Urban Revivo @urbanrevivo, the ultimate playground for the fashion lover and a brand that was born to improve people’s lives through fashion, offering both womenswear and menswear, talks with us in this exclusive interview in which we talk about so many varied topics, from its origins to its current growth becoming an international label.
“Not only does fashion itself change over time; fashion can also positively transform people’s lives, moods, perceptions, and notoriety. We so often see how fashion positively impacts an individual’s happiness, confidence, sense of self, sense of belonging, inspiration, or motivation.”
Vanity Teen: The Urban Revivo brand was founded with the mission to improve people’s lives through fashion and to inspire those who imagine every path as a runway. Why did you want to focus on that idea to create your brand? Could you tell me a little bit more about the process of its creation, how the idea came about, and its growth of it?
Urban Revivo: Our goal at the outset of developing Urban Revivo was to improve people’s lives through fashion because we really believe and appreciate the transformative nature of fashion. Not only does fashion itself change over time; fashion can also positively transform people’s lives, moods, perceptions, and notoriety. We so often see how fashion positively impacts an individual’s happiness, confidence, sense of self, sense of belonging, inspiration, or motivation. Whether in business, music, entertainment, sports, or the fashion industry itself, fashion has also had a rich history of opening doors for amazing opportunities, possibilities, dreams, careers, and successes for so many.
The inspiration for Urban Revivo came from our founder’s love for fashion, design, and global inspiration. At the time, he felt the styles and selection available to consumers, especially in Asia, were either trendy and premium but not affordable, or affordable but not well designed and crafted. In a nutshell, he felt many people could not easily experience the positive impact that fashion could influence on one’s life. It was this realization that led him to launch Urban Revivo, which was created to open up possibilities for people through fashion.
VT: The brand offers a fresh take on the latest trends and runway-inspired looks, both menswear, and womenswear. How do you choose which trends to follow or which designs to produce? What is your creative process like?
UR. We pride ourselves on the effort we put into really knowing our customers. From the type of looks, styles and brands they love to the celebrities, influencers, music, and movies they’re following. We even try to understand the different aspects of their figure that they want to accentuate or appear more flattering. Our state-of-the-art design centers and merchandising teams combine the consumer insights with data points from previous design iterations and combine it with their own creativity and expertise to collaboratively make magic. For us, this cycle of testing, learning, and improving has spanned over 10 years. This never-ending process is one of the core reasons for Urban Revivo’s ability to quickly and consistently deliver a large selection of popular styles that delight our customers.
VT: One thing that I find really fascinating is that Urban Revivo designs and drops new styles every week, which means a lot of new pieces per year, but they are available in limited quantities to ensure less waste. What’s your opinion on fast fashion and how do you implement sustainability and waste reduction in your brand?
UR: At Urban Revivo, we believe fashion isn’t and shouldn’t be defined by wasteful, unsustainable, cheap, low-quality throwaway pieces that might last a handful of wears or are only used for social media content. Some may understand and approach fashion from that perspective but those are not the types of products we believe in making nor is it the brand standard we aspire and hold ourselves to. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of how we look at fashion.
First, our “test and learn” approach to product design and merchandising allows us to offer the incredible selection our customers have come to know and love, while at the same time avoiding the fabric and environmental waste that comes from over-producing/over-supplying products that just end up sitting on shelves. Second, our brand’s identity is fundamentally built on the belief that we’re not just about designing the latest and trendiest looks. More importantly, our products also need to be affordable, with craftsmanship and materiality still living up to a high standard with quality which reflects our belief that each piece should have a lasting place in someone’s wardrobe so that the hard-earned money they spent on it was absolutely worth it.
The combination of these two aspects of our brand has allowed us to approach fashion more responsibly and sustainably, limiting our footprint from the waste we produce, while also limiting the waste that is typically caused by cheap throwaway fashion at the same time. Of course, this means some of our in-demand styles will sometimes sell out quickly. Luckily, our customers are given the option to pre-order those items at a specially discounted pre-order price in exchange for waiting several more weeks to get their item. From the feedback we’ve received, customers agree unanimously that many of our styles are well worth the wait. It’s a win-win for fashion and for the environment.
VT: Urban Revivo has 360 stores worldwide, including flagship locations in Singapore, Thailand, the UK, and now you are expanding into North America with the introduction of your global e-commerce platform. How did you achieve such great progress and what does it mean for you to have the brand in so many places at a time?
UR: It sounds anecdotal, but our progress to date can be largely attributed to the mindset of today’s young (including young at heart) consumers. Today’s consumers are more diverse, multi-cultural, and globally-minded than ever before, with fashion being a vital aspect of their self-expression and identity. Brands now require a more diversified selection of styles to better meet today’s consumer needs. And thanks to the ease and accessibility of shopping online, they’re also more open to and will dare to try something new regardless of whether it is a new look, new style, or a new brand. The power of choice is entirely theirs. For a brand like ours, which, until recently was relatively unheard of in the US, today’s consumer mindset really compliments what we’re about as a brand, and as a direct result, has played a critical role in not only paving the way for our global growth but also helping us take another step towards fulfilling our brand identity as a truly global brand.
VT: To conclude, I would like to know what does the future hold for the brand. How do you think it will evolve or change? And more importantly, how do you think fashion will change in the near future?
UR: We’re extremely ambitious and excited about the progress we’ve seen globally so we have big plans for the near future, including brick and mortar retail stores and product design centers in the US and other iconic fashion hubs around the world. There are also some really exciting collaborations with renowned artists and brands currently in the works. We’re also very focused on the digital aspect of fashion, including leveraging AI technology, data-driven algorithms, and virtual experiences to elevate every aspect of our brand. We expect digital to play a big part in the evolution and future of sustainable fashion. We want to make sure we’re an innovation leader in that area.
Exclusive interview for Vanity Teen online!