Design Nation 2020: Sandra Campos, CEO of Diane Von Furstenberg
Sandra Campos has been successfully building consumer-led global fashion lifestyle brands for more than twenty years. In her role as CEO of Diane von Furstenberg, she is leading a financial and operational turnaround by implementing bold strategic plans that will turn a wholesale led organization into a healthier retail DTC company. Sandra is finding new alternatives to old problems and is spearheading growth initiatives across all four channels of distribution.
Prior to joining DVF, Sandra played a pivotal role in restructuring licensed brands within Global Brands Group. As President of six global Women’s contemporary brands with more than $500mm in revenues and all in different phases of progress, she restructured and leveraged teams by creating centers of excellence in e-commerce for Bebe and BCBG brands. Her innovative and forward thinking brought Juicy Couture back to prominence after hiring a Hollywood stylist to lead the creative direction of the brand.
An executive with broad skills and experience, Sandra has been leading turnarounds and launching new businesses for corporate organizations totaling more than $2bn in market cap. She has overseen organizations with hundreds of employees as well as startups with a team less than a hundred people in businesses that encompass wholesale, DTC, ECOM, international, and direct marketing.
“Design helps women feel more powerful, and it helps inspire confidence. That’s pretty significant. If you are fortunate enough to be apart of organizations and design products that help people live better lives, you’ve made a real impact.”
Time Stamps
0:41 Sandra shares about her experiences growing up with entrepreneurial parents in a Mexican-American immigrant family. She explains how this influenced her business journey and what drew her into fashion and its creative outlets.
1:28 She describes the hands-on jobs that allowed for her to develop real world experience. She worked three jobs, from production to merchandising, when she first moved to NYC in the first three years. From these experiences, she learned how to keep consumers in mind when making products.
2:33 She explains her next job, a wholesale job, that allowed for her to travel all over the country. This eye-opening experience exposed her to a whole different group of individuals: their demographics, likes and dislikes, cultures. She advises future entrepreneurs to contemplate how to structure a business that supports global consumers based on the various aspects of what they look like.
3:46 She applied color and fun designs to the Ziploc bags she used for her preschool-age children, and she began to start a business from there. She explains that businesses can’t be run just by one person—you need partners, and you need factories, manufacturers, and suppliers for materials as well. She then details all of the crucial physical and e-commerce components of a business.
5:13 Sandra shares how her business, Mobi, used seasonal holidays and elements of fashion and implemented it into their merchandise. They also did collaborations with designers, museums, and Sea World before collaborations became popular. This also involved co-branding and co-marketing.
6:07 Sandra then started her own brand management company and managed the brand “Dream Out Loud” by Selena Gomez, who was starring on Wizards of Waverly Place on Disney Channel then. She advises, “Don’t be afraid to bring your personal life into your business life” and explains why.
7:22 She wanted to go back into the corporate world and joined the Global Brands Company, which turned brands from founder-led businesses that went either bankrupt or needed to be financially turned around. Her strategy involved finding the ethos and “original DNA” of the brand. Brands that she worked on included Juicy Couture, and she details what this experience was like.
8:55 Sandra explains the key differences from being an entrepreneur and working in the corporate world. Entrepreneurs wear many hats, while those working in a corporate job have more structured positions. Agility and decision-making is different in the entrepreneurial vs corporate worlds.
9:56 Sandra joins as the CEO of DVF, a 45-year-old brand, whose message was to empower women and help inspire their confidence. It’s not just about buying the product, but helping them to feel confident to do what they do every day.
10:47 At the end of the day, everything goes back to product. It ends with product and begins with product, and she urges future designers to think of the consumer at every step of the process. From a sustainability standpoint, DVF is a leader in products with resellers due to the quality, longevity and timelessness of design, and strong brand value. They have purpose behind their brand and reflect that in their products from a design standpoint. An important value from a design standpoint is versatility and design functionality.
12:27 Sandra touches upon fast fashion—while it’s disposable, what is created at DVF is much higher quality and longer lasting. It’s about sustainability, value, and will live longer on. She then discusses all of the stories that their female customers have come to them with, and from a design standpoint, this is incredible for her.
13:45 Designers have pride when seeing people walking down the street in their product or sharing it on social media. Sandra also shares what a “designer’s success” looks like.
14:20 From all of her diverse experiences, there are several things that just don’t ever change, especially as she advises designers, brands, and startups. She urges designers to always focus on their consumer and know that they’re consistent with their message and product quality.
15:10 Sandra acknowledges COVID-19 and the unpredictability of the pandemic—there’s no rulebook or playbook, and it has changed the whole landscape of retail. She shares what consumer values and behaviors have risen in quarantine and what that might mean. This has caused designers to focus on what’s important: quality over quantity, differentiate their products, and stay very connected on building a community with consumers and their need in mind.
16:37 She advises listeners to stay informed and stay culturally relevant in the world, to keep up with what consumers are interested in, and to keep up with technology. The fashion industry is constantly changing and evolving, and Sandra says that designers will need to combine tech with fashion design and entertainment experience. There needs to be a message, passion, and purpose, as well as content that provides innovative thinking. AI, AR, and intelligent data can help with consumer decision-making.