Last
week we blogged about our Company Purpose launch evening and shared with you SFG’s
purpose. Now that you know what makes us jump out of the bed in the morning –
we want to share more about the event, the inspirational special guest, along
with insight into what some of our fabulous brands have been doing to change
the perception of fashion!
After
we indulged in some tasty canapés, drinks and had an update on the State of
Origin scores, we welcomed the motivational entrepreneur, Lisa Messenger, author,
publisher, Founder and Editor in Chief of the Renegade Collective magazine. The
Collective Magazine appeals to game changers, rule breakers and thought leaders
with a common appetite for challenging the status quo.
Lisa
is a dynamic, high energy individual with strong values led ambition. She lives
and leads with purpose!
 |
Gary Perlstein & Lisa Messenger |
Lisa’s
philosophy and approach to life had such an uncanny alignment to our PURPOSE
that it was a bit surreal. She is passionate and 100% living & breathing
her PURPOSE – she believes that anything is possible if you back yourself,
never give up and surround yourself with an amazing team. She told us to “Fail fast, surround yourself with
extraordinary people, hire your weaknesses, and tap into your customers…”
To
read more about Lisa Messenger or the Renegade Collective check out her site The Collective
After
Lisa’s inspiring segment, our CEO, Gary, took to the stage once again and asked
representatives from three of our brands to join him to share the brand journeys
and how they are bringing our purpose to life.
First
up, was Carly Turner, Marketing Manager for City Chic who spoke about their
passion for their customer by giving her both what she wants and needs.
She
told us about the brands light bulb moment that they could be more than just a
clothing retailer; “We could be a
community, a sisterhood and a brand that our customers really wanted to be part
of.
It was from the creation of our community
and sisterhood that we learnt our customers wanted to look like their skinner
friends and have the same shopping experiences as them. They didn’t want to
wear daggy moo moos, they wanted to wear fashion they could pick-up in, that
made them look hot but more importantly feel hot!
Our customers showed us they wanted to be
bold, sexy, glam and chic, they wanted to be part of a brand that embraced and
celebrated curves, a brand that would change the face of the plus size industry.
To show the customers we were listening we
knew we had to do something bold that would make a stand for curvy women
everywhere.
City Chic made history as the first plus
size fashion brand to walk the catwalk along straight size designers at
Rosemont Fashion week. In true City Chic form we shocked the crowd and the press
as international model Laura Wells tore off her skirt revealing a display of
curves that had never been seen on the Australian runway!”
City
Chic has grown from strength to strength and recently opened its’ 100th
store and is our first brand to spearhead SFG’s international growth as they launch
stores in South Africa & the USA. The City Chic customer is bold, sexy
& glam; she isn’t afraid to showcase her curves & lead a world of
curves through fearless fashion. To see
more of what CC is up to Click Here and check out Inside CC!
 |
Carly Turner, Linda Whitehead, Christabel Warner & Gary Perlstein |
Next,
our Crossroads Brand Director, Linda Whitehead, spoke to us about the
Crossroads woman; she is real, down to earth and fun, she wants to feel
comfortable in her clothes but she feels she doesn’t fit in the world of fashion
today – this was their challenge! They had to redefine fashion for their
customer and they took it upon themselves to deliver great products that build
our customers confidence by understanding what she really wants.
A
significant step was to start using a gorgeous size 12-14 model in their advertising
campaigns as she represented the reality of Australian women. The feedback from
our Facebook fans has been overwhelming! Women were suddenly telling us that
they can finally see how the product would look on them and it was about time ‘average’
sized women were being used to advertise clothing. To check out our beautiful model In the Crossroads Style Edit
Crossroads
is here to support busy women at different stages of her life and as her body
changes. The brand has created jeans that fit and flatter woman at any age of
any size. Through their ‘Fit Bus’, launched a the Easter Show in Sydney earlier
this year, they are touring the east coast of Australia, helping women find
great fitting pants, no matter what their shape or size.
Finally,
we passed the mic over to Christabel Warner, National Operations Manager for
Autograph. Christabel spoke about the brands journey of reconnecting with the
customer and really understanding the struggles she has in life but also in
finding clothes that make her look & feel confident.
We were
introduced to the body image movement led by Taryn Brumfitt, and watched her thought
provoking video. Watch this space for the brands collaboration with Taryn and
the body image movement! We encourage everyone to take a look Body Image Movement
 |
A little gift for our Team Members to keep the PURPOSE fresh in their minds |
As
the evening was drawing to a close we turned our attention to the screens to
watch another short video – but this time shot by SFG’ers - where some of our
Team Members and customers spoke about their roles bringing our PURPOSE to life
& WHY they do what they do.
Here
at SFG, we don’t take ourselves to seriously and always enjoy a good laugh so
we prepared a bloopers reel! Some will say it was the highlight of the night!
The
lights went up and each attendee was a presented with a copy of Lisa
Messenger’s book, Daring & Disruptive and were given the opportunity to
have it personally signed and even a photo with her!
It
was a busy, full-on, fun packed event. We had a serious message to communicate
but we had some laughs along the way. We left inspired, motivated and connected
to our purpose. We appreciate everyone’s commitment in attending and really
hope that they got something out of the event. Maybe inspiration, a new idea, a
connection to their PURPOSE? As Gary said “The characteristics we look for in
our team members include; consistency, fair play, authenticity, scope to grow,
learn & develop & persistence.”
We’ll leave you with one final thought:
People
don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.
And what you do simply proves what you believe.