The CEO of Fashion Brand Lucy Paris Shares What It’s Like Growing a Family Business into a Global Brand
CEO, Luxi Jin and Creative Director, Jennifer Jin
Lucy Paris is on a mission to provide women with the ideal wardrobe. From Zoom meetings at home to a night on the town, Lucy Paris has pieces fit for any occasion. Lucy Paris is a family owned brand that is now run by the original founder’s daughter, Luxi Jin who serves as CEO. Lucy’s aunt, Jennifer Jin, is the company’s Creative Director. Together, the two women have expanded Lucy Paris’ presence in major department stores and brought Lucy Paris into the digital age by establishing the company’s e-commerce platform. Marrying a California vibe with New York glamour and Parisian style, every Lucy Paris collection serves to empower the modern woman in all that she does. We spoke with Luxi about women's empowerment, some of Lucy Paris’ newest collections, and how Lucy Paris has been able to stick to its roots while growing as a cosmopolitan brand
1. What inspired you to found Lucy Paris? What was your journey in building the company?
Lucy Paris is a family owned brand that was initially established in Paris by my father. In the late nineties my aunt, Jennifer Jin, took over the company. We moved our headquarters to New York. It was in New York, that I joined the company. After years of working hard to build our brand, we decided to expand further and set our roots in Los Angeles. It was in Los Angeles we began to grow and partner with department stores including Bloomingdales, Macys, and Dillards. After gaining some notoriety for the label, we built our team, and worked hard to grow our brand. We have expanded to be in many department stores, boutiques, and even launched our own online platform. Although Lucy Paris is constantly growing and changing, we still stay true to our family roots. My aunt continues to work as the Creative Director, I am now the CEO of the company.
2. What was the most challenging part about founding your own company?
The most challenging part of founding, and building our company is the process of expanding our brand while staying true to our ethos. We have a loyal customer base, and from the start we always want and continue to cater to the woman on the go. We aim to make clothing for women, that they could wear anywhere, whether that is in the office, on the go, or at home. However, as always, fashion is always changing, and at times it is difficult to keep up with the industry’s cycles. Therefore our brand keeps up with the trends we believe in, but we will always make sure to maintain our Lucy Paris look.
3. How has your cosmopolitan life experience influenced Lucy Paris? How does Lucy Paris incorporate “Parisian elegance, a New York state of mind, and California cool” into its pieces?
The different cities I lived and I grew up in really have influenced Lucy Paris as a brand. Growing up in Paris, I always admired the effortless style of French women. Whether they are grabbing a pastry or running an errand, they always are able to style clothing classily and elegantly without trying. I wanted to emulate the essence of Paris in many of the pieces in our collection each season. As for the New York look, my Aunt Jennifer Jin, the Creative Director spent much of her life there, and it is evident in the way she dresses. She is always wearing a cool minimal look with clean lines, that captures the cool New York style that makes its way in the line. The California cool look is basically what we see around us everyday. We are based in Los Angeles, seeing how different women through out the city dress is definitely an inspiration each collection. Therefore I take these three cities who have made me as a person, and combine the styles to create the perfect city girl look.
4. It’s Lucy Paris’ mission to provide women with the “ideal wardrobe”. What does the “ideal wardrobe” mean to you?
The ideal wardrobe means we want to provide women with a wardrobe that she can wear throughout her week, or for any occasion. We provide outfits for going out, date night, brunch, office, zoom meetings, and even stay at home loungewear. We design and make pieces you can dress up or dress down, wear during the day or night, and want to keep in your closet forever; in other words: the ideal wardrobe.
5. Could you tell us about the Cozy Loungewear Collection? What sets it apart from typical loungewear?
Before the covid 19 pandemic, Lucy Paris was known for dressy silhouettes. We did have a small assortment of casual clothing, however we did not have traditional loungewear. Our Cozy Loungewear differentiates from typical loungewear, because we consider it elevated loungewear. The collection not only maintains the dressy look our “woman on the go” shops for, but is also convenient for her to wear at home. Although our pieces are cozy and soft, and made for the stay at home lifestyle, it is still elevated enough to wear for a zoom meeting, or out of the house, or for any occasion.
Together We Can Tee, Le Femme Collection, $56
6. It’s so amazing that the La Femme Collection is dedicated to women’s empowerment! Could you tell us how the collection and Lucy Paris as a brand aims to uplift women?
The La Femme Collection is our new t shirt line that celebrates women. We wanted to create a collection that empowers women because women make our brand, and the celebration of women is in our brand ethos. Our mission is to make clothing for woman, by women, for the women on the go, and the woman who does it all. Therefore we created t shirts with slogans including “The Woman Who Does It All”, “I’m With Her”, and our best selling Visage t shirt, that highlights the face of a woman. We hope our t shirts can be a reminder to women of how awesome, powerful, feminine, and strong women can be!
7. What does women’s empowerment mean to you?
To me, and our brand, women empowerment means to empower, uplift, and encourage all women. Our company is an all female team, and in light of everything that is going on in the world, we want women to support and to celebrate other women. Throughout time, women have been set in opposition to each other, taught to compete, and have been seen as less than our counterparts. Our brand wants to support other women, and celebrate women working together to achieve anything they can.
8. Can you tell us about Lucy Paris’ decision to use dead stock in the Again Collection? Why is using dead stock better for the environment?
We decided to use dead stock to be conscious of the environment, and decrease our yearly fabric waste. We want our customers to not only wear the pieces again, but it is an opportunity for our brand to also utilize the fabrics again. Dead stock fabrication is the fabric that goes to waste after we cut our garments. Every year, millions of yards of fabric are unethically disposed, and wasted at fabric mills and land fills. Therefore using dead stock fabrics enables us to eliminate waste, recycle fabrication, and provide eco-conscious piece for our customers. In an effort to reduce our waste we decided to create easy to wear dresses using these fabrics that our customers will want to wear again. Hence, the name the Again collection.
Sierra Slip Dress, Again Collection, $52
9. What does a typical day look like for you as curator of Lucy Paris? How has COVID-19 affected that?
A typical day at Lucy Paris starts off with a good cup of coffee, and a long list of emails to answer to. After emails, I typically have zoom meetings with our showrooms across the U.S. to go over the line and monitor our sales. After lunch, I will review with my aunt and the design team. By the end of the day I meet with the marketing team to discuss and approve plans for photoshoots, e-commerce inquiries, and social media goals. Covid-19 has affected our company quite a bit. We closed our company during the lockdown. When we returned, we made many changes including decreasing the size of our line. We took a few months to catch up. Thankfully, at the moment, our office is operating close to normally again, Our teams are required to wear a mask and practice strict social distancing.
10. Could you tell us about how Lucy Paris is committed to helping essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Lucy Paris is dedicated to donating masks to essential workers during the pandemic. We have donated masks to nurses and several hospitals. We currently have a 40% off discount code for our online store. Doctors and nurses can email their badges to customerservice@lucyparis.com to receive a discount code, and a free mask.
11. Lucy Paris’ collections are a homage to the women who “love life and do it all”. How do you balance running Lucy Paris with your own personal life?
I am a strong believer in work and life balance. I have two young daughters, therefore I make sure to make time to breakfast and have morning chats before work. After work, I leave my work at the office, and give my full attention to my daughters. I try to set aside 30 minutes of my night, after my daughters go to bed for self care, whether it is yoga or a good face mask, this time for me is important.
Last show you binge watched: Emily in Paris. I absolutely loved this show. While we are all unable to travel this show provided the best sense of escapism. The fashion, characters, and views of my hometown were delightful.
Favorite book to recommend: I Love Your Style written by Amanda Brooks. I read this book about ten years ago, and I recommend it to anyone who has an interest in fashion, and wants an understanding of style.
If you could have lunch with any woman, who would it be? Oprah Winfrey. She is the epitome of women empowerment, she is so insightful, brilliant, and intelligent. I would love to even be in the same room as her.
One item from your bucket list: Travel the world in Lucy Paris
By: Jodi Nguyen