Nyree Corby, an Australian expat living in Los Angeles, launched Fame and Partners in 2014 with the hope of disrupting an industry increasingly reliant on fast fashion. As the first mass made-to-order contemporary women’s line, Fame and Partners’ goal is to reduce the amount of waste in the industry by producing products directly in line with demand.
Corby first thought of the idea while working in venture capital, where she regularly assessed retail and commerce trends and found that well-priced alternatives to fast-fashion were lacking. The solution, she decided, would be allowing women to customize their orders as they see fit. The result: Less clothing left untouched in closets and on store shelves (and, thus, in landfills).
Fame and Partners founder Nyree Corby
Customers can choose from hundreds of different designs on Fame and Partners’ site that are sourced from data algorithms, which analyze popular trends among fashion influencers. Once selected, they can tailor their pieces by color and size — based off their exact height — and make aesthetic changes, like shortening the sleeves or changing a neckline. “Our goal is to offer a deeply personalized experience, end to end,” Corby said in a previous Glossy interview. “We’re at a time when you can’t apply one of anything to an entire group or industry.”
The company’s on-demand production process, which takes anywhere from two to five days, leaves it free of inventory and with the sought-after imprimatur of ethical fashion.
The concept clearly appealed to investors: The brand received $7.6 million dollars in funding from FirstMark Capital and Upfront Ventures in 2016.
Last year, Corby moved the brand’s headquarters to L.A. from Australia in order to access a wider talent pool. We asked her to detail a recent workday, which involved everything from daytime fasting to late-night conference calls with investors.
Fame and Partners’ Anti Fast-Fashion Lookbook
5:30 a.m.: I typically wake up at this time and do a series of pranayama breathing exercises, which is something I learned while traveling in India. I then go downstairs — I live in a two-story loft — boil the kettle for tea and take my vitamins.
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6:30 a.m.: I sit on my balcony, look at the mountains downtown and flip through the news. I love Glossy for retail news and will scan the most current articles.
6:40 a.m.: I listen to Monocle’s “The Globalist” pretty much every morning. If I have time, I’ll also listen to the New York Times’ “The Daily” and, sometimes, the Wall Street Journal’s tech briefing. I’m obsessed with staying on top of current affairs and am super interested in politics, economics, science and tech. I actually get super upset if I don’t get to do this in the morning.
6:50 a.m.: Exercise time! I have a gym in the building, but also go to Equinox occasionally. I’ll do 20 minutes of interval training using weights about three to five times a week.
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7:15 a.m.: I come back upstairs to plan my outfit. I can’t plan it in advance, because what I wear that day completely depends on my mood. I guarantee that if I plan it out the night before, I will be in a different mood the next morning, so it’s just not worth it.
7:30 a.m.: I shower and get into my morning routine. I usually do nothing to my hair, as you might be able to tell. Since I moved to California, however — where it’s very humid — I’ve been using a hair moisturizing treatment by Oribe every day. I also moisturize my face using a combination of different products from Chantecaille and Dr. Perricone. I also use an intensive hydrating serum by an L.A.-based dermatologist, Shay. I’m obsessed with anti-aging products! And I don’t wear much makeup, just brows and cheeks.
7:40 a.m.: I go into my wardrobe and get ready for the day. This is one of my favorite parts of the morning. I try not to try on more than three outfits.
Fame and Partners’ Anti Fast-Fashion lookbook
8:00 a.m.: I’m in the office around this time every day. I live and work downtown, so I get there pretty quickly. It only takes about 15 minutes to walk. I’ll stop for coffee on the way — either at G&B Coffee, Elabrew or Il Caffe. I order the same thing every time: an Americano that is either three quarters or half full. My assistant Lina, who is amazing, greets me when I arrive at the office. I have an insane schedule, so we run through our day.
8:30 a.m.: I block off around an hour to get through my email and address all the little things that pop up overnight. We have teams in Australia, China and New York, so that happens a lot.
9:30 a.m.: Meetings begin, and there are so many of them — sometimes I have up to 14 in one day! Today I’m meeting with the vp of marketing to discuss customer acquisition, as well as our COO, to discuss supply chain and how improvements with customer experience are tracking. At least once a week, I’ll step into product fittings, too, which is fun, as I like to be very hands-on with it.
1:00 p.m.: In the afternoon, I like to sip tea, usually a cup of earl grey or green jasmine. I don’t drink caffeine after 4 p.m. and certainly wouldn’t have a cup of coffee after 12 p.m. — unless I’m being naughty and know I’ll be up late on conference calls anyway.
Fame and Partners’ Anti Fast-Fashion lookbook
5:00 p.m.: I start to feel quite hungry; I’ve been fasting recently. Last year, I read a really interesting article about a scientist who won a Nobel prize for uncovering a cellular regeneration process called autophagy, where cells learn to clean themselves after not eating for the majority of the day. That piqued my curiosity, so I’ve been testing it out. I’ll fast for most of the day, which works out great because I’m in meetings anyway. But then 5 p.m. hits, and I’ll eat as much as I want.
7:00 p.m.: After I eat, I’ll jump into actual tasks — because my meetings are finished for the day, and I have actual work to do!
9:00 p.m.: We have investors in Europe and Australia, so once or twice a week, I’ll have a conference call with them around this time. If I’m not on those calls, I’ll use this time to watch documentaries. Netflix is a great source for them, as well as this site called Thought Maybe.
10:00 p.m.: Before I shut my computer down, I go through my whole to-do list for the day and reallocate tasks, since I rarely get through everything I had planned. I’ll reorganize my day, review the meetings I have, prepare a mental checklist of all the things I need to be thinking about and send a list to my assistant, Lina, so she has it for the morning.
10:30: I’ll take a shower before bed, because I’m a two-showers-a-day person. I know it’s not great for the drought in California, so I try to make it short.
11:00 p.m.: I start my little sleeping ritual. I am not a great sleeper because I have a lot going on, so I use Doterra essential oils to [help me]. There’s a lavender one that I burn before bed. On occasion, I will have 10 minutes to read a few pages of a science fiction novel. That’s my favorite genre, and it kind of stops my brain from obsessing over work-related things.
11:30 p.m.: Time to sleep! I use a silk eye mask, earplugs and, sometimes, melatonin. I’m all about sensory deprivation during sleep. Before I know it, it’s time to wake up at 5:30 and do it all over again!
