Fashion, Technology & Style

Sponsored by XMI

February 28, 2001
7:00 AM – 9:00 AM
243 West 14th Street

Speakers
William R. Claps, President, Textrade.com
Peter del Rio, Co-founder & CEO, Interactive Custom Clothes Company
Anthony Dunne, Founder, President & CEO, HauteDecor
Cynthia Hollen, Co-Founder and CEO, Knowledge Strategies Group
Cecilia Pagkalinawan, CEO and Founder, Boutique Y3K
Chaya Cooper, CEO and Founder, Click2Fit

Speaker Bios
William R. Claps, President, Textrade
Bill is the President of Textrade.com, which operates the world’s first and largest Internet-based trading and information management resource for commodity textiles –fiber, yarn and unfinished fabric. Textrade is currently developing a suite of IT products, hosted on an ASP basis, which are designed to enable textile companies to conduct their business processes more efficiently and cost effectively. The company has offices and agents in seven textile regions around the world and a membership base of 7,000 textile companies in 55 countries.

Prior to Textrade.com, Bill was Director of Business Development for AT&T Web Site Services and General Manager of AT&T Interactive Answers. In this capacity Bill played a key role in creating and launching several Internet services targeting both consumers and businesses for AT&T, including AT&T Small Business Website Hosting and AT&T Digital Video Management. In addition he had profit and loss responsibility for operation of the AT&T Interactive Answers unit. Bill also has international trade and transportation experience, having worked for U.S. and European logistics companies. He has been awarded three United States Patents covering international trade supply chain management technology and processes.

Bill is a director of Technology Communications Network, Inc and he is an advisor to Antenna Software, Inc. He has an MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurial Management from Columbia Business School, where he was a teaching assistant for courses in the Entrepreneurial Management program, and a BA in Economics from Harvard University.

Peter del Rio, Co-founder & CEO, Interactive Custom Clothes Company
Peter del Rio is the Co-founder & CEO of the Interactive Custom Clothes Company (IC3D.com) the leading retailer of mass customized apparel on the Internet. IC3D.com was launched in 1996, as a proof of concept, to sell mass customized made-to-measure apparel over the Internet while maintaining a better than 90% customer satisfaction rate. A proprietary artificial intelligence was created to make the digital made-to-measure apparel patterns and since then IC3D.com has offered the public, custom made-to-measure jeans. IC3D jeans are offered in over 300 fabrics with countless configurations and are guaranteed to fit great.

In 1998 the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas wrote an essay about the paradigm shift in business, The Right Stuff America’s Move to Mass Customization. In the essay the Interactive Custom Clothes [Company] was the leading example for the apparel industry and the message of the essay was “the natural progression for manufacturing as we enter the Information Age is to move from a mass produced product to a mass customized product”. In January 2000, IC3D became a national brand when Good Housekeeping wrote the article, Finding the Perfect Pair of Jeans. They compared four brands; IC3D, Levis, Gap and Land’s End and IC3D was the only brand to fit all their test models – something Good Housekeeping thought was “miraculous”. Later that summer The New York Times reiterated the praise for IC3D by writing; “The fit was perfect. They are in fact the best-fitting jeans I’ve ever owned.” In March 2001, MacWorld awarded IC3D with an Editor’s Choice award for apparel on the Internet.

The apparel industry is the fourth largest and most fragmented industry in the United States economy. The industry has thousands of brands and the greatest challenge for retailing apparel – whether over the Internet, via mail order or in department stores – is to offer apparel in a good fit, in the desired style, fabric and color. IC3D believes in the integration of technology and fashion and is working on the solutions for wearable computing clothing “the natural interface to pervasive computing” and 3D body scanning. Prior to founding IC3D, Peter spent 14 years trading bonds for major firms such as Merrill Lynch Capital Markets and DLJ. Pete graduated from Tufts University with a BA in Economics and Political Science.

Anthony Dunne, Founder, President & CEO, HauteDecor
HauteDecor’s goal is to be the quintessential online design destination for manufacturers, designers and their clients. The company uses the power of e-commerce to make the very best of interior design accessible to everyone,including the ability to buy and sell, plus expert commentary of world-class designers, up-to-the-minute resource tips and information on where and what is going on in the field. Tony Dunne brings 22 years of design excellence, and technical and business experience to HauteDecor. He began his career in 1977 when he established Dunne & Co., Inc., an architectural woodworking firm. In 1979, Tony joined the film industry and transformed Dunne & Co., Inc. into one of the industry’s top set-building, special effects and prop firms. Under his leadership, Dunne & Co, Inc. became a leader in developing and applying computer technology to set design and construction. Other credits include more than 20 major Hollywood productions. He is a board member of the International Furnishings and Design Association, and is on the board of directors and advisors of HELP USA, the nation’s largest builder, developer and operator of transitional housing and human services for the homeless. Tony attended Williams College and Indiana University.

Cynthia Hollen, Co-Founder and CEO, Knowledge Strategies Group
As CEO and co-founder of Knowledge Strategies Group, it is Cynthia’s vision of retail, technology, and the impact of the “consumer era” that drives the company as a leader in e-commerce and Omnitailng (TM) development for clients such as Bloomingdales.com, Ghurka, Zegna and MyMaison.com. Before founding Knowledge Strategies Group, Ms. Hollen was a strategic management consultant with Corporate Decisions, Inc, where she worked with Fortune 500 clients in the retail industry to evaluate evolving business models and identify lucrative business opportunities. Ms. Hollen holds an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and BA degrees in Computer Science and English from Barnard College, Columbia University.

Cecilia Pagkalinawan, CEO and Founder, Boutique Y3K
As CEO and Founder of Boutique Y3K, Cecilia spearheads the company’s vision and strategic development and continually builds Boutique Y3K’s leadership position as the foremost e-commerce consultancy servicing fashion and luxury retailers.

Cecilia’s diverse work experiences make her an invaluable leader of the team from copywriting to strategic consulting, she has done it all. Cecilia began her career as a media specialist at Young & Rubicam, working with clients such as Fruitopia, Guinness Beer, Sprint, and Radio Shack. She left Y&R to join one of Silicon Alley’s first Internet marketing firms, K2 Design where as the VP of Client Services, Cecilia helped K2 grow from a 6-person firm to a publicly traded Internet company with over 65 employees with clients such as IBM, AOL, Audi, MCI and Toys R US. K2 is known as the first company in Silicon Alley to go public in 1996. Cecilia left K2 to work as the Executive Producer and Creative Director for the Interactive unit of Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/Euro RSCG, the New York arm of the Havas and Euro RSCG worldwide advertising network. At Messner, Cecilia worked with clients such as Evian, MCI, and Volvo. Prior to founding Boutique Y3K in March 1998, Cecilia was President of Abilon, Inc.,an e-commerce company with clients such as Compucentre, Servier Pharmaceuticals and MicroAge.

In addition to her corporate achievements, Cecilia serves on the advisory boards for Leopard Aggressive Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm; uFunction, a fashion apparel manufacturer focused on sportswear and apparel targeted to wired consumers; and hipguide, a media company focused on the distribution of information and tips to wireless devices owned by Gen X and Gen Y consumers.

Cecilia is also a co-founder of MOUSE (Making Opportunities for Upgrading Schools and Education) a Silicon Alley-based non-profit organization focused on providing technology support, connectivity and guidance to New York City public schools. Since its inception in 1997, MOUSE has wired over 30 schools and has a membership of over 5000 Silicon Alley professionals who donate their time and expertise to extend access to technology to inner city youths. For her for-profit and non-profit work and interests, Cecilia received a fellowship as one of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Next Generation Leaders.
In 1999, Cecilia was featured among Silicon Alley Reporter’s Top 100 Internet Executives in New York and as one of A. Magazine’s 10 Hottest Asian American Entrepreneurs under 30. She has appeared in news articles in the Industry Standard, Vogue Magazine, Internet World, Wired and Asiaweek. She has appeared as a guest on CNNfn’s Entrepreneurs Only to discuss trends in e-commerce. Cecilia is also a frequent speaker on the topics of entrepreneurship, e-commerce and e-marketing at industry conferences (Internetworld ’98, ’99’ and ’00) and Universities (Harvard, Columbia, and NYU).
Cecilia is a recipient of New York City Woman Business Owner of the Year award in a ceremony held March 2000 by the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).

Chaya Cooper, CEO and Founder, Click2Fit
Chaya is the founder and CEO of Click2Fit, which is developing 1-to-1 retailing applications to dynamically select and present apparel that perfectly fit and flatter a consumers’ body shape and measurements, while considering personal style preferences and lifestyle requirements.Click2Fit offers the only fully automated and scaleable solution, and provides retailers with the most comprehensive personalization, search and cross-selling tools that streamline the shopping experience by providing targeted merchandise offerings to consumers. Click2Fit’s patent-pending software improves retailers operating margins by reducing returns and markdowns, and increases revenues by improving sales conversion rates and enhancing customer retention programs.Chaya is the former President and Founder of a mass-customized apparel manufacturer and e-tailer. She has consulted for numerous early stage companies and small businesses, and specializes in product development, consumer marketing and customer acquisition/retention strategies.