rag & bone
Careers at rag & bone
Mission
Rag and Bone designs and sells high-end clothing and accessories for both men and women, with a view to establishing itself as a leader in fashion trends and style across the US and internationally.
History
Rag and Bone was founded in 2002 by Marcus Wainwright (“Wainwright”) and Nathan Bogle (“Bogle”). The brand launched officially in 2004 with its men’s range, with the launch of a women’s range following a year later. Bogle left the Company in 2005, and was replaced by Wainwright’s old school friend David Neville, who had been working in banking.
Rag and Bone quickly garnered attention form the fashion world for its simple and high-quality designs. The Company was a finalist in the Council of Fashion Designers of America's Vogue Fashion Fund contest in 2006 and won the Council of Fashion Designers of America’s emerging talent award in 2007. Rag and Bone’s positive reception, enabled it generate sales, and ultimately begin building a network of physical retail stores across the US in 2008.
Rag and Bone has expanded significantly in the intervening years, and now operates almost 30 retail stores across the US, as well as outlets in Tokyo, Seoul, London, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Taipei. Its high-end range of clothes remains popular among fashion-minded and upwardly mobile consumers.
Business model of rag & bone
Customer Segments
Rag and Bone directly serves the general consumer market, offering a range of clothing products and accessories. The Company serves a broad consumer base, with products that cater to both men and women. The Company primarily carries high-end, fashion forward products that are targeted at more affluent, upwardly mobile consumers, with a relatively substantial amount of disposable income, who are concerned with staying up to date with the latest fashion trends.
Rag and Bone is based in the US, which continues to be its primary market, with the Company operating a network of physical retail outlets across major US cities, including San Francisco, New York, Dallas, Chicago, and Boston. The Company also operates a network of outlets abroad, serving customers directly in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the UAE, and the UK. Rag and Bone additionally serves customers further afield, including across Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, through its international shipping services.
Value Propositions
Rag and Bone provides value to its customers in the following ways:
- Its reputation and standing, with the Company’s brand associated with quality, and with its brand name bringing with it a certain amount of prestige due to its design, cost, and association with various celebrities;
- Its international sales reach, with the Company operating an extensive retail network in its native US, as well as its operation of an international network of outlets across Asia and the UK and an international shipping service extending to Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America;
- The quality and range of its products, with the Company offering high-quality, lasting products across multiple categories, spanning men’s and women’s fashion lines; and
- Its modern fashion design, with the Company offering expertly designed, high-end products that are up to date with or ahead of current fashion trends around the world, favouring simple and elegant designs.
Channels
Rag and Bone operates a website at www.rag-bone.com, through which it provides information on its products, locations, and vision. The Company’s website also doubles as its online retail channel, where customers are able to browse the Company’s catalogue of products, manage account details, and make purchases. The Company does not currently offer an official mobile app for its platform.
Rag and Bone employs a large team of specialist sales personnel who serve customers directly out of the Company’s numerous retail outlets spread across the US, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and the UK. This includes outlets in large cities such as New York, Chicago, London, Seoul, Dubai, Tokyo, and Taipei.
Rag and Bone delivers and distributes its products to customers across the world with the assistance of various channel partners, notably package delivery and distribution service providers. The Company does not appear to have its own in-house delivery team.
Customer Relationships
Rag and Bone serves a large portion of its customers on a self-service basis through its website. The Company’s online retail channel allows customers to browse the Company’s full catalogue of products, manage account detail, place orders, and complete transactions without interacting with members of the Company’s sales team.
Alternatively, customers are able to visit one of the Company’s numerous retail outlets across the US, Asia, and the UK, where they can be provided a greater degree of personal care. The Company’s customer service and sales personnel are available at these outlets to provide in-person assistance and advice, as well as handle complaints and returns.
Customers can additionally receive personalised customer assistance from dedicated support staff, by logging a query with the Company’s support personnel over the phone or via an online contact form. The Rag and bone website includes a range of online resources, such as FAQs and shipping information, enabling customers to find solutions to questions independently.
Rag and Bone is also able to interact with its customers directly through its blog and various social media accounts, including with Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Key Activities
Rag and Bone is a high-end fashion house for affluent, style-minded consumers. It designs, manufactures and sells men’s and women’s fashion products and accessories, including shoes, jackets and coats, sweaters, tops and shirts, dresses, skirts and shorts, tanks and tee-shirts, and trousers and jeans.
The Company operates an online store, through which it serves an international customer base, spanning the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It also operates a broad domestic network of physical retail outlets- including in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, Bal Harbour, and Washington DC – as well as in London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Taipei.
Key Partners
Rag and Bone works in conjunction with a range of companies and organisations in order to provide its customers with quality products and efficient service. These partners include:
- Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of materials, tools, and resources for the design and manufacture of its clothing products, as well as suppliers of services and technology that is utilised across its retail and distribution operations;
- Manufacturing Partners, comprising various contract manufacturing and production companies that assist in the production of Rag and Bone apparel;
- Channel and Distribution Partners, comprising a range of affiliate marketing partners that drive traffic to the Company’s website, as well as distribution and delivery service providers that support the Company’s logistics operations;
- Marketing and Branding Partners, comprising a range of brands and businesses that collaborate with the Company on various co-marketing and branding projects; and
- Strategic and Alliance Partners, comprising various companies and organisations with which the Company collaborates on joint projects.
Rag and Bone has recently launched a number of partnerships. The Company agreed a marketing deal with Uber, under which users of the ride-sharing app were able to win tickets to a Rag and Bone fashion show. It has also partnered with AT&T and Samsung to co-market its clothing range and Samsung smartphones.
Key Resources
Rag and Bone’s key resources are its proprietary designs and brand, its products and supply chain, its manufacturing network, its online platform, its IT and communications infrastructure, its sales and distribution infrastructure, its partnerships, and its personnel.
Rag and Bone owns and or leases an international portfolio of properties, notably including its network of physical retail outlets. This includes almost 30 outlets across the US, as well as additional outlets in London, Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, and Dubai.
Cost Structure
Rag and Bone incurs costs in relation to the design and manufacture of its products, the procurement of supplies and materials, the development and maintenance of its online sales portal, the maintenance of its IT and communications infrastructure, the implementation of its marketing and advertising campaigns – including its organisation and operation of fashion shows, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.
Rag and Bone accrues substantial costs in relation to the procurement of supplies and operation of a production network, as well as in the form of occupancy costs, and the payment of salaries and benefits to members of its international workforce.
Revenue Streams
Rag and Bone generates revenue through the design, manufacture, and sale of men’s and women’s apparel and accessories, both through its online sales portal, and through its physical network of retail stores.
Rag and Bone is a privately-owned company, and therefore is not obliged to publish its financial results on its website. Recent reports, however, suggest that the Company is experiencing revenue growth, with the Company expected to generate around $300 million in revenue for 2016.
Our team
info: Wainwright has served as Chief Executive Officer at Rag and Bone since co-founding the Company in 2002. Until recently, he served as the Company’s Co-Chief Executive Officer alongside David Neville, who stepped down in 2016, leaving Wainwright as the Company’s sole Chief Executive. Wainwright has limited executive experience outside of his role at Rag and Bone. He previously set up his own telecoms company in London, but left the country for Mexico where he met his wife. He went on to move to New York, where he took a more professional interest in fashion and set up Rag and Bone.
info: Chris Vieth (“Vieth”) has served as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Rag and Bone since 2014. He is responsible for overseeing the Company’s product development, sourcing, production and supply chain activities, as well as its financial operations. Vieth has previously held several senior executive roles. He began his career in 1987 at Amerada Hess, where he served in a variety of roles, ultimately leaving the company in 1995 as a manager of cost accounting, and financial planning and control. He joined Barnes and Noble in 1995 as Vice President and Controller, and in 2000 was appointed Chief Financial Officer at Dow Jones. From 2006 to 2008 he served in a dual role as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Administrative Officer at Blue Tulip, later serving for six years as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer at Maidenform.
info: Johanna Murphy (“Murphy”) has served as Global Chief Marketing Officer at Rag and Bone since 2015. She is also a director of Shop.org. Murphy began her career in journalism and media, serving in writer, producer and editor roles at HYW-TV, PRNewswire, The Vanguard Group, and Wechsler Ross and Partners. In 1999 she was appointed Managing Director for User Experience at Scient. Murphy went on to serve briefly in the same role at SBI-Razorfish, before joining KidsHealth.org as its Director of Marketing and Business Development in 2004. She served consecutively as Senior Director of User Experience and Design, and Vice President of eCommerce at GSI Commerce, and in 2011 joined Kate Spade New York as Vice President of eCommerce. Prior to joining Rag and Bone she was Chief Marketing Officer for Ivanka Trump’s fashion range.
