This week we interview Agnes Arroyo as a success story of an eCommerce brand promoted by a . Yonés started out as an instagramer but was clear that she wanted to start something of her own and created .
We think it’s a good Example of a brand based on values. Openly feminist, with a Transparency section where they tell where they manufacture, and their ecological initiatives. And around all that, a firm commitment to content, including a podcast. Without a doubt, an example of female entrepreneurship. Do not miss a detail!
Interview with Inés Arroyo (Laagam)
4:09 You have two projects on your hands: Laagam, in fashion, and Vinos Reilón. How did this curious mixture occur? Which one came first?
Reilón was born a year and a half ago, after creating Laagam and understanding the importance of creating community and in any brand. The three founders are very fond of wine and, as we know how to create an audience, we created a concept in which young people are the ones who want to consumeremoving that snobbery that exists in the world of wines and giving it a more rogue touch.
7:35 Laagam has 126,000 followers on Instagram, but Inés Arroyo… has 324,000. How was your personal growth on Instagram and that step from content creator to businesswoman?
When I started on Instagram I was studying business and my conception of fashion was very clear. I was doing internships in a company in this sector and we bought clothes in Paris and Milan. I shared my looks and my day to day organically.
When I started growing up, I caught that Instagram boom and saw an opportunity to get more into the fashion industry, I decided to exploit it and work with brands to create a community. When I had 200,000 followers, I was finishing my degree and I kept thinking about undertaking and monetizing what I was doing, so we founded Laagam, inspired by American brands that went beyond the product. It is not a fashion brand, it is a 360 brand with a vision: to inspire women to take on the world. We design, produce and sell affordable luxury fashion and create digital content that engages our community.
13:10 What did it mean to you that Forbes put you in the select club of “30 under 30”?
I was excited that they named the three partners, and we loved that it was in the art category. Being a fashion company and having Forbes give us this recognition is rewarding all the work we have been doing since 2016. It also helped me get rid of that influencer label: I have always gone further, I am an entrepreneur.
15:19 Where does the name Laagam come from?
We didn’t want a name that would be associated with me even though we used my audience. We wanted it to have a more international perspective, since we communicate in English. Laagam comes from lagom, a Swedish word that is used a lot, which means “neither too much nor too little, the essential”. It fit very well with our first temporary products and was easy to pronounce. We took it to our field, focused on women, and we gave it three “a”, one for each founder.
17:08 Is your function as creative director linked to the development of the collections or more to the brand and marketing concept?
We are a team of nine people: my brother is in charge of the business and strategic marketing. My other partner is the director of operations, he is in charge of logistics and suppliers. I work on the creative part of product creation, design, production planning and organic marketing, communication and image.
21:14 You give a lot of importance to the transparency section: feminist brand, vegan, plastic positive, carbon neutral, circular fashion, taxes in Spain, factories in Spain, Portugal and China. Tell us a little about each one.
- As for plastic positive, For every kilo of plastic we consume, we are financing projects aimed at collecting a kilo and a half of plastic, providing jobs in developing countries.
- We are aware of all the shipments we make, from workshops to customers. With neutral carbon we allocate part of our budget to an association, making the projects they consume as neutral as possible.
- 80% of our garments are produced in Spain. The rest, in China, especially outwear garments. At the prices that our customers were willing to pay, jackets cannot be made in Spain. Comparing both countries, there was no comparison, China has less environmental impact and much more quality. There is a prejudice towards China due to lack of knowledge.
Clients highly appreciate our environmental commitment. They are all aware of the product, its material, its origin and its production. We want to educate them to be demanding when consuming, knowing how and where it is made. As a brand, it helps us in the creative part to know what they want to consume. In addition to .
31:00 How did the arrival of covid affect you?
We had a physical store until the end of last year and we were thinking of opening in another location, but the project was stopped. The covid arrived and dismantled everything. We continue to telework, we are digital natives, but the stores help make us known and continue building the product.
It only affected us for a week and we were in shock, but from there, growth. The good thing is that we don’t have collections, so there is no stacked stock. We did many marketing campaigns to accompany our community, we knew that there were more important things than buying clothes so we offered to share our learnings with them. We created a section on the web called «sharing learning» where each person on the team explained their role and their work. Our clients were hooked on our content and their support has been vital.
40:25 How do you work marketing? What actions work best for you?
We try to make the first acquisition cost organic: we invest in . We use with collaborations of different profiles in different countries, and we work with international profiles. From the podcast, YouTube and Instagram, we make quality content.
51:00 What is your target audience?
In these months of covid stage we have reached 40% of our sales outside of Spain. The countries where we sell the most are , USA and . It has led us to internationalization, entering platforms such as Zalando, which has opted for us by supporting the marketing part, although the content remains ours. We have met our goal for 2020.
54:50 You have been running a podcast program since the end of 2017: Ruido Dazz. Why the name and how about the experience? What objective do you pursue with that action?
We think that our mission is inspire women to take on the world, so we interviewed women from different sectors and walks of life. Let them tell about their experiences. It had such a good result that we decided to add it as content. During confinement was one of the most listened to podcasts in Spain. It gives a different brand visibility and we are evolving. An average of 50,000 people listen to us.
1:00:33 You have just entered What plan do you have with that network and how do you see the current ecosystem of ?
With Laagam it was very childish and I didn’t know how to approach it. I was lucky that at the end of the summer he contacted me on TikTok Spain and chatting with them they taught me the tendency to make learning videos, more educational content. Exploring this idea, we have content that we lose and it is very inspirational and educational, we want to recover it and keep it over time. Being able to transfer it to TikTok, we are experimenting and testing.
1:04:06 What are your challenges (and Laagam’s) for 2021?
We do not plan for more than a month and a half. When we spoke with the agency, they made us communication plans for the year, and we changed every day. The goal of 2021 is to be alive. We are going to put a lot of emphasis on being a more holistic brand, offer more things and experiment with our content. We are testing things.
1:05:50 Any idea of a possible interviewee?
Claudia de la Riva, Nannyfy
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