We recently connected with Nicole Briggs and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Nicole, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to have you retell us the story behind how you came up with the idea for your business, I think our audience would really enjoy hearing the backstory.

The idea of “Jiyu” ,which means freedom in Japanese, stems from years working in premium to luxury retail for Henri Bendel, Alexander McQueen, Monique L’Huillier and more and wanting to express my story and taste as a Black woman in fashion. My ideas were often rejected by former bosses and grew frustrated with not seeing myself in enough in fashion spaces whether that was styling, wardrobe or costuming or owning a business. I wanted to break free and express my taste through a boutique that catered to creative women appreciative of sourcing, fabric, sustainability and honestly diversity. I was not sure it would work and continue to work full-time while building Jiyu. I am comfortable with building slow as we see venture capital is very fast paced and focused on scale and bigger and faster is not always best as we see with Theranos, We Work and so many other 30 under 30 founders who have had to dissolve their businesses. Black women have always been an integral part of fashion and retail business but you never see us. Whenever a new creative director of a fashion house is announced it’s never a Black woman and that is a huge problem so just my presence in the space solves a problem. I think people are now understanding that bigger is not always better like when I think of Barneys, it’s tough and I think there is no longer a broad stroke approach. You can be a creative, a buyer and for me even a voice for fashion by sharing your authentic experiences. I practice slow fashion and sustainability by focusing on female founders, POC women and a handful of housewares for those with a collector mindset. I get excited for my live commerce shows through Talk Shop Live where I get to interact with viewers actively shopping, different from going live on Instagram where you are sharing your lifestyle to gain followers. More followers does not guarantee more sales.

Nicole, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am from Chicago and I went to college to study journalism with the goal of becoming a fashion journalist. To this day, I’ve only written or edited articles for free and had several internships in public relations. I had worked as a freelance photographer and wardrobe assistant but could never find consistent work so moved to L.A. in 2010 where the market was slightly better. I continued to assist stylists and work retail managing on Rodeo Dr. for Hugo Boss or Modern Society London while launching Jiyu. Podcasting became easily accessible from apps and I launched “You Have To Wear Something” as a collection of interviews with leaders in the industry or my commentary on trends, business and culture. I enjoyed the perspective of Robin Givhan and Andre Leon Talley, alternatives to the eurocentric articles I read in Vogue or W magazine. I work with smaller women-owned businesses and founders, the real creatives behind ceramics or hand-made incense but with an elevated approach beyond crafty goods. I think the public is aware of the damage of fast fashion and that it’s not sustainable and we need to begin shopping differently. I would describe the Jiyu aesthetic as premium, small batch clothing accessories and home goods with a focus on women and people of color thoughtfully edited by a true fan of the old guard of fashion. Fashion lovers were once well read, art lovers, cinema buffs and respected quality and the lifecycle of a piece. I am not for everyone but I hope to appeal to the investment shopper and collector versus needed.a quick outfit to flex on the gram. Sometimes I may post a poem or my favorite scene from a movie but I also post the goofy cat memes but I would love shoppers to simply slow down and invest a but more and I hope that Jiyu can help cultivate this mindset.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Sure I was bit of a Francophile all of my life and fell in love with collectibles from this French company, goods that included art from Magritte and Basquiat and I spent quite a bit on the wholesale order. Founder are always living on the edge when it come to being self-funded and I got a call from Fedex that my items had arrived which I thought was great news. I thought the delivery was on my doorstep. What they meant was the order had arrived to the airport, to customs and I owed about $1100 in order to receive the order. Well I did not have an additional $1100 to invest in this brand but I managed to pay it and I just had a pit in my stomach. I felt really dumb that I had forgotten about customs when you buy from European brands and to offset the cost I added a few dollars to the retail prices of the goods. The extra spend made me nervous but I you also have to go into problem-solving mode. So I just marketed the items as much as I could and even though I felt unsure about raising prices a bit, they sold anyway. I think you have to be resilient and confident with anything you fund yourself even when it’s scary to do so.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

For years parents and professors had advised that anything you’re interested in you have to intern and get a mentor. You have to be willing to work for free for years so I found experts in their field and interned and these experiences never turned into a full-time job. I think some older generations feel like they had it hard, they were exploited so that should be the route for you too. I had to unlearn working for free. I did way too much work for free through my 20s and even when I did begin to charge I would get pushback on my prices for assisting for instance, I think all interns and mentees should be paid for their time with a view exceptions. If you can afford to intern for free great! But by 20 I already had my own apartment and multiple jobs and I wish someone would have told me then I deserve to be paid. You do not have to work for free just because you’re young and new to an industry so I am glad there’s even legislation in place to protect young people today.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shopjiyu.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopjiyu/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shopjiyu
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShopJiyu
• Other: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/youhavetowearsomething

Image Credits
Cornell Sanner