The Glossy 50 celebrates individual changemakers. They include executives who took their companies into new, competitive categories, industry newcomers who disrupted age-old processes, dealmakers who led groundbreaking partnerships and creatives whose work managed to cut through the noise. More from the series →
The Giants: The brains behind the brands that boomed
Angelic Vendette
Global head of marketing, Alo
Angelic Vendette believes in giving equal importance to the URL and the IRL. As such, she’s pioneered events like 1-year-old Alo House. During the annual or biannual multi-day activation, the 15-year-old activewear brand invites Alo leggings-and-bra-clad influencers to Los Angeles mansions to do yoga, get piercings and meditate. On the URL front, Vendette is responsible for Alo breaking into the metaverse this year. On Roblox, the brand’s “sanctuary” has had 55 million visitors.
What were Alo’s biggest moments in 2022?
“At the start of the year, we made our foray into the metaverse. Now, there are 55 million folks doing yoga and meditation with us in the metaverse and about 60 million pieces of digital [Alo] fashion being worn on avatars. In June, we started accepting cryptocurrency and paying employees in cryptocurrency. And we opened [invite-only gym] Alo Wellness Clubs in L.A. and New York. The L.A. location has infrared light saunas, three cold plunges and a cryo machine, and both locations have personal training. We also announced a music studio downstairs in our HQ; [producer] Benny Blanco brings artists in and creates albums.
We launched our first luxury collection, the Aspen collection, at New York Fashion Week, along with an NFT that unlocks access to Alo House, the Alo Wellness Club and a personal private client manager. On the campaign front, we leaned into tennis, and our tennis skirts were flying off the shelves. We showed up at Wimbledon, providing yoga for the players and a space to recoup and reset.”
Who is the Alo customer on Roblox?
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“They are in line with our trend customer. The fastest-growing demographic on Roblox is 17- to 24-years-old, and many of our community members who shop Alo trend and fashion are in the 18- to 24-year-old demographic.”
What’s proven most successful, in terms of sales?
“Alo House. We did two in 2022: We had a Wellness House, which was in May, and then our typical Alo House, which was a party to kick off summer in June. There, our community can try on different things and activate. That’s been successful for us, not only from an earned media value perspective, but also from a sales perspective. We don’t do affiliate marketing, so it’s all about [the creators] being eager to share with their community; it’s advocacy in its purest and most natural form.”
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