Q&A with Matthew Malin of Malin+Goetz

I’m delighted to run a little Q&A with one of my favorite emerging brands, Malin+Goetz. I first met the founders at a Women’s Wear Daily conference in Miami three or four years ago… we shared notes on PR firms, suppliers and industry trends. And then they kindly offered me a ride back to the airport. Be sure to check out the promo for IBC readers at the end of the Q&A!

Q. Hello, Matthew. So I guess we only got 1/2 of the “M&G” combo today? Never mind, let’s dig in. In essence, what’s M&G all about?

Making skin care uncomplicated and modern, starting with sensitive skin first.

Q. You make it sound so easy! Take us back to the genesis, that moment you both decided to commit your lives to this “project”.

There are two starting points: first, when Kiehl’s was sold to L’Oreal in ‘99 during my six-year tenure there overseeing global sales (as Nars was sold to Shiseido, Stila to Estee Lauder, Bliss to LVMH, etc). Then, two years later, after lots of research and planning (which was a rewarding process), we took the plunge. We wanted to establish a family business with a soul.

Q&A with Angel Chang (Angel Chang)

Hi Angel. OK, let’s roll… Who are you? Give us a little narrative please.
I am a fashion designer merging womenswear with new materials and innovative technology. I am also a freelance journalist, a trend consultant, and what some might call a futurist. Before launching my own label, I trained in the design studios of Donna Karan Collection, Viktor & Rolf, Marc Jacobs and Anna Sui. I also freelanced and wrote for fashion magazines (W Magazine, Vogue.com France, Vogue Hommes) and started up my own art & culture quarterly (Me Magazine).

You’re ambidextrous, it seems…
To a limit: fashion is a business, and successful fashion designers need a solid business partner to ensure the longevity of their line. Yves Saint Laurent has Pierre Berge; Tom Ford has Domenico de Sole; Marc Jacobs has Robert Duffy. But design and commerce interact like oil and water in fashion companies, so it was only after starting my own line that I learned the numbers and sales side because I had to. While I ended up winning an international business plan competition (Cartier Women’s Initiative Award), numbers are definitely not my forte. I am still looking for a business partner so I can concentrate on the creative.

Q&A with Zolton Zavos (Conversant Media: Lost At E Minor.com, The Roar.com.au)

Q. Diving right in, you’re an Aussie, right? What brought you to NYC?
I am an Aussie. From sunny Sydney, in fact - land of the endless barbecue, wicked amber fluid, and some very fine beaches. I came to New York in August 2006 to run Riot, an Australian pop culture magazine I co-founded. I decided to put it all together from New York, what I perceived at the time to be the cultural hotspot of the world. And I wasn’t disappointed when I arrived…

Q. Judging from the photo, you left sunny Sydney a while back. Anyway, it seems you have your hands in a number of pots. Can you give us a little run-down, Zolton?
My Sydney-based brother Zac and I set up an online publishing company, Conversant Media, in May last year and we now publish two websites — Lost At E Minor, a pop culture publication that unearths and promotes new talent in music, art, fashion, film, amongst other creative pursuits; and The Roar, an Australian-based sports opinion website that meshes articles written by our sports fanatic readers with those by professional sports writers. We have a saying in Australia (perhaps it’s universal?), that when it comes to sports, everyone is an armchair expert. This is what The Roar is all about: giving those armchair experts a voice. In addition to this, I do digital consulting and freelance copywriting.

Q&A with John McDonald (CITY, E-BOOST, etc)

Welcome, John. Let’s dive right in. What was it like growing up? How did you end up in NYC? Born and raised in Phoenix, AZ where the temperate hits 115 degrees in the summer. Back then all I did was play sports which is probably the root of my competitive nature. After high school I did two years of college in San Diego but basically lived on the beach and played two-man beach volleyball. I woke up one day and realized I could do this for the rest of my life or get out now. My older sister was modeling for Ford at the time and because of her encouragement I moved to NYC to finish school and as you can see, never left. I can only exist here.

After you arrived here, how did you find your toehold in the city? What have you been up to since? Arrived here in 1988. Finished at college at Columbia in 91-92 and leveraged personal connections that made it possible to open MercBar in 1993. I was friends with Andre Balazs who at the time was parking his cars in the space (his office for Mercer was next door) which is how I came to know about the location. I was naïve and simply thought, “open a bar.” As it turns out the timing was right, the design has tested time and it was the one thing that kept me from having to get a real job and with that came Canteen, Lure, Lever House, Chinatown Brasserie, CITY and now E-Boost.