4 minute read
We Are The Pippi Longstocking Of The Fashion Industry
43-year-old Jennie Högstedt Björk joined Odd Molly in 2011. She used to work for H&M and is an experienced business controller and executive.
Jennie Högstedt Björk will replace her predecessor Anna Attemark as CEO of Odd Molly in August 2018. The fact that the new CEO comes from the own ranks rather than being recruited externally is typical of the listed company based in Stockholm. Even the brand vision encourages one Molly to promote the other. Interview: Stephan Huber. Text: Martina Müllner-Seybold. Photos: Odd Molly
Odd Molly has undergone an amazing evolution. The brand has not only generated continual growth since its launch in 2002, but has also continu ously developed its look and positioning. How did you achieve that?
The aspiration has always been to create a clothes brand that would dare to stand out, be imaginative, and make its own way. Odd Molly wouldn’t exist without Molly, a skater girl in Venice Beach in the 1980s. Molly was the only girl in her group of friends who didn’t strive to fit in. Instead, she was herself and went her own way. Our vision is to create more Mollys in the world, strengthen girls, and make them believe in themselves. I believe this has made the brand both relevant and authentic. Another reason for our continuous development is that we’ve always strived to create exciting designs and take on new categories that include bold and beautiful colours, unique patterns, and handmade details without compromising continuity in our design. Our style is strong and clear, thus easy to apply to different product groups.
Knowing and understanding one’s target group is essential. How or under which influences has this target group - in this case women - changed in recent years?
We can sense a clear change over the past few years in the sense that our customers become increasingly daring, for example in terms of prints and colours. Our key objective is to increase sales outside of Sweden and we have noticed that international customers are even more daring than Swedish customers at times. That’s very fortunate for us. For us as a company, the work we’ve done in regard to sustainability has been very important. We can see that those kinds of questions are becoming increasingly important to customers. We sense a lot of interest and engagement from our customers in this area, much more than we did a couple of years ago. Another trend that defines our customers is that they oppose the principle of mass consumption. They prefer buying fewer really great pieces that will last for a long time. Odd Molly is the most sought-after brand on the largest Swedish e-retailers of second-hand products. We see that as proof of the quality of our products and their long life cycle.
How do women shape Odd Molly as a business?
It’s important to us to embody our vision within the company, to help create more Mollys in the world, strengthen girls, and make them believe in themselves. I also think that many of us perceive ourselves as a Molly. We work hard to create an atmosphere that promotes new ideas and courage. This has resulted in a team that dares to take a stand and show initiative. This has subsequently resulted in us primarily recruiting internally, because it’s easy to spot potential within the existing team.
Who is Odd Molly addressing today?
Wholesale is crucial for us. It’s very important to us to not exclude anyone, but a true Molly is someone who breaks with conventions to follow her own dreams in life. We sometimes describe ourselves as the Pippi Longstocking of the fashion industry. The women we address are women who dare to stand out and want to be noticed. Our
design is feminine and flattering in order to look good on everyone, regardless of age, figure, or skin colour.
Let’s talk about digitisation. How has your company faced the perhaps big gest challenge within our industry?
We were quite early when we established our own dynamic e-commerce operations in 2011. Thus we are well-equipped in terms of picking up new digital trends. We operate in an extremely fast-paced environment, so it has been crucial for us to adjust in order to keep up in terms of production, logistics, digital marketing, and technical improvements. There’s no end to this development, so it has been vital to improve the competences that digitisation requires in-house. Digitisation aside, we mustn’t forget the experience of a store visit and being advised by dedicated professionals. In the future, global growth with multi-brand retailers is a priority. From a consumer perspective, we believe it is essential to experience Odd Molly with other brands.
From an insider tip to an international brand with a presence in 40 countries - what are your next medium-term goals in a very competitive market?
To immerse ourselves in new markets and to remain fearless - always.
Unadjusted, strong, and thus trend-independent: Odd Molly caters for women who see no need to adapt.
