31MADISON | Helping independent brands
We love sharing a backstory and today we are introducing you to 31MADISON, an online destination for fashion and accessories.
Tony, 31MADISON‘s founder and driver, has worked with global brands, large and small, for many years. He knows exactly how difficult it is for independents to build an audience, so decided to do something about it.
Tony discovered Hills & West online and invited us to join the 31MADISON family in April, and his customers are already loving Hills & West, especially our totes!
31MADISON has a range of products from jewellery, accessories to clothing, for both men and women. Some of the emerging brands on board include Willow Bay, Lindsay Nicholas and an Italian jewellery brand, Zoppini.
31MADISON started as an extension of what we were already doing. Partnering with brands that have a passion for what they are doing, love building brands, and love the business journey.
Join us as we have a chat with Tony and hear his aspirations for 31MADSION, COVID-19 impacts and loves.
Tell us a little bit about you…
Having worked in marketing we started and have operated our own marketing company for about 18 years; working with brands, both on a global stage and smaller Independent brands.
I love to travel, business and most things sport.
Why 31MADISON?
We named it 31MADISON as we used to holiday in New York many life times ago, and we used to stay around there and Madison Square Gardens.
Having worked with many global and smaller independent brands we found that it was increasingly difficult for the independents to get their voice heard. We also found that many organisations that started out championing smaller independent brands soon were more aligned with the bigger brands.
So 31MADISON started as an extension of what we were already doing. Partnering with brands that have a passion for what they are doing, love building brands, and love the business journey.
The 31MADISON family includes…
We partner with fantastic Australian brands, Hills & West, Willow Bay AU, Lindsay Nicholas NY and have more coming on board soon. Although we are more focused on Independent Australian brands, we have a couple of Italian Jewellery watch and accessory brands, that we have worked with for many years, ZOPPINI, MANUEL ZED, MAKUTI. We also have our own brand 31MADISON, a collection of Jewellery Cases, Watch Case and Men’s and Women’s Jewellery.
Plans for 2021
Continuing to partner with; and develop different channels for Independent brands to amplify their voice.
Inspiration
I find inspiration everywhere, love finding out how and why people or things have gone in a certain direction as it spurs me to think of all the other directions that could be developed/created. I’m also a fan of a good origin story.
Can’t live without
Just one thing; family!
Bucket list
Really only one thing, that’s to travel more. There are still a lot of places I haven’t seen.
Something people don’t know about you
I have a sweet tooth.
The COVID-19 impacts
Covid-19 has had a huge impact on not just ours, but our brand partners businesses as well. With products that do not fall into the ‘essential product’ categories along with the shipping to International countries slowed due to lockdown laws.
Looking back at history, there are many great companies that have emerged and grown in times of adversity, companies that we all know and use today. So, for us, the positive out of this is that it has given businesses time and opportunities to revaluate, reassess and reset, forced companies to be more innovative. Something we have embraced across all things business; the current situation has encouraged us to accelerate our growth plans.
Favourite Hills & West piece
Searching for brands that would be a great fit and have a similar ethos to us, we came across Hills & West via Instagram. For me, the Hills & West Weekender Duffle is a favourite, traveling a lot I love a good bag that I can use for an overnight or short trip.
Check out 31MADISON’s Pinterest, follow @31madisonau or like on Facebook @31madison to see a new selection of jewellery, clothing and accessory brands.
We look forward to seeing the platform grow and thank Tony for having us as part of your journey.
No Comments