NEW YORK, United States — Well before the pandemic hit, multi-brand retailers, and the designers who partner with them, were already grappling with the direct-to-consumer boom and growing importance of e-commerce.

However, the business of wholesale — or selling your product to a third party, like a department store, to distribute — is not a lost cause, according to Ami Paris Chief Executive Nicolas Santi-Weil and Altuzarra Chief Executive Shira Sue Carmi. In a #BoFLIVE conversation with BoF's Lauren Sherman and Chantal Fernandez, presented by Afterpay, they outlined the positives and negatives of the approach. While not without their challenges, wholesale partnerships can help emerging brands with distribution and customer service while building brand awareness in new markets. However, said Santi-Weil, "one of the biggest challenges is [maintaining] the consistency of your own brand" across all channels — in terms of both merchandising and pricing. To that end, Carmi added, "what's really important for brands to remember is that you cannot outsource your relationship to the customer… if you don't own that relationship, that's where you're missing out."

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