Fashion Founders: Sara Blakely of SPANX
Fashion Founders: Sara Blakely of SPANX
By: Claire Watkiss
Female entrepreneurs continue to take the fashion industry by storm, with women like Sara Blakey, founder and CEO of SPANX, leading the way. SPANX has changed the women's intimate apparel industry by making shapewear both sexy and practical.
Blakely began her journey in the late 1990s working in sales with a strict dress code of pantyhose with skirts or dresses. She was frustrated with their fit, and decided to cut off the bottoms of them, leaving the support she desired in her torso without the panty lines and seams showing through her open-toed shoes.
In 2000, she invested $5,000 of her own personal savings to start her company. She spent zero dollars on advertising, and instead met with boards of various stores to showcase her product. Blakely was unique with her strategies, once even sending a buyer at Neiman Marcus a singular high-heeled shoe in a box with a note that said, “Just trying to get my foot in the door. Can I have a few minutes of your time?”
SPANX took off in late 2000 when Oprah Winfrey featured Blakely’s products on her television show. Blakely continued to model her products on television and in-store appearances to save on costs. Soon thereafter, celebrities across the country were repping the shapewear brand.
After appearing on reality television show “Rebel Billionaire” and winning the grand prize of $750,000, Blakely established The Sara Blakely Foundation, which provides scholarships for ambitious female entrepreneurs.
Blakely has continued her entrepreneurial endeavors throughout the years and is now an investor in the Atlanta Hawks and executive chairwoman of the investment firm Blackstone. Female founders in the fashion industry are finally gaining the recognition they deserve, and brave and talented women like Sara Blakely have paved the way to make it possible.
“I did not have the most experience in the industry or the most money, but I cared the most.” – Sara Blakely.
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