In a time when just about every day is a holiday for something (did you know it’s National Banana Split Day?), there are a few occasions worth taking the time to commemorate. A big one for us is August 26—otherwise known as Women’s Equality Day. It was first celebrated back in 1971, in honor of the ratification of the 19th Amendment (the one that gives women the right to vote). In the years since, it has become an opportunity to honor and recognize the accomplishments of women in a diverse range of fields and their contributions to society.
For Brooklyn Decker, a former model, actress, and tech entrepreneur, this year’s Women’s Equality Day holds special meaning. She and her longtime friend, former broadcast journalist Whitney Casey, founded the fashion start-up Finery back in March. It’s marketed as the first “closet operating system” that catalogues and styles every item you own for maximum usage, addressing the classic “so many clothes, but nothing to wear” dilemma for 10,000+ users since it launched.
Their service aims to solve everyday wardrobing issues for their customers, but Decker and Casey are just as invested in uplifting other female business owners with big ideas: Glamour caught up with the Finery founders at a recent Women’s Equality Day panel featuring female executives and entrepreneurs, hosted by Keds and LOLA. As we chatted about everything from the company’s next steps to the one clothing item that Decker should maybe cut back on, one thing was clear: If Women’s Equality Day were a holiday that came with a wishlist, Decker and Casey would ask for more leading women in fashion tech. Read on.
PHOTO: Astrid Stawiarz
Whitney Casey, Finery CEO (left), and Brooklyn Decker, Finery CDO, at the Keds + Lola Women’s Equality Day panel.
Glamour: August 26 is Women’s Equality Day. As female entrepreneurs, why is this occasion important to you?
Brooklyn Decker: It’s important to us mostly because our company is geared towards making the lives of women run more efficiently. Every single day, day in and day out, we’re thinking: How do we make the world better for women? It’s something that’s on our minds all the time, so to have a day where it’s actually celebrated officially feels really special. And to do it with a friend just makes it really personal and special.
Whitney Casey: And we’re always saying, “it’s always hard when you want to start a company with your friend.” But I feel like women are so multidimensional that we can change that stigma [around working with friends]. This day is kind of to celebrate that, too. We’re well beyond that, we can do that—we can raise kids, we can have a business while we’re making a [gestures at Decker, who’s expecting her second child, a girl], making a female coder inside.
B.D.: Exactly! It’s very exciting.
Glamour: As we’ve seen in the news this year, it can be tough to be a woman in tech. As you were thinking about starting Finery, were there any women-led brands that inspired you?
B.D.: There are so few women in the tech space. We reached out to several for guidance when we did start, and a lot of our funders are actually females. Miroslava Duma is one of them, who is known for funding a lot of female-run technology and fashion companies. We really love The Real Real, that’s run by [Julie Wainwright]… Who else?
W.C.: Rent the Runway, [led by] Jen Hyman—she’s amazing. We’re finally getting products for us, for women, because women are making them.
B.D.: And that’s the only way it’s gonna happen.
W.C.: But we need more capital. We need more [venture capitalists] to fund female-led companies. Because right now, [most] technology is made by men. And [it’s technology] for women!
Glamour: And on that note, what has leading Finery taught the two of you about being leaders for other women?
B.D.: [Women’s Equality Day] was originated because it celebrated the right for women to vote. You look at what women have done before us and how hard they had to fight before we got here—we’re now reaping the benefits of all that they’ve done. Now, it’s our job to employ women, to provide opportunities, to use the gifts bestowed upon us, to help the generations that follow. A lot of people [at Finery] are in their early twenties, but that’s a good ten, fifteen years younger than we are. We employ a lot of women, and I think that’s one of the biggest things you can do as a female running a company.
W.C.: You have to lead by example. If you want capital to go to women, we have to put capital into women, in our own company, so that they can go make their own brands. [We have to] show them that it’s not insurmountable. You can have all of these things—and capital will be available to you—if you’re building the products of the future that prove it out. It’s exciting because there are very few frontiers that women haven’t been able to conquer, and with [the majority of tech] companies being made by men, this is exciting.
B.D.: It’s a new frontier for women.
Glamour: On that note, Finery is solving the problem of feeling like you have “nothing to wear,” even with a ton of clothes in your closet. Are there any other fashion and style problems facing women that you would like to see solved in the future?
B.D.: We have so many that we’re tackling. We want to do it all. We want [Finery] to be the first place you go to when you’re thinking about buying an item; we want [it] to be the last place you go to when you want to get rid of your item, whether it’s to resell or donate or trade. That’s what we’re building Finery to do. There are so many ways to interact with your clothing. I think the biggest obstacle is showing women what they have so that they don’t have to go and and spend extra on stuff that they already own. But we have a wishlist feature where you can collect all the things that you like online and put them into one place; we give you sales notifications; we have a calendar feature where you can pack on our site. There’s so many things we’re working to build.
W.C.: And we remind you when things need to be returned. That’s kind of a schtick with retailers—they don’t want you to know, but we say, “Hey, three days left to return, seven days left, don’t forget!”
B.D.: We’re trying to cover every sort of facet of your wardrobe and every way that you interact with it, so that it becomes second nature for you, and it’s one of those things that you don’t have to worry about.
W.C.: And in the future, you’ll be walking around thinking, “I have a connected closet, how did I not have it [before]?” Now, you don’t need to be in front of your closet—you should be able to carry it around with you. We want every woman to have [that] in the future. It’s like a playlist. You pick out your outfits, and we start making them for you.
Glamour: What did you learn about your own wardrobe while you were developing Finery? Is there one item that you have too much of?
B.D.: Overalls! I own way too many pairs of overalls. And midi skirts for Whitney—she has way too many.
W.C.: We could have answered that question for each other because we look at each other’s wardrobes all the time. And I’m like, “You should wear this, this, this, and this” in her Finery wardrobe. And she’s like, “You should not buy any more midi or over-the-knee boots.”
B.D.: Midi skirts, over-the-knee boots, and skinny jeans! It’s too much. And I wouldn’t have known that had I not seen it.
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