My West London Life

Anna Bance

Anna Bance

August
26

Girl Meets Dress co-founder Anna Bance on inspiration, tips for young entrepreneurs, list-making and having your Cinderella moment

Where did the inspiration for Girl Meets Dress come from?

The Girl Meets Dress story began in 2009 when I was working as UK PR Manager for French luxury brand Hermès; like my previous roles in the fashion industry, it involved lending the collection of dresses and accessories out on a daily basis to fashion magazines, shoots, celebrities and journalists…

I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could all borrow dresses for just one event, and wear a different designer for every event in our calendar?”

When my co-founder Xavier and I looked into launching a business and the market, we saw that no one was doing it. We were the first company to rent luxury fashion online and it is wonderful that Girl Meets Dress is now pioneering the path for rental as a new and exciting ecommerce category of its own.

Have you always wanted a career in fashion? What would you be doing if you weren’t running Girl Meets Dress?

I knew it was just a matter of time before I started my own business, something I had always wanted to do when the right idea came along. Launching a business is always going to have an element of risk, but I believed in the idea, my co-founder and the market potential.

If I wasn’t with Girl Meets Dress I would have started another business, maybe in fashion but perhaps a completely different industry — travel, food — I have a lot more ideas in the pipeline! Other than that, I wish I could have really excelled in a sport early on and entered the Olympics.

Anna Bance of Girl Meets Dress

Anna Bance of Girl Meets Dress

Why did you choose Chelsea as the place to launch your business?

Chelsea was the only area which made sense to launch an innovative retail concept, as we were the first to rent luxury apparel. Being always at the forefront in the fashion world and open to new business models, another borough wouldn’t have the same relevance as Chelsea, in addition to lots of events and women who love dressing up — a strong social scene. We have many friends nearby, and being 10 minutes away from the office is extremely convenient.

Who are your style icons?

Olivia Palermo always looks fantastic.

You’ve won several awards and have featured on many lists celebrating innovation within retail; what do you consider to be your biggest achievement to date?

The biggest ones are yet to come I hope, and 2014 has a lot of potential for exciting news for the business!

I am personally really happy with the fact that we’ve created a fantastic product that enables all women to have their Cinderella moment. We all need to feel amazing for life’s special occasions and Girl Meets Dress democratises fashion, enabling millions of women to afford luxury every day.

What advice would you give to other young entrepreneurs?

Although not 100% necessary, I recommend choosing an area that you know something about. There are exciting ways to pioneer every market, whichever field you love. Of course, you can learn about any new topic — but will you be able to compete with people with years of knowledge and expertise?

Find a co-founder with different skill sets to you. This is a brilliant way to launch without needing to hire a full team on day one. If you can split the main areas of the business between you, then you can launch with minimal cost and test the product at market, which is the first step to seeing if there is demand.

Don’t overthink it. There will never be a perfect time to leave your secure job, risk your salary decrease, take a chance on an idea which might not work — but what’s the worst that can happen? You’ll go back to your previous role until you come up with the next idea!

With co-founder Xavier de Lecaros

With co-founder Xavier de Lecaros

When you’re not hard at work, where in west London do you like to kick back and relax?

Many places! Including: The Phene, The Good Life Eatery, The Pantechnicon, Kurobuta, Benihana, Busaba Eathai, Joe & the Juice, Admiral Codrington, The Hollywood Arms, La Famiglia, Brinkley’s, Aubaine, Colbert…

You’ve stated in other interviews that working as PR Manager for Hermès was your best job pre-Girl Meets Dress, what skills did you gain from working there?

When launching a new company, one of the most important and impactful skills to have is the ability to promote and market the product and brand to get that all-important traffic through the doors. PR was a huge element for us — we self-financed the company so we were not in a position to afford advertising.

My PR background allowed me to pitch the idea to journalists who really picked up and supported the concept. There is no doubt that launching when we did was perfect timing for the concept and it enabled us to provide a timely and innovative fashion solution during the recession.

What was the hardest part of starting a new business?

When we started, ensuring we had a full team in place while bootstrapping was no easy feat. We were lucky to find so many hardworking and ambitious staff to stick with us and the vision.

Becoming knowledgeable in many different areas is challenging but it definitely helps to have two co-founders with complementary and different skill sets.

Fulfilment and logistics is an area which has to evolve and improve all the time as the company grows and orders increase. New processes and staff roles have to adapt to demand for the product to maintain efficiency.

Stock on the rails at Girl Meets Dress

Stock on the rails at Girl Meets Dress

Girl Meets Dress has been running for about five years now, what are your ambitions for the future?

Without giving anything away, Girl Meets Dress is showing the potential to be huge! We have ambitious and exciting plans for the year ahead: we want to continue to grow the collection of stock, the team, and to innovate within the wider fashion space.

We will continue our leadership of this emerging space and be in a position to wow our customers in every way possible, forging a brand and quality of service that women will wonder how they managed without, while giving women access to the biggest closet in the world!

Where are your favourite shopping haunts in west London?

I love the local shops and independent businesses. Something new pops up every week. My favourites include Donna Ida and Austique.

What makes your business stand out from other clothes rental companies?

We have the largest selection of dresses and accessories from 200 designers from over 50 countries. Our relationships with our designers are crucial and the aim is to bring together the best dresses from all over the world — from both UK new talent to worldwide established brands.

The mix and varied selection of these designers on one site is what will hopefully mean that every woman visiting will find the perfect dress no matter what her event! We keep our customers extremely loyal and our members rent once or twice every month.

Girl Meets Dress

Girl Meets Dress

Other than fashion, what are your hobbies and interests?

I love outdoor activities, walks and picnics, Chelsea is great for walking to the river and the parks — Battersea Park, Holland Park and Hyde Park.

Do you have a morning routine?

I’m quite relaxed with my morning routine. The commute distance couldn’t be more perfect to the office — 10 minutes by car or walkable — so I have time to have a cup of coffee and plan my day. We moved in November and having more space now means we can facilitate customer appointments and press photo shoots, so it’s fantastic.

Do you have a favourite dress from the collection?

My current favourites for versatile party dresses to wear in the day and then straight out at night are Alice + Olivia and Rachel Zoe.

In Alice + Olivia

Wearing Alice + Olivia

Who are your customers?

Our customer demographic is very varied and exciting, ranging from a 14-year-old girl off to her school prom, to young professional women who have five weddings this summer and need a different fabulous dress to each, to mothers of the bride searching for that perfect look on the big day.

What keeps you motivated when times get tough?

I am pretty good at managing pressure but list-making is important — to organise thoughts and priorities. Also, talking things through with my co-founder Xavier to get a different perspective is crucial as he is fantastic at that.

www.girlmeetsdress.com

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