You’re Blue, I’m Clean
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LISTEN TO SEERSUCKER AND GRANDMA EPISODE 78
IN THIS EPISODE
- How to define what freedom looks like for you and how to go after it (5:48)
- Exercises to help you narrow in on your perfect day and the one thing you want to focus on (12:15)
- Tips for avoiding the ‘when then’ trap and setting realistic daily milestones (22:40)
- The importance of identifying your high value and low-value tasks and what is going to move you towards your goals (29:17)
- How Natalie took a three-month sabbatical from her business and how it impacted her life and business (35:10)
Episode Transcript
00:00.00
thereg
Yo this is reg ferguson fashion geek number 1 how you guys doing welcome to the ride. Thank you so much for listening. Please tell your friends about us. Please tell them to subscribe and please give us a review on apple podcast special shout goes to our producer search and everyone down with the fashion geeks. You have a question or a story suggestion. You can email me at podcast at and ny fashion geek dot com or hit me up on the insta at new york fashion geek Today. We’re gonna talk with John vou and christopher sakus of Silk exchange who are in Bangkok in London. So. My first international interview and we’re gonna talk about a category of shopping that the Everyday man probably should have an interest in especially with the current economy. We’re gonna talk about the men’s mirror but we’re gonna talk about the Men’swear resale market. John and christopher in the building international. How are you guys? Yeah, exception of that slip up but are you guys keeping safe out there.
01:09.30
thereg
Hey you know it’s It’s tricky and I know I know in the U K where you are christopher I know you’re you’ve entered another lockdown and I don’t claim to know.
01:51.14
thereg
Sure understood so gentlemen before we go into our topic please tell us So what do you do.
02:53.70
thereg
John.
03:16.16
thereg
Good for you Man Yeah understatement. So gentlemen, Why am man’s high-end Resell Marketplace and why now.
04:54.43
thereg
Um, so John I want to follow up. Why do you think the suit is the most sustainable item out there.
06:55.73
thereg
So do you feel that or was it The reason of longevity through classic menswear that sparked your interest in launching this marketplace.
07:19.99
thereg
Yes, please please.
08:07.82
thereg
When did they grow up and what did they do when they grow up.
08:45.29
thereg
Having seen that on the graham. She’s just like you live in a double like you live in a double life. John.
09:31.73
thereg
Oh.
11:09.22
thereg
Please.
13:08.86
thereg
But do you feel Chris that having a marketplace you’re really preaching to the converted meaning Do you feel that you’re able to acquire new customers. Into classic menswear through the marketplace.
13:40.30
thereg
Absolutely.
14:43.00
thereg
Um.
16:10.60
thereg
So yes.
18:05.57
thereg
So for both of you. How do you feel? you’re creating a community through silk exchange How how you creating a curating experience.
18:55.65
thereg
Sure.
21:33.17
thereg
Make sense to me so I’ve been curious about this since we connected we connected a little less than a month ago and I follow all your accounts on the graham as you know silk exchange. The name itself is this a direct. Homage to the silk road.
21:58.19
thereg
Yeah I was like well yeah I mean you’re in Bangkok and silk exchange I’m like well I was on the path. So and.
26:03.80
thereg
Right? You’re ah you’re definitely soup to nuts Obviously I checked out the the marketplace. No I mean that’s that’s good right? I would think.
28:15.74
thereg
So let’s actually talk about the exchange itself. Let’s let’s let’s get into a little minutia So I’m a seller I have some ties how does the process work.
30:20.58
thereg
And.
31:49.55
thereg
Wow.
32:42.86
thereg
Sure transactions done paypal stripe typical and sellers pay a 7 percent commission return shipping where is it returning to.
33:08.57
thereg
Yeah.
33:16.32
thereg
Ah, and John you had mentioned this but I’d like you to elaborate the platform is actively monitored and vetted by community experts whom are these experts.
33:48.90
thereg
Nice.
35:20.67
thereg
Okay, okay, and staff picks that’s between you 2 you guys wrestle every day and try to figure out something.
37:28.50
thereg
Sure sure how do you How does 1 develop and foster and nurture a supplier network for your marketplace. How does 1 do that. I I’m not selling any of my stuff I have a clothing museum. It’s called Ferguson’s you’re not taking anything from me I’m the problem I’m the problem trust me I’m not yeah I’m I’m the problem. Um I really am. Ever lived delight. That’s all I could say.
40:14.51
thereg
So what do you think? and again, we’re talking about a business that is entering its first month what do you think separates you currently from other marketplaces like luck swap. The shoe snob exchange in ebay.
44:19.76
thereg
Well I’ll tell both of you gentlemen this I have never looked at a marketplace and seen a seven thousand dollars vacuna coat my god guys. Yeah, you’re balling. That’s so I’m saying. Sh.
44:47.72
thereg
Okay, I mean I’m I’m old school I’m old school golden age John that’s not doing that’s not doing anything for me I’m like okay that’s nice. Okay, if you had said future I might have been more intrigued but 2 chains. Yeah, okay, yeah, says yes as so. So why don’t both of you gentlemen tell me beyond the vacuna coat. What are your favorite items currently on the exchange.
45:26.59
thereg
Ah, fight Fight fight.
45:57.30
thereg
So right.
46:34.69
thereg
Yeah, no hey that’s ah, that’s good.
47:17.93
thereg
No no.
47:26.72
thereg
Oh I think I read about him in in the rake or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
48:37.88
thereg
My ties have ties John so I’m not looking at any ties christopher. What’s yours.
51:13.43
thereg
Right.
52:06.46
thereg
Exactly hang in there Chris So I want to ask both of you this question and answer separately. What does always be fly mean to you.
53:58.70
thereg
Chris.
56:34.57
thereg
I Like what you have to say.
56:44.50
thereg
Ah, okay.
58:04.29
thereg
I like it.
00:56.42
Christopher Siakkas
Brilliant. Yeah. Um, assuming a long term.
01:17.12
Christopher Siakkas
Yeah, it’s yeah no I think um for us, it’s quite serious I mean I know you guys over in new york had a lot of issues up until recently I think london has tried to kind of evade if not. The actual issues. Definitely the publicity all these months but now it kind of everything came in feet. But yeah, swimming along and staying positive. That’s the best thing and with a new year you know trying to to think of all the great things that are ahead of us.
02:04.60
Christopher Siakkas
That sounds good. Um, so I work I work in the financial sector here in in London in the uk that’s my day job. Um, However, I’ve I’ve got quite an entrepreneurial. Um. Ah, character and mindset. So for a long time I’ve been involved in startups and side projects and I was introduced to John a long time ago and we kind of um clicked when it came to classic menswear and um. So silk exchanges came about about thirteen fourteen months ago and that’s something else that I do on the side of my my day job.
03:28.88
Christopher Siakkas
Please.
00:54.00
John Wojcik
Fantastic reg, Great intro man.
01:05.00
John Wojcik
Um, yeah, yeah, it’s more.
02:01.26
John Wojcik
Because you want to take it first.
02:55.00
John Wojcik
Um, yeah because I’ve been living in southeast asia for the last 2 and a half years working for the un and before that I spent some time in Korea which also had a pretty big impact on my infatuation with menswear and before that I was in School. So. Happy to be out and exploring the world and happy to be in Bangkok right now.
03:26.13
John Wojcik
Sure so chris if you don’t mind I’ll take it. So yeah I think that in addition to fashion being cyclical and I think a lot of us can agree that classic menswear is kind of down cycle. A lot of speculation about the suit being dead and. Whatnot I think with the current state of Menswear and hashtag menswear online specifically on Instagram and through podcasts like you edge I think that classic menswear is coming up I think there’s a lot of influencers from the Armory in new york where you live to. Ah, to what we’re doing and you know the entire classic menswear scene across Asia that um, I’m falling in love with on the daily There’s a lot of cool movement. A lot of cool activity and you know I’ll throw in a little sustainability bit here I think that the suit can save the world I think that classic men’swear enthusiasts are some of the most.
09:17.34
Christopher Siakkas
I have to say I didn’t have such an issue with Street war myself to be ah this branch so I didn’t go through that phase I went straight from the children’s clothes straight into classic style. But I think.
04:23.33
John Wojcik
Environmentally friendly consumers in fashion and you know I think we’re also you know in the the current state of the world and you know the way that people are developing today and the crises even that we’re facing people need ah another reason to wake up in the morning and you know there’s nothing.
09:36.15
Christopher Siakkas
Something that is worth noting here is that we see John very well said or picked the suit as the symbol of classic style but I would say you know classic menswear as a whole is really something that we see as an enabler as an empowering.
04:41.30
John Wojcik
Like putting on a nice jacket or ah, you know a bunch of other parts of your routine that are associated with classic menswear that can help you kickstart your day and try to project your best self So that’s that’s why.
09:54.24
Christopher Siakkas
Force Um, that can help people grow Mentally you know, spiritually career-wise Personally I’ve seen it myself. You know for a long time when I was a kid I was chubby I was quite.
05:01.68
John Wojcik
I think I used the suit as ah as a tagline there but it’s not the suit. It’s just the fact that classic men’s wear. Garments are crafted with care over time. They’re crafted with passion. You know longstanding traditions of of making clothes. Well um.
10:14.19
Christopher Siakkas
Overweight and I remember you know even to these day that I was looking at the suits and the jackets as something that I couldn’t wear because you know you wouldn’t flatter my bodyd. It wouldn’t you know wouldn’t be me and I used to see the suit I used to see the jackets I used to see all the like.
05:20.90
John Wojcik
And and it’s ah it’s a silent protest that you can wear to fast fashion and the terrible impact. It’s having um on communities on the environment and you know to be to be honest on like the mindset of of young people. You don’t need to rotate your wardrobe as quickly as we do if you look at data about.
10:33.91
Christopher Siakkas
Everything that you term classic Menswe today as something not unattainable or but something to to fight for something you know a good way to prove to yourself that hey I’ve made it I achieved.
05:40.51
John Wojcik
Economic development. What’s happened is that as the world becomes more developed people are buying more clothes and these clothes tend to last them less time. Classic menswear is a weight around that you invest in quality you invest in things that you love and through silk exchange we’re enabling.
10:53.16
Christopher Siakkas
Something in life and I think for a long time. That’s something that you know, um that we see in in classic style and that is exactly what brought John and myself together you know I can give you a bit of um, a story therefore for context.
05:59.88
John Wojcik
The possibility of you to consider your you know often these these garments do cost quite a bit of money. There’s obviously different ranges that you can get into. But if you own something that falls into classic menswear and it’s made well and you take care of it. You should be able to consider that item as its own.
11:13.30
Christopher Siakkas
The way Johnn and I met was a long long time ago. We were both in in in the un model un space if you like and we were quite avid in trying to to understand how the world is working and so forth.
06:19.22
John Wojcik
You know Asset class is an investment. It’s something that you can get money back from if you treat it well and you know as you’ll probably hear in this podcast Chris and I both have our own relationship to classic menswear and to to our Journeys and part of that was resale and you know hunting and sniping.
11:32.97
Christopher Siakkas
Um, and we we came we we we came to the same event. It was a model un conference in new york and actually I was 1 of the organizers and I was trying to kind of um, pick the team and 1 of the team members that.
06:38.30
John Wojcik
Things online and finding different channels to access in some cases The best classic men’s where that there is you know the the trendiest stuff the best made stuff the stuff that speaks to us on a personal level.
11:52.49
Christopher Siakkas
Joined the team was john and it was quite instant. The the kind of um, you know signaling mechanism that existed with with a suit because you know of all the people everyone was you know dressed in a suit but it was very few people that were actually.
06:52.59
John Wojcik
Um, and and and we’re trying to sort of take that to the next level with silk exchange.
07:05.90
John Wojcik
Yeah I think you know we’re We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel here with silk exchange. Obviously we’re you know aware of of the the resale boom which is happening right now I mean just to drop some more data on you like you know so the classic men’swear.
12:12.19
Christopher Siakkas
Interested in what they were wearing interested in the little details on the ties. The the handkerchiefs you know all those little things that we as classmates were enthusiasts like and I remember it was like almost like chemistry you know like going on a first date kind of thing I was like yes this.
07:24.70
John Wojcik
Not classic menswear sorry the Apparel resale market is set to double the market value of retail by 2028 so it’s it’s a booming market. That’s obviously 1 of our incentives to get into it from a business point of view. But when you think about it really? um.
12:29.85
Christopher Siakkas
This is my brother. You know this is a guy that I I will be good friends with and that’s how we we you know we we started talking and we became friends and you know boom 7 years after we were working on creating our own company but that is exactly the kind of.
07:44.33
John Wojcik
You know we we’re all probably familiar with with grailed and other sort of streetwa oriented Marketplaces Dpop For instance, that’s that’s trending right now but someone raised the question to Chris and I quite recently and said where do the guys who grew up on those platforms. You know who are.
12:48.10
Christopher Siakkas
Enabling force that we’ve seen in jackets The the thing that you know you grow and alongside that journey alongside discovering. Um what dressing? Well what dressing nicely and what taking care of yourself. Can do to improve your image and.
08:04.40
John Wojcik
Really interested in street where where do where do they grow when they grow up sorry when do they grow? Oh my God when great. Well when where do we return to when they grow up right? What where is the platform for them and like in in both of our cases Chris and I probably a little bit more me because I grew up in toronto.
13:07.11
Christopher Siakkas
Bring you ahead of the curve and make you stand out.
08:23.64
John Wojcik
Um, Streetwaar was a pretty big fad that I had and I used the word fat on purpose because I don’t think that streetwear is anywhere remotely as timeless as classic menswear and you know in in my case I grew up I got a job and what you know fashion is still important to me now mind you I I do wear a good bit of streetwear on the side.
13:28.38
Christopher Siakkas
Yeah, so there is 2 ways I’m going to go about answering this red. So the first 1 is there is already a community out there of classic mens forre enthusiasts and I’m sure you you.
08:43.53
John Wojcik
Um, but in my you know most yeah but scroll down far enough man, you’ll find it and I fell in love with streetwear in Korea you know it was. That’s where I was like wow this is this is something this is a real.
13:45.87
Christopher Siakkas
You know you can appreciate yourself. The community is quite um, geographically dispersed. There’s not a a central point of you know reference. There’s not a central point of um space if you like.
09:02.18
John Wojcik
Ah, community This is a real cult following. It’s cool. But yeah you know eventually I think that I’m not saying you can’t be into streetwear all your life but classic menswear is something different. It’s it’s special in its own way just like street wears And yeah.
14:03.58
Christopher Siakkas
Ah, where enthusiasts can come and talk I mean there’s always you know the magazines the the influencers out there that people follow, but really, there’s not something like ah you know Facebook if you like for class mentor enthusiasts. Um and a marketplace would do just. About that, especially a marketplace that is specifically tailored and curated to to service this ah this this line of customer the classic menswere enthusiast someone who has a very well-defined style and who doesn’t want to spend hours. Probably likes to spend hours I mean I can I can talk on behalf of both myself and John we love spending hours but we don’t want to spend hours looking through garbage or we don’t want to spend hours looking through irrelevant items that you know we would never see ourselves wearing or running the risk of getting something that. Um, you know is counterfeit or is is is not of high quality and a a marketplace would do just about that bring everyone together so that is 1 and then the other 1 is we’re not just about a marketplace right? we we are something beyond that we are a community as I said before it’s a lot about talking to people around the world and as you said earlier in the beginning of the podcast actually internationally our our community is you know can be found on all. All continents all places and around the world. The good thing is that it’s easy to tell when someone is a classmates were enthusiasts if you see them but in the digital world. It’s difficult to you know to have a central space where everyone communicates and you know, um, we we started this as a kind of um. Facebook group where we you know gather people around and we saw that there’s an actual demand to to have a dedicated marketplace and community servicing this this customer. Okay.
18:19.29
Christopher Siakkas
Yeah, sure. So. Thanks, thanks right? That’s an excellent question I think it happened very organically and it happened by really just creating a page I remember it was after a trip that I made over to bangkok and I met up with joan and we. We both agreed that classic style is something that we were both interested in and boom there you go the first milestone was creating um an Instagram page and to a large extent in our early stages. Um that Instagram page was a mood board was something that we. Collated bringing together. Um images that we like and mind you, it’s not just suits that we put up there right? as you probably have seen. It’s a lot about Lifestyle. It’s a lot about promoting those different. Ah. Key role role of role play not role play sorry um figures in the classic mens were community and you know as. As that started to grow and as more people started coming across our page and you know but giving us a lot of traction on social Media. We started expanding. You know it’s not just about you know Instagram after after a while we we grew over to to Facebook where. You know the demographic is quite different and the the way to create traction. There is quite different. It used to be a trendy social medium um around a decade ago and now you know it caters to a different kind of customer. And that’s that’s something that we want to to tap into and then beyond that seeing that communities started to form and you know going through the first 3 k milestone and then the five k milestone and then you know the ten K followers Milestone it kind of gave us that momentum that we’re now exploring other social media as well. Just to to create that curated experience and I think reg you put it very very rightly there so we have expand over to pinterest to to focus on the visual elements. We’re now taking steps to expand over to linkedin which is again different demographic. But um I would say quite key for what we’re doing and also we’re growing our presence on spotify which is something that.
21:05.70
Christopher Siakkas
We started doing recently and as you can probably appreciate yourself. You know, making sure that our customers and our ah our community members have the whole experience. You know why not try to approach it from the acoustic sides you know So that’s.
16:09.58
John Wojcik
Reg if I if if you don’t mind if I may just add a little to what Chris said I think you know part of part of creating this company and building it further from where we are now is.
21:24.82
Christopher Siakkas
That’s always something that we’re trying to do to to strive for a holistic experience there and bringing more more senses.
16:24.30
John Wojcik
Like we’re we’re kind of like obligated to try and champion classic menswear for all of those reasons we mentioned earlier the sustainability aspect. You know I mean I’ll just kind of add here. We kind of have these four main pillars that we tried to actively sort of work around. 1 being enhancing accessibility to classic men’swear and and that again sort of taps into the new generation of classic menswear enthusiasts and you know chris and I are 51 years old so we obviously are familiar with with that demographic in addition to the classic menswear enthusiasts who who precede us.
21:50.82
Christopher Siakkas
Shown You want to take that.
17:02.35
John Wojcik
Um, the other thing we we we chated chatted about already with you was about ah value retention and kind of reshaping perceptions around the investment in classic menswear and creating a platform where you can get some money back should your style change should you want to freshen up your wardrobe right? and so this kind of comes down to the idea of. Promoting a culture of rotation rather than accumulation then we have the sustainability bit like we also mentioned the the classic menswear enthusiast maybe the most environmentally friendly consumer in fashion and then we also have the representation side of things how we want to reshape the narrative around classic menswear. Um, around you know men’swear culture and all of those fantastic references that we have from from art and film and cinema and you know novels from the sixty s and fifty s and you know that kind of golden era we want to sort of reshape. What it means to be into classic menswear and and make sure that. So you know we we promote that accessibility both in the product side and in the representation side of things.
18:17.58
John Wojcik
Chris You want to take that.
26:13.10
Christopher Siakkas
No, but I would say also right? So just adding to what John said that s silkkishing as a name did not come about. You know so like I mean you know it came about very naturally it wasn’t like ah. We we had you know a session where we brainstormed it was more about you know? Um, you know we we liked these and we had so many John I don’t know if you remember we had so many different names for it and you know we were debating a lot about you know when when we started talking about what the business model would be. I think the last thing we decided was the name and um, something that is worth mentioning here is apart from the silk road. It’s you know that that movement from vas to the west but also you know from different parts of the world to to new parts of the world and um.
21:51.46
John Wojcik
Um, yeah, yeah, a little bit for sure. Um, not just because I’m living in Asia but you know too.
27:07.24
Christopher Siakkas
That kind of um, you know apart from the silk element which I absolutely love about our name to be honest, rich. It’s you know Silk is so such a buying material and I encourage you and the the listeners to go and look out.
22:06.54
John Wojcik
Be honest when chris and I first started discussing the idea I mind you like we’ve come so far from just an idea because we we both don’t really have programming backgrounds and we we were you know curious how how how on earth are we going to build a 2 wo-ended marketplace um
27:25.79
Christopher Siakkas
How how it’s actually made and it’s tremendous process and you know so much effort is put behind that and it’s exactly so much valued because it’s it retains its value. It’s ah it’s it’s it.
22:26.23
John Wojcik
And you know scale it without that background. Um, but initially the idea was sort of like I guess this will lead me into a story about my own kind of classic menswear background and my own backstory. Um I used to hustle basically like.
27:44.46
Christopher Siakkas
It survives the test of time so that is the 1 element of silk exchange and then the other element is the exchange part. Um, you know which is something that you know we want to emphasize that thing that you know we are a marketplace but we are.
22:45.70
John Wojcik
Luxury neckties because I like them. Um, when I was in University I got really into classic menswear just you know to kind of look the part and be the part and take myself a little bit more seriously take my school a little bit more seriously and just just try to be my best self and the suit my suits kind of.
27:58.71
Christopher Siakkas
Beyond the marketplace. We are a place where people can exchange ideas can exchange um, thoughts views or ideas on on Trends on everything classments were um, related and even you know classic Lifestyle related I would say.
23:05.33
John Wojcik
Facilitated that and it came back to my parents who are polish immigrants in Canada who sort of instilled this idea of always presenting my best self and always you know, just making an effort to to show respect through the clothes I wore and through the way I presented myself. Um, so so this kind of led me to a point where I was like really tired of you know fast fashion stuff and my my mom picking up my suits and whatever um I ended up like in in the local classifieds of toronto and you know eventually I picked up a few nice ties from I don’t know like Brionei or zena. Um, that I that I loved at the time and then I kind of realized damn I picked these up really cheap because you know the as it stood. There wasn’t really a centralized space. Um, for classic menswear resale and as a result. Whoever had that expensive item and put it up on like craigslist or whatever would be willing to accept my lowball offer because nobody had messaged them about it for the last six months so I ended up picking up like you know 3 hundred dollars ties for like forty bucks. 50 bucks sixty bucks. Um, and then I found grailed at some point maybe in like. 2014 2015 and I was like oh like I’m kind of tired of this tie to beautiful tie. You know I kept it in like pristine condition. Um I wonder if I can sell it there and you know grailed is not the best place for for anything other than streetware really which is fair like I love I love grailed for what it was um. But it wasn’t really the place for me and so you know I ended up anyways, you know through local classifieds through other platforms like ebay and and and grail for instance I you know would sell a tire to and kind of realize you know I could even make some money on on this thing that I enjoyed for a bit and you know I found this good sort of arbitrage opportunity. Um. And and yeah, so then chris came to bangkok last year and we just kind of chatted and we were talking about things completely other than business and on his very last I think even like the last hour we had together I went to soccer practice and he went to the airport. Um I had kind of mentioned this idea in passing like What do you think about a marketplace for like secondhand ties and he was like oh it kind of cool like let’s talk about it and then 2 months later we had a chat and I was kind of formalizing this idea just to see what we could do with it and yeah silk exchange kind of came out of that and that was I guess sort of rooted in the idea of this being limited to neck ties instead of. Whole range of things that we have on the site which I think is fantastic because there’s you know a bunch of different guys who like different things. Some guys don’t like to wear full suits some guys only wear full suits so we have a you know broad range of accessories. We have.
25:54.38
John Wojcik
Ah, sports codes we have trousers we have denim we have watches and you know pocket squares and cufflinks. Whatever you want It can all be found there.
32:48.93
Christopher Siakkas
Yeah, yeah.
28:32.10
John Wojcik
So yeah, basically I mean you would go to silkexchange dot com. The first thing you would run into is our um categories that you can browse if you scroll down further you’ll see some of the more interactive community elements that we have um.
33:40.86
Christopher Siakkas
Yet.
28:50.70
John Wojcik
Such as our gent of the month feature and other articles that we have written by other members of our community so we try to keep that open and you know for the reference if anyone’s ever keen to explore menswear a little bit more formally by by writing about something where we’re all ears. We’re always open to to featuring different voices and different opinions um and of course reg that is open to you? Um, but as far as as far as how the the platform actually works. We have you know you would see a marketplace tab you would click on that and that sends you to the the heart and soul of what we’re doing. And so you’ll you’ll see a pretty familiar sort of a feed with a bunch of different content of different items and products that you can you know explore so we like to say that silk exchange is a community-driven marketplace for buying selling and exploring classic menswear. Um, so we have we have categories like I mentioned. Ah, number of them. You can find what you’re looking for. You can look through garment sizes you can look through shoe sizes shirt sizes materials, different types of cloth. We have a whole range of that. Um, and so basically you know we’re trying to make silk exchange rooted in the idea of you know something that’s crafted well over time. Um. But we’re also we’ve also you know a good question to ask would be like what do we mean by classic menswear and we we had a bit of a since we’re still in these early days. It’s it’s fine to say we we obviously had a bit of a challenge with like where do we draw the line on classic menswear and to be honest, like who are we to. Decide what that means. So we we try to stick to the idea of just well-made clothes that are in wearable condition. Um, we have you know if you were to list an item you would have a bunch of categories to sort of fill in ranging from the price from the quality from the brand. Also that people on the other end can can.
35:27.58
Christopher Siakkas
Um, um, no I actually um, it’s not so much ah of a wrestling game. It’s more like trying trying to to feed everything that we like into just you know 5 or 6 items up there.
30:43.28
John Wojcik
Find these products through those filters. Um, and and you know we we try to make sure we we actively monitor the site to try to eliminate. You know any counterfeit goods that might come up that hasn’t been a problem whatsoever yet and to to be honest, you know we tried to.
35:46.44
Christopher Siakkas
I think it’s it’s a very organic process ah reg and you know as John mentioned we are every day all of us everyone around the world in the team is browsing through the platform. So we are always on the lookout for.
31:01.22
John Wojcik
We We’d like to expect anyways that the people who are browsing silk exchange or listing on silk exchange are you know honorable. Um, we we try to preach that obviously through through the very nature of classic menswear. Um, and you know we we try to keep everything. Um.
36:06.26
Christopher Siakkas
something new something cool um which you know will will kind of inform the selection of these staff picks. Um, and I think that that’s the first stage of approach in that and then the second stage is.
31:20.21
John Wojcik
Ah, tight ship. We try to keep it curated. We try to make sure that there’s only good quality stuff. We we tried to make this platform for ourselves first and foremost and and it’s sort of an extension of that so you know you’ll you’ll find a really broad range of products there that you can shop.
36:24.85
Christopher Siakkas
When when we are reviewing the end of the month you know things that we want to add to the platform or um, where you know if if we need to push for more jackets in the platform or if we want to to add more shoes we have started.
31:38.56
John Wojcik
Um, or you can list from you know, just I’m I’m just opening the page here from like a 3 hundred dollars you know Neapolitan nine step handmade shirt for Seventy bucks to you know a ring it for the Armory um hounds tooth.
36:43.69
Christopher Siakkas
Going out in the market and trying to to speak to to people speak to our networks speak to retailers speak to to people who might have stock and we try to do it in a way that is targeted and it helps wipe out these if if there are any gaps and.
31:55.98
John Wojcik
Blazor that probably retails for somewhere around like eighteen hundred us dollars and it’s on sale here in like Brand new condition for 450 so those are the kinds of deals and steals that we’re after um, you know from our own personal sort of journeys in classic men style. These are the things that are important to us. We’re trying to.
37:02.33
Christopher Siakkas
So far. The process has been very smooth and it’s it’s it’s remarkable How how many high quality items were uploaded into the platform within a very very short period of time I mean we launched back in in December December Eleventh and.
32:13.41
John Wojcik
Bring that barrier down so that more people can enjoy and be a part of the community in classic menswear and and on the other hand we’re trying to make you know create a platform where people can come and and get some value back from their past investments and maybe put it forward towards something else.
37:21.00
Christopher Siakkas
Within I would say 2 weeks we had more than 100 items up which is you know a big milestone for us.
32:32.97
John Wojcik
Ah, into their wardrobe through silk exchange or not whatever we should have the flexibility to leverage these fantastically kept high quality garments and rather than just having them waste away.
37:44.56
Christopher Siakkas
This is.
32:47.71
John Wojcik
Yes.
37:50.73
Christopher Siakkas
Well.
33:01.39
John Wojcik
I I mean it’s ah it returns to do you mean? return shipping like where does the item go back? Yeah I’ll go back to the to the seller. Yeah.
33:23.58
John Wojcik
Um, yes, fantastic. Great. So ah, this will be a fantastic opportunity for us to enter the discussion about our fantastic team so we have we have currently 8 people from around the world from four different continents. Chris for for a different continent. We. We almost have gender paroity. Believe it or not in a classic men’swear startup and we have 3 phenomenal young women who are just incredible and you know are totally responsible for the success that we’ve had so far. Um. Different range you know age of range of age groups different perspectives all of that Super important. But so we we actively we have you know, designated people who um, at at some time zone or another will be monitoring the feed 24 7 you know whether it’s chris in London me and bangkok our team member in australia our team member in toronto whatever it might be someone is always browsing once a day making sure that the quality is upheld and that you know items are legit and the the beauty of. What we’re doing is that should you know should someone come and and and you know be what’s the word I’m looking for should should you know I mean should should a fake item appear we have total control to eliminate and ban people. Um, and we also have. A guarantee to our buyers that buyer protection is guaranteed and we have a you know dispute resolution mechanism sort of set up that in the case that arbitration is needed. We can facilitate that and we have you can see in our policies about how it works. How how all that works there.
40:33.45
Christopher Siakkas
Yeah that’s that’s an excellent question. Um, and you know I think reg it’s it’s worth looking at what we do in 3 different categories with 3 different lens if you like. Um, that that will help answer that you know, unique selling point question if you like first 1 is online. You know we are an online marketplace so that’s something that has proven its strengths especially now with covid and you know. Online marketplaces are ah are booming across the different sectors in the Market. So we’re trying to to ride that wave as well. The second lens is menswear like John mentioned you know menswear specifically Menswear. Ah. Is a side or part of the market but is um, gaining a tremendous structure John mentioned earlier that it’s it’s about to to double within the next few years and over the last um few years you know we are experiencing what we call a renaissance in Menswear. Um, which you know some people like to call menacance if you like um so we’re an online menswear marketplace. Ah. But there is a third layer to that we are a sustainable fashion Marketplace where a marketplace where we’re not just selling. You know, new items that stay on the racks. We attract those but we also. Attract and we try to incentivize users customers like yourself to to literally open their wardrobes and look is there something that I I’m not going to use again. Is there something that I don’t necessarily like is there something that doesn’t fit me anymore.
37:42.42
John Wojcik
With a lot of calls like these reg.
42:45.11
Christopher Siakkas
And these are all questions alongside many other things you know I had that kind of moment Yesterday when I came back to london from holidays and I was like h I don’t think I’m going to wear this pink shirt this specific pink shirt ever again mainly because you know it remind me of a certain time of my life and you know it’s.
37:50.42
John Wojcik
And.
37:56.20
John Wojcik
Um, and not for long, not whole. Yeah yeah, what? Well you know we in in my case.
43:04.59
Christopher Siakkas
The color doesn’t suit me anymore. Blah Blah Blah So I was like perfect. So I think the best way to utilize and retain the value of something that is of high quality and high value. You know we’re not talking about um very you know low.
38:11.67
John Wojcik
Between between working for the u n when I first moved to bangkok I spent 3 months working for the decorum which is 1 of the premier but classic men’swearhops here in in Thailand um, that that plugged me in real deep into the classic menstor space online in person. You know we have a fantastic robust.
43:23.99
Christopher Siakkas
Low- Priceed items. We’re talking about for items that we have invested in historically um, take them out of the wardrobe and put them out in the in the platform you know help other people around the world experience the same moments the same.
38:30.47
John Wojcik
Community of classic menswear enthusiasts here in Thailand who have supported us to varying extent. Um, you know like like you can tell from from my little description about our team. We have you know the continents covered.
43:41.16
Christopher Siakkas
Pride that you had while wearing them and this is really I think that that sums up, you know why? how we are different from all those other marketplaces out there. There’s a satur situation in the market. But when it comes to a community-driven classmates where.
38:44.47
John Wojcik
And we have people who are passionate about this stuff. We are people who are passionate about the business side of things and all of that works together to allow us to ah you know, really spread ourselves. Well effectively and you know we’re We’re also just passionate about what we’re doing and that means that when we have calls like these. Um.
44:00.89
Christopher Siakkas
Um, Marketplace that focuses on resale and sustainable fashion. That’s that’s exactly what we’re pitching and that’s exactly how um we have generated all these milestones in the very short period of time that.
39:03.92
John Wojcik
It tends to leave people a little bit inspired and you know we’re we’re friendly guys. We have a cool mission. We’re trying to do something impactful and people want to be a part of it and it really hasn’t been a challenge at all like we had sort of expected that. Um our first approach to to the launch was like let’s make sure that the marketplace is.
44:19.10
Christopher Siakkas
Has been since the launch.
39:23.53
John Wojcik
Viable that we can start to you know, create some sort of trust between the users and and the first step of doing that was to have the supply side sorted and just because of how much we were into menswear and and the resale market online. You know we we ended up finding so many people who were looking for.
44:40.54
Christopher Siakkas
We’re all about quality here.
39:42.30
John Wojcik
A way to step up their sort of like online classic menswear resale businesses or you know there are little hobbies of of selling stuff just like I had previously um and and you know guys who have nice wardrobes and want to change once in a while um it’s It’s proven very fruitful. And also expanding our networks and having conversations like these. It’s Fantastic. It kind of reminds both Chris and I why we’re doing what we’re doing and just sort of strengthens our commitment to to taking this forward.
45:17.33
Christopher Siakkas
So hi John you want to go for it.
45:25.98
Christopher Siakkas
I I still I still owe you a christmas birthday and birthday present joan so that was a great idea.
48:44.87
Christopher Siakkas
Yeah, so interestingly enough we had this conversation a few days ago with with John we we regularly talk pretty much on a daily basis about what we like and you know what? what we want to kind of um. Keep up or you know try to kind of feature and on our Instagram page that it was that time that we actually talked about actually you know as John said taking out the wallet and start buying so for my end I’ve already. Bought a shirt and an item that I would be eyeing next is an amazing brooks jacket sportscoat um that you know is in ah in a great condition actually 2 of them. Um, and you know they they.
44:29.87
John Wojcik
Um, I knew that was coming.
49:38.70
Christopher Siakkas
Normally retail for a much higher price and now we have them in the region of 200 something dollars which you know very high quality 3 season wool coats very you know.
44:41.96
John Wojcik
And vacua you know who has a vacuia jacket 2 chains. Yeah I watch I watch that on on a re oh yeah, ah but he he he’s wrap in this book. Man is.
49:57.80
Christopher Siakkas
Casual but at the same time can be worn in you know in more formal um occasions as well and that’s coming even from someone in London um.
45:00.26
John Wojcik
Um, um sure you should probably has 1 too.
50:11.45
Christopher Siakkas
So I would definitely go for these. There is another pair of trousers a lot of piano per of trousers that I absolutely love and I think Jon next time I’m in a I’m able to travel and I’m somewhere in a warmer environment I will definitely invest and get that.
45:16.20
John Wojcik
Um, ah, great question. Ah why I yeah um before Chris gets out his wallet. Um, yeah.
50:31.57
Christopher Siakkas
It’s white very you know, light material and very very nice for the summer months probably want I go back to greece in the summer hopefully but will be allowed. But.
45:34.51
John Wojcik
Yeah, yeah, no, but recently I mean we have we have like really a community of really great sellers and you know just just to add on to what Chris was saying previously like we we had so much positive feedback about like.
50:45.88
Christopher Siakkas
That is another 1 which you know normal price is 7 hundred and fifty dollars and now it’s in the marketplace for 100 and fifty which is you know a great saving and it gets you as a customer as someone on the demand side. It gets you interested. You know, ah you.
45:53.42
John Wojcik
Decentralization of the classic Men’swear Resale market and like where do I Even go to sell this nice top or this nice pair of shoes or whatever. Um, and there should be a place that’s that’s it like you know we we had that need and we kind of realized though like a lot of guys who were into classic men’swear probably also.
51:04.95
Christopher Siakkas
If you were if you were interested in experimenting with you know, wide linen trousers. You wouldn’t do it for seven hundred dollars I would assume ah with 1 hundred and fifty. You know it becomes a speed deal if you like um and then apart from the ties that John mentioned I think there is.
46:10.70
John Wojcik
Want a dedicated community for this kind of stuff and it’s it’s there for street where it’s there for you know, like ah for woman’s clothing ah for dresses. Even there’s these niche markets for dresses. Why why isn’t there 1 for this so it just made sense. But as far as my favorite items like what would I buy right now.
51:24.82
Christopher Siakkas
An amazing variety of great shoes now my problem with the shoes that we have is that I I wear um forty 6 in european size so it proves to be a bit trickier so you know that’s.
46:29.26
John Wojcik
Actually I’m really guilty and I’ve already bought 10 shirts from Silk exchange I my best customer apparently um, not now. But there’s I mean like you know I’m I’m men’swe addicted so this is a pretty challenging thing to to balance for myself because like.
51:42.22
Christopher Siakkas
That’s something that you know we need to to expand on but for for smaller shoe sizes. There’s great variety of shoe sizes and in fact I I messaged 1 of our sellers to say hey is there any chance you might have the same size.
46:48.70
John Wojcik
So many great deals not selling not selling right now but just my my own opinion like there’s so many things that I would buy here I think like just just out of my obsession for ties like there’s some really fantastic spak and apollis Hand Rolld printed silk ties from.
52:00.30
Christopher Siakkas
The same pair of shoes 5 sizes bigger. But unfortunately that that will happen soon though.
47:07.93
John Wojcik
Ah, fantastic seller who’s recently joined us um Brand new mint condition I think they even might have tags and I don’t know if you’re familiar with Nicola roano but he’s like ah italian style icon. You know our age. And he’s someone I really look up to and he started his own brand called s spak on uppo and fantastic. Yeah, he probably probably I would wouldn’t be surprised if his his brand is being stocked there? Um, but yeah, really fantastic.
52:24.38
Christopher Siakkas
Please go for it.
47:43.80
John Wojcik
I’ve had the chance to handle them a few times and yeah, just really fantastic hand-rolled blades. Wonderful colors that pop and like the cool thing about italian style and you know I guess maybe we can go into a bit of a conversation about our own styles. But. Um, really, you know, just given the climate here in Bangkok I’m I’m really growing an affinity for for italian style and for that soft tailoring and for the the colors and the bold patterns and just kind of dressing down formal wear because I do find myself in a suit quite often and um. Like to do it a little different so these these ties are fantastic because they offer you a little bit of Versatility. You don’t have to just be a guy in a suit but you can be you know, looking a little cooler than than someone else. So I mean I don’t know if you’ve taken a look at those ties but there’s so many different options and like yeah. Probably have 1 for every day of the month if I could.
54:00.12
Christopher Siakkas
Yeah I think um I would answer that in 2 ways I think the first way is how John described that external signal that you give out to the world. You know I’m I’m here you know, um. You know I’m here for the promotion I’m here to talk I’m here to Network. That’s how joan and I met. That’s that’s how we were able to to meet other classmates were enthusiasts in the good old days that we were able to go to networking events. Um, however. That is only 1 side of the coin I think being fly is also equally important when it comes to looking at yourself from within um and you know that that confidence boost that you can have. When you’re wearing a nice Jacket. You know 1 of those brooks brothers jackets that I mentioned earlier probably or you know a nice pair pair of trous ah trousers. It’s really that confidence boost that can get you into a room and instead of you know. Wearing you know your your lazy Pants. You know that we are all accustomed to these days unfortunately, um, getting into a room and really feeling like the best version of yourself and speaking that way presenting yourself that way. That is always something that is triggered by feeling comfortable with what you’re wearing and as I said you know better times will come and yeah I experienced it in my Everyday. Ah routine when the days that I just stick with my. Sweatbands and you know my myhoodies these are days that are very you know, highlyentful if you like the days that I feel the best version of myself and the best ah christopher possible. These are the days that I wake up I take care of myself. I do my morning grooming routine and I put on a freshly ironed shirt. Nice pair of trousers and amazing jacket provisionally with a nice dye and I just drop the day. These are the days that make difference and. Make us grow as humans.
52:23.41
John Wojcik
I’m I’m more than happy to go first if you want chris I think you know some of the by the way reg I really love what you’re doing really love the the message you’re spreading and you know doing you I think is really important to to hear these different sorts of voices in the. Current state of men’swear we don’t see it often enough. So I really appreciate the opportunity to be here. First of all, but as far as I always be fly I take it in a more like classic sense. Um I think that classic men’swear like we had discussed earlier. it’s it’s a vehicle for. You know in my case, projecting my best self. It’s a reason you know that I enjoy waking up in the morning putting on my clothes putting on an outfit trying to look fly trying to look you know feel confident trying to to look the part and be the part and in my case, you know I work for the un I’m 25 years old it’s ah it’s a pretty. Unique situation to be in in my case and um I think that getting into tailoring and getting into classic menswear deeper and deeper like you know I’m ah I’m a total menswear Geek or nerd. Whatever um, it’s it’s kind of given me something to. Make a name out of myself with like I don’t want to say I’m the best dressed in the office but sometimes it feels that way and at least you know I dress with intention. Um, and I think that’s that’s that’s that’s kind of what it means to me you know to just just always keep that in the back of your mind. Always try to you know. Present your best self. Do it for yourself and yeah.
56:34.41
John Wojcik
Reg if I sorry to cut you off edge just can I can I add a little bit to my ah my answer as well. I had a thought. Um, so just just because fly like being fly. It’s yeah so it’s a unique way to frame what we’re talking about and um with like 1 thing that comes to mind. There’s like there’s a new store that’s popped up here in Bangkok called s spreadaturra eleganza. Presattura is this you know Buzzword that’s been flying around in the hashtag menswe community lately a lot of people don’t know what it means exactly? Um, but it’s just kind of like the art of nonchalance and I think because I tend to gravitate towards italian style instead of you know english and french schools of tailoring for instance. Um, I think you know the italians they they know what it’s like to be fly and and they they do something unique with the soft tailoring with the drape. It’s a little bit cooler and less rigid and more less less structured just kind of more chill. A more chill approach to tailoring and so you know it’s like walking for me, it’s like the difference between walking into a menswear shop that’s playing some like you know old school jazz versus. Something you know you walk into a men’s wear shop and they’re playing something that makes you want to dance and and yeah I think that’s part of it for me too.