In this edition of Women Who Launch, Ginny reveals how she engages with their top customers and shares what it takes to lead one of the country’s fastest-growing fashion brands.
“ALIGNE, to me, is a brand filling the white space between the high street and premium contemporary, offering classic shapes with a design-led twist. Our price point is a sweet spot, but why our community loves ALIGNE is that there is a distinct handwriting to our pieces,” explains Ginny Seymour, the modern womenswear brand’s CEO. ALIGNE launched in 2020 with a large wholesale focus, and a few years later, Ginny came in and led a massive rebrand, resulting in a strategic shift to DTC and 600% YoY growth.
From the fashion editor-favourite Daphne waistcoat to the Bonnie Ponte waisted blazer—that is as chic for a smart work day as it is for drinks with the girls—ALIGNE has created a portfolio of covetable pieces (many with waitlists in the tens of thousands) that resonates with today’s modern woman.
“ALIGNE is British in attitude,” says Ginny. “There are definitely American style influences, but the confidence in how the pieces work together, the tailoring, and the layered look come from the UK.” With the US becoming an increasingly important piece in the brand’s expansion strategy, Ginny is adamant that they don’t forget where they came from. “I wanted London next to our logo so it was clear who we are and what matters to me. My home is London and when we get to opening stores in the future, our first permanent flagship will be London.”
If we asked your ten-year-old self what she wanted to be when she grew up, what would she have said?
I wanted to work for the UN and focus on international law and human rights. I went to university to study political science and I think a lot of my passion for not being put inside a box and pushing boundaries comes from those days. I hate things I feel are unjust or a manipulation of power and I try to operate with a fairness in my heart—whether that’s with our suppliers, my team, and how I approach growth at ALIGNE.
Who is the ALIGNE woman and where is she going?
She’s someone living life on her own terms. She’s a self-purchaser, confident in her own skin and sense of style, and her life takes her many places in one day. She needs pieces that move with her as she is metaphorically and physically going places and is always on the go. She’s unstoppable.
What's one task you always do yourself and the one you always recommend to outsource?
Concept and creative direction are really important to me. I have wonderful designers and creative people on my team who make everything bigger and better, but I am really involved at the onset with the vision of ALIGNE at each step of the process. As much as I love a day in Excel with numbers and analysing data, my passion comes to life when I am working with the product. It’s why we exist as a brand.
We are a startup-to-scale-up and I wish I could outsource more—my finance team would love to see me outsource my expenses and admin so I wasn’t so tardy each month, but right now I am very hands-on. I want my team to focus on their strengths, so I try to be self-sufficient.
Hiring and retaining talent can make or break a brand. What is your approach to this, especially as ALIGNE continues with its global expansion?
I think this is one area where I am constantly still learning. We are growing so fast and there is a push-pull in terms of what we need right now and what we need in the future, so I am always balancing those two needs. In larger organisations, I have always hired for the future, but in a startup, if you do too much of that, you can rock your organisation as the gaps can become too big.
When I was part of Saks Fifth Avenue’s executive excellence program right out of uni, the first thing they did was have us go around the room and say where we went to uni and what we studied, to point out that none of us had come from fashion. What we had in common was passion for the industry. I try to find that—people who believe in me, believe in ALIGNE, believe in what we can accomplish. The rest you can teach.
Is there any advice you'd give other founders just starting out?
To be kind to yourself and find a network. It is lonely, challenging, and a rollercoaster ride. I wish I had been kinder to myself the last three years as I have felt every high as not high enough, and every obstacle or challenge, I feel in my core. I feel responsible for what I am building, the team around me, and our community, for ALIGNE to be at the same size and maturity as brands that are celebrating 10 years when we are going into year four.
You've been really successful at building a community around your brand. How do you manage relationships with both fashion editors and the girl on the street to ensure that both feel seen and heard?
Thank you! I think we do a good job at being real, consistent, and approachable. I have no filter, and whether with fashion editors or a customer on the street who I spot wearing ALIGNE, I am a pretty open book and that brings people in. Every once in a while someone will mention reading something in an old interview and it warms my heart as it means my openness to let people into where I am at on this journey sticks with them and that builds authentic community. I sent flowers to some of our top customers last Blue Monday in January and it was so fun to connect with them and send a personal note and get one back. I love feeling that people are seeing what ALIGNE is trying to do and are championing us.
What's next for ALIGNE?
This year is about growing into ourselves. I have big ambitions, but I need a year to feel proud of what we have built and grow into ourselves versus chasing what is next. Solidify our foundations before we run again. It is like a toddler—we have grown so fast and quick the last three years, I want to step back and let our personality—that we have grown into—shine, and focus less on what is next and more on meeting more customers across the UK. We are launching at John Lewis in the next couple of weeks for just that reason. I want a physical place for people to find ALIGNE and to meet our customers. I walk to Sloane Square on the weekends and I cannot wait to walk in with my husband—arguably ALIGNE’s biggest fan—and my two sons and see ALIGNE on the floor. It will be priceless.
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