Stitch Fix Tastemakers: A Photo Diary
travel9 years ago
Hey guys! As you probably already know, I spent a week in San Francisco recently, and today I’m finally sharing what I was up to! Digital personal styling service, Stitch Fix, flew me and a bunch of other bloggers and YouTubers out for the week to introduce us to their HQ office, design two pieces for their Spring collection and shoot a Fall editorial for their online blog. This was a huge first for me in a number of ways: my first time exploring San Francisco for an extended period of time (make sure you check out some of my favorite SF spots), as well as my first invitation to travel for a collaboration project — so I’m SUPER excited to finally be able to share this photo diary with you!
Day 1: Stitch Fix HQ
After meeting the other girls bright and early on our first day, we headed over to Stitch Fix‘s HQ in downtown SF — a quick 15 minute walk from where we were all staying at the Axiom Hotel. We met the team and made introductions, then went on a full tour of their two-floor facility… which was surprisingly SO much bigger than I imagined it would have been for a start-up company that was founded just 5 years ago! It was really cool to learn about the processes that go into selecting the fashion items that make it into the brand’s product offerings every season — especially given the challenge of making sure they are able to cater to every clients’ body shape, price point and personal style.
We also stopped by one of Stitch Fix‘s warehouses, where we got to see everything that goes into each personalized Fix that gets shipped out to customers. I’ll be completely honest — I’ve never been sold on the subscription-based business model because as a personal preference I always like doing my own shopping for myself, but after seeing the inner workings of Stitch Fix, I really feel like I have a newfound appreciation for the work that they do and the effort that’s been put into building such a solid brand and forging a new path that meshes fashion, social media and technology.
So how exactly does Stitch Fix work? From a customer point of view, it’s SUPER easy. You fill out a questionnaire about your personal style so that your Stitch Fix stylist can get a good idea of how you like to dress. Your stylist then puts together and ships a package of clothes and accessories that have been personally chosen for you! You keep and purchase the items you love, and you send back the ones you don’t — and of course, shipping is free both ways. Basically, you have your very own personal stylist as often as you need her
Editorial + Social Media Panels
In between the office and warehouse tours, we sat down for a couple rounds of panel discussions — one with the Stitch Fix design and merchandising team, and the other with social media representatives from Pinterest, Facebook / Instagram and Stitch Fix.
With the design team, we got to see the science behind the pieces that Stitch Fix pushes into production for their own heritage brands. It all has to do with algorithms: a combination of silhouettes, prints, colors and trends that have been performing really well in the market. Stitch Fix then combines these trends into single fashion pieces to produce clothes that you’ll be SURE to fall in love with. For me personally, as a blogger, this was a really cool concept to learn more about, because street style trends really shape my personal style choices as well as the content that I put together for my site, so I can definitely relate with just how important it is to Stitch Fix to understand their customers.
For the Social Media panel — no surprise at all, but we had ALL the questions! Especially when it comes to Instagram and Facebook. Both of these social media channels have evolved so much for the few years that they have been in existence, and they’ve really changed the game for individual users, as well as small business owners and publications. Obviously, there is always a challenge for any company to figure out how to stay profitable, while keeping to its organic mission statement, so it was really interesting to hear just how Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are striving towards that with every new development that they push live… even though we may not always agree with them at first!
Axiom Hotel
While we were in San Francisco, we stayed at the Axiom Hotel — a boutique hotel located right in the heart of downtown SF, with tons of shopping literally nest door, across the street and all around the neighborhood. I mean, there was a Sephora right next door… can you say HEAVEN?
Other than the location, I loved the hotel interior itself. It was super modern and trendy, and the coffee bar on the ground floor was an absolute favorite of mine… marble tables and counters, gold finishes, and an excellent avocado toast for breakfast is all a girl needs for a great start to the day, amiright!!!
There’s also a really cool gym on the bottom floor, which is where I spent my time during the wee hours of 4:00AM on my first night since my body was still adjusting to the 3-hour difference. Never underestimate the power of boredom when it comes to finding the motivation you need to keep up with your fitness goals, people!
If you’re planning a trip to San Francisco anytime in the near future, definitely give the Axiom Hotel a look — you won’t regret it.
Day 2: Studio Visit & Photoshoot
Now on to the fun part! Our second day with Stitch Fix was spent at their photo studio, where we helped design two pieces for their Spring collection (coming soon!) and got our hair and makeup done to shoot some editorials for Stitch Fix‘s blog and social media channels. We also got a walk through of the visual editing process: how to style merchandise in photographs, how to adjust camera settings to get the right shot and how to edit a photo to get the perfect final result that’s picture-perfect for our blogs and social media channels.
FIRST OF ALL, can I just say that seeing a rack of clothes for wardrobe changes, along with my name on it was nothing more than a surreal moment? I’m probably the furthest thing away from a celebrity or model, but Stitch Fix really went way out of their way to make us feel special throughout the entire trip, from beginning to end. It was kind of like a Cinderella moment, especially seeing as while you’re reading this, I’m probably sitting at my regular desk job feeling anything but special haha.
So there we go! A HUGE mega THANK YOU to Stitch Fix for inviting me on this trip trip, I had such a great time with my Stitch Fix squad of amazing women who are all doing their thing and rocking it!
This post was created in collaboration with Stitch Fix; all opinions are my own.
Thank you for supporting posts that keep Millennielle up and running,
and thank you for an AWESOME travel experience!
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