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THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT SHINOL Ted Leonsis, CarolynA: Murphy and Jacques Panis on what makes the brand so special
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THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT SHINOLA How the made-in-America brand is putting people back to work in Detroit and capturing a loyal following in Washington and around the country. BY VIRGINIA COYNE | PHOTOS BY TONY POWELL M A K E U P B Y VA L E N T I N A G R E T S O VA | H A I R B Y R O M A N K U S AY E V
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Supermodel and Shinola women’s design director Carolyn Muphy (in Oscar de la Renta), Revoloution Growth’s Ted Leonsis and Shinola President Jacques Panis at the company’s flagship store in New York. Photo by Tony Powell.
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ed Leonsis is one of Shinola’s biggest fans.The Monumental Sports mogul and partner in investment firm Revolution Growth first learned of the Detroit-based watch, bicycle and leather goods maker through a magazine advertisement depicting the people of the Motor City. “The tonality and the narrative of the ad really spoke to me and reached me,” Leonsis says. “It was consistent with some things that I was seeing in the new America post-2008, where people were getting away from frills and were more concerned about quality, having less stuff, having more experiences and caring about their neighbors and their community.” Leonsis was so taken by the company’s mission of “creating good, high-paying manufacturing jobs in America,” and specifically in the struggling city of Detroit, that he sent the ad around to his partners at Revolution – former AOL executives Steve Case and Donn Davis. The trio would later travel to Detroit to meet Shinola’s founder, Tom Kartsotis (also the founder of watch manufacturer Fossil), touring the factory and meeting local craftsmen. They became close with Kartsotis and decided to lead what Leonsis calls a “deeply personal” friends and family funding round that brought in a substantial sum for the brand. In May of this year, according to a blog post by Leonsis, “Revolution made its largest investment to date in Bedrock Manufacturing” (Shinola’s parent company). Leonsis and Davis also joined the company’s board. Leonsis has since become an apostle for the brand and wears the watches himself. “I’m almost embarrassed now to wear a Swissmade watch’” he says, speaking fondly of the enthusiasm and integrity of clerks at the company’s retail stores and sharing stories of players on the world stage sporting the brand. For instance, at a recent American Express board meeting he noticed his “impeccably dressed”
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Clockwise from top: Shinola’s Muhammad Ali Limited Edition Arrow bicycle ($1200) released in partnership with the Muhammad Ali Center. The spacious Washington, D.C. flagship store on 14th Street, NW. The Muhammad Ali Center Limited Edition Watch ($2250). Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Jacque Panis and Rep. Debbie Dingell at the D.C. store
fellow board member Vernon Jordan wearing a Shinola watch given to him by former President Bill Clinton. What is it about the brand that has captured the attention and admiration of people across the spectrum – politicans, businessman and millenials alike? “It’s this incredible organism that has come to life,” Shinola president Jacques Panis says. “It’s an organism that has a big smile on its face every single day and has a big hug in its arms and has an energy that is infectious.That’s really what excites me. We’re all one here at Shinola and it’s fun, so much fun.” Since launching in 2011 the company has hired 500 people in Detroit from all walks of life – former auto workers, pizza delivery men, janitors and security guards - and trained them to manufacture finely engineered watches and bicycles. Rather than the company feeling as if it is giving back to the community, Panis points out, its executives are both grateful and fortunate to be working with local residents.. It sounds like a PR line, but others who’ve visited the factory confirm the special environment. “We have this thing that we call the “highfive culture,” where we make sure that everyone, all the people that we work with, know they’re appreciated,” says Panis, who routinely greets employees with a high-five or a hug. Supermodel Carolyn Murphy, now Shinola’s women’s design director, was introduced to the company by famed photographer Bruce Weber, who was shooting an early campaign for the
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brand featuring Detroit residents. He invited Murphy to be part of it and by the second day (after a tour by Kartsotis of the bicycle factory now housed in the old General Motors research lab), she knew she had to get involved. “I went to Detroit and I met all these locals who were doing the shoot with us and I realized ‘wait, this is something more visceral and has got more meaning to it than any other fashion shoot,’” Murphy recalls.“The best part was that for the first time in a long time, the shoot wasn’t about me.” At the time, Murphy, the face of such iconic American brands as Estee Lauder and Oscar de la Renta, and one of the most sought-after models in the world, had taken a career hiatus to look for something “more meaningful.” She feels that her connection to Shinola and Detroit was meant to be. “This was kind of a godsend. I knew I was at the right place at the right time,” Murphy says. The brand is also resonating in Washington. On September 16, while CNN was airing the second Republican presidential debate, much of the city’s establishment turned out for Shinola’s flagship opening reception on 14th Street NW. Leonsis and Steve Case came along with a cadre of Washington Capitals players to admire the leather goods. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez and White House Social Secretary Deesha Dryer made an appearance and Mayor Muriel Bowser smiled wide as she chatted with Panis. Members of Michigans’s congressional delegation including Sen. Debbie Stabenow and Reps. John Conyers and Debbie Dingell made
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the trek from Capitol Hill. Dingell, who was born and bred in Detroit believes the company is capturing so much attention because “people connect with the hard times that Detroit faced, and Shinola is one of the examples that when times get tough, the tough get going.” “Not only are they creating jobs,” she says, “but the nature of the product that they’re building shows that [Detroit] remains the center of innovation, manufacturing and quality,”
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