected to increase by over 10% this year! The E-commerce Summit is designed to help delegates navigate and grow their businesses in the ever expanding and already crowded online market.

Frances Card, Courtney Blackman, Miriam Lahage

FBC member Frances Card of the Frances Card Consultancy (who will also be interviewing Sarah Curran later in the day) will be chairing the fashion-focused blogger and tweeter panel, where FBC co-chairman Courtney Blackman will sit as a panelist. They’ll be chatting about everything from bloggers’ influence on consumers to reputation management.

FBC member Miriam Lahage will be on another panel talking about discounting online and not compromising brand values as the former CEO of Koodos.

If any other FBCers are interested in attending two events in one day, find out more about the E-commerce Summit by visiting their website: E-commerce Summit

Sarah Curran CEO of my-wardrobe.com recently won Gold: Overall Winner and Best Innovation at the 2009 Drapers E-Tail Awards as well as being nominated for Best Emerging Retailer at the 2009 Retail Week Awards.

What is your fashion CV?
After leaving the Times Online, I pursued my dream to start my own business with the opening of my boutique Powder in Crouch End, North London in 1st August 2003. I have always been interested in fashion, but whereas most girls would say that the buying and the clothes side of it is their passion, for me, it’s always been the business and the numbers that has fascinated me. I always wanted to have a boutique that was accessible to everyone and that women wouldn’t feel intimidated by or excluded from. The goal for me with Powder was to create a retailer that offered bridge brand designers and a price point for every one, coupled with brilliant customer service and sublime packaging.

After starting my family (my son Jake was born 30 days after the opening of Powder), we moved to France and it was then that my husband and I discussed expanding the business online. We wanted to create an online brand with its own identity, not restricted geographically by a location, but had the potential to become a global brand in its own right, so we chose the name my-wardrobe.com, over Power Fashion. my-wardrobe.com was soft launched in December 2005 and officially launched in April 2006 and within six months my-wardrobe.com was outperforming Powder in monthly sales.

What is the most challenging aspect of having an online business?
The most challenging aspect would be overcoming the virtual experience that some customers can have when shopping online. This is why telephone numbers and email address are visible on every page. Our customer service team are trained in product knowledge and trends, so they can give the best and most relevant advice to customers. The editorial content is ‘friend to friend’ and we have created a my-wardrobe.com tone that ensures that brand is considered to be aspirational yet attainable by our customers. This was also a key driver for the launch of our my-tv feature on the site.

What is the perfect 360 experience for the customer on my-wardrobe.com?
Good product, good website experience, good customer service and delivery and exceptional packaging.

How do you choose your brands?
Our philosophy is to focus on accessible luxury designers. Value and investment are key when we are doing our buy. We are proud to have long-standing relationships with some of the world’s most desired brands including Mulberry, Vivienne Westwood Anglomania, Paul Smith and D&G Dolce&Gabbana. Our buying team travel around the world picking up must-have brands, as well as new and up and coming labels to make our offer interesting to the consumer. It’s important to have a good mix of brands and an offer that fits the needs of our customer.

• What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love working with our team. We have such a passionate and dedicated team and have such fun driving the business forward. Every day is different and I love the challenge of pushing the boundaries of online retailing and finding new ways to browse and shop such as shopping from live video.

• How important is FBC and networking to your business?
FBC is extremely important to me as I get to meet with traditional retailers and designers, which otherwise would be hard to get everyone in one room. I feel we are stronger sharing experiences.

Visit My-Wardrobe.com

-Rebekah Roy Fashion Stylist & FBC Editor