Move Fast. Don't Break Things.
From college roommates to co-founders, follow our journey as Sophia and I build a smarter way to shop, together.
From constant debates over each other's clothes as college roommates, to sharing our first tequila sodas, to moving into our first apartment together in New York City, I have loved nothing more than the journey of building a company with Sophia Kianni.
Starting a business isn’t for the faint of heart, and you don’t know what you don’t know…until you know. It's endlessly humbling, and a continuous process of learning—learning to manage people, myself, and most importantly, my own expectations. Every day feels like a new lesson in growth and knowing when to admit, “I don’t have all the answers,” while asking myself: “Who can I learn from?”
That’s why we’re building in public—to tap into the collective genius of our community. If we want to create a product that makes you the smartest shopper in the room, we need you quite literally and figuratively IN said room from the start. Together, we’re gonna build something that changes the way we shop forever.
While we work on that… Here’s what I’m shopping this week:
Now, with fall in full swing in NYC and our official launch set for 2025, October has brought a whirlwind of late nights and bug hacking at Phia as user feedback pours from our early beta.
But alas, Phia is still a fashion company—so I try (emphasis on try) to pull together cute outfits for the office.
I mean business, and autumn means a good work blazer and ballet pumps with no shame. My motto this October? Blazers all day, baby. A blazer sends me instantly into boss mode - not a debate stage vibe - but more in the vein of Kendall Jenner-on-the-move to promote her newest 818 drop (below):
In typical start-up fashion, with Phia, I’ve been obsessively using our beta to source all of my fashion must-haves. Behold, some of my favorite secondhand designer blazers at far from retail prices. My go-to this season is a sleek gray or black blazer, and shopping resale is the ultimate hack for finding Prada or Gucci tailoring under $300.
My sister just had a baby, and you’d better believe I showed up to the hospital in my blazer. Someone asked if I was a doctor off duty (I did originally intend on going to med school!) - flattered, I decided this work attire vibe isn’t slowing down anyyyytime soon. Life is better in a blazer.
I’m also very much enjoying wearing my second hand Ganni buckled flats, which feel like the blazer of footwear (sharp, and they mean business), and I continue skirting around splurging on the Khaite bedazzled mesh flats, because can you really wear clear shoes when you live in New York City? I am still new here, after all. Let me know in the comments. I love them.
Onto bags - often our biggest spend when it comes to fashion. Especially when shopping for what I’ll carry to the office, I always consider potential resale value. I don't want something I’ll be hating next November worth cents on the dollar, so I’ve been doing some research on the trendiest bags I’m excited about now. And using Phia, I can girl-math the ultimate cost to own, predicated on re-selling…eventually.
From my findings, these four office-ready totes hold their value the best:
What I’m consuming in fashion this week:
Has anyone else felt like they’re finding the best deals ever on resale platforms this month? You’re not imagining it…but the reason is something you might not expect:
Ozempic is shrinking more than waistlines.
In perhaps the most unexpected plot twist, the weight-loss drug Ozempic is now quite literally shaping the resale market.
With more and more people shedding pounds, they’re swapping out and offloading high-end clothes that no longer fit, so the price tag on some designer resale items is going down with the influx of inventory. Poshmark has seen 78% increase in new listings mentioning “weight loss” in the title or description as sellers look to re-size their wardrobes.
SO, this is the perfect time to scoop up barely-worn designer gems. Think of it as being invited to raid many, many fabulous closets without the Bling Ring style break-and-enter / post-raid arrest fallout. You never know what you’ll find until you take a spin around the internet these days! Let’s be honest we all know that fashion has a HUGE issue with waste.
The $2.5 trillion clothing sector churns out 150 billion garments annually, causing more carbon emissions than international flights + shipping combined. But with Gen Z increasing their investment in luxury goods this year, shopping isn’t going away. The WAY we shop can change, though.
With the increase in demand for secondhand, “platforms that purport to speed up and streamline the resale process are only on the increase.” (Ahem, Phia!)
New legislation might even push to pull off sales tax on resale goods.
Personally, I find it shocking that we aren’t talking more about the immense cumulative value of clothes sitting idly in our closets - much like stocks, clothing is a tangible investment for many women, myself included. We need to both honor, and examine that investment constantly. Sort of like Carrie Bradshaw, but with 24/7 IT support.
Therefore, we need a way to make our closets as optimal, efficient, and tradable as a portfolio of assets. That’s what we are working on at Phia
Let’s make you the smartest shopper in the room. Subscribe for next week's edition ❤️
xoxo
Phoebe
P.S. stick around at the end of each newsletter for job opportunities of where’d we’d apply if we weren’t building Phia.
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Can't wait for the launch!!
P.S. All I can say is the blazer phase > the extension phase
Yessss! Enjoyed this from beginning to end