Jonathan Simkhai on business growth without outside investment and the return to NYFW

“The business is privately held, and we have not taken on any outside investment,” Simkhai said on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. “I am open to the idea, but we’re also very happy just moving along and growing the business organically.”

Coinciding with that growth has been the opening of four Simkhai stores — in Southampton, Beverly Hills, NYC’s SoHo neighborhood and Dallas. There have also been marketing investments via global runway shows. This September, Simkhai will return to the New York Fashion Week runway, largely driven by customer demand. 

“In our stores, I’ve heard so many clients say, ‘Are you doing a show?’ and ‘We want to come to your show,’” he said. “In being so focused on the clients and meeting their needs and being there for them, I really want to do a show so I can have them there and give them that experience.”

Also on the podcast, Simkhai discussed why he values time in his brand’s stores, why specialty stores have an advantage over department stores and why experimentation is important to a modern fashion business. Excerpts from the conversation, below, have been lightly edited for clarity.

A hands-on approach to customer service

“We’re seeing such great traction with [our four] stores. [Physical retail] is one of our fastest-growing and upward-trending businesses, so it’s definitely in our pipeline to open more stores. I want to have that touchpoint with the stores and be able to visit them. Next week, I go to the Hamptons to be in-store and to do an event there. I always want to be able to be there as much as possible — obviously, as we continue to grow, it’s harder to be in every store all the time. But especially at the beginning, it’s really important to make sure you set the tone for the customer service standards and the way the collection is presented and the way people are experiencing the clothes and being styled. To be able to be in the stores and train the staff and work with the staff and the stylists on just how to give [customers] the Simkai experience is important to me at this stage.”

The specialty store advantage

“I love specialty stores so much — it’s one of my passions. Something that I see is that the owner of the store is equally responsible for paying the bills, working the floor, maintaining the relationship with the customer, doing the buying, sometimes they’re unpacking boxes — they’re literally doing everything. And they’ll come into our showroom in New York and see the collection, and they’re literally thinking, ‘I’m buying this in a size 6 for my customer Judy,’ and ‘I’m buying this in a size 5 for Michelle.’ They know who their customer is, and they have the ability to understand their customer and bring them the product that’s going to work best for them — and then they see it through; they make sure that product goes to that person. Sometimes with department stores, the buyer is in an office and she’s buying 70 brands. She doesn’t necessarily know exactly who the customer is. The specialty stores are really at an advantage because they do have that direct relationship with the customer. They know their customers by name and by face, and [they know] their body type. And the customers are really excited about the curation of product that’s happening for them. They’re coming in and they’re seeing Simkhai, and the [owner is] bringing them what they need from the collection. During Covid, [the focus was on] digital experiences — e-commerce was booming. After Covid, people were excited to return to in-person [shopping] and experience stores. They missed it. We’re still seeing that they’re excited to come in and they’re excited to have an experience.”

When to experiment

“We definitely lean into opportunities that are presented to us. I’m all about experimenting and trying different things. In meetings, if someone has an idea, I’m like, ‘Let’s test it. Let’s try it.’ Why say no just because we haven’t done it that way before? And then we let the data let us know if it was a good decision. But obviously, if it’s not brand-adjacent, [we won’t do it]. When the opportunity to show at Sydney Fashion Week came our way, we took it — I love Australia, and we have really nice distribution and a nice presence in Australia, so I was excited about it. And then [we showed at] Miami Swim Week because we have a really great swim business.”