Moda Operandi open for all

One year after its conception, closely watched online retail operation Moda Operandi is opening its doors to every discerning shopper.

The creation of ex-Gilt executive Aslaug Magnusdottir and Vogue contributing editor Lauren Santo Domingo has up until now, been a members-only website, but after its resounding success, they have decided to make it accessible to all.

Moda Operandi was Magnusdottir and Domingo’s solution to fashionistas having to wait months for runway items to appear in shops.  The Moda Operandi service sells clothes ‘straight off the runway’ through a series of three-day online trunk shows.

Shoppers can pre-order items by placing a 50% deposit and designers then produce those orders and ship them to Moda Operandi as soon as they are available. It can take up to six weeks for jewellery and five months for ready-to-wear garments.

Trunk shows have included Alexander Wang, Rachel Zoe, Derek Lam and Rag & Bone as well as other, less commercial designers.

At the end of 2011, the company made a series of high-profile hires including former women’s accessories editor at Neiman Marcus, Taylor Tomasi Hill the former style and accessories director of Marie Claire and Ashley Bryan, the previous head of US marketing for Net-a-Porter.

This has seen a complete revamp of the website interface and sparked the change in the membership system: “When we first launched the business, it was the first time designers were showing their latest collections right away with a lot of detail shots,” says Magnusdottir.

“It gave designers comfort in the beginning to know that their latest collections were only being displayed to a limited group of people that actually love fashion.”

“There’s a general push in the industry to get that product out there faster, and now brands are live streaming and inviting coverage that features their collections in a lot of detail right away.”

 Katia El-Fakhri