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Brent Duplessis, Editor at The RealReal

Brent Duplessis, Editor at The RealReal

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This interview was conducted via email in November 2022. It was edited slightly for clarity and consistency.

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Brittany: Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

Brent: I grew up in the San Fernando Valley on the north side of Los Angeles, but have called San Francisco home for the past 15 years. I moved here for school and stayed for the weather. Yes I like the perpetual cold and fog, yes I still love it here. And no, I will never move back to LA! I currently work as the Editor for The RealReal, a luxury consignment company, and spend my spare time honing my cooking skills, watering my plants, eating & drinking across SF and hunkering down with a video game.

Brittany: Taking a peek at your LinkedIn, it's clear that you've been interested in and have worked in fashion for a while. Do you remember how this interest developed?

Brent: It definitely started much sooner than I can put a finger on, but my earliest memories were draping sheets & towels on myself and my little sister and playing around the house. Back-to-school shopping was my favorite time of the year and my mom has told me that I always had an opinion on what I wanted to wear. My interest grew by flipping through fashion magazines that belonged to my mom and sister — Vogue, Marie Claire, YM stand out — and would casually peruse catalogs for mall stores when I was bored.

I think the first time I fell in love with "capital F" Fashion was around 2000 / 2001 when I saw photos of Alexander McQueen's VOSS. It completely changed the way I thought about fashion and is still one of my all-time favorite shows. I dove into his work (thanks, Style.com!) and became obsessed with the storytelling he was able to achieve through his choices of textiles & embellishments and the strange forms he created that were at once bleak, unsettling, and undeniably beautiful. John Galliano's work at Dior also quickly became a favorite of mine for its opulence and escapism, the campy opposite of the seriousness of McQueen, but with a similar deft handling of fabric and daringness with silhouette. Also have to admit, totally lowbrow, but I was a huge fan of Heatherette, too! The pure fun and frivolity of neon debutante cupcake dresses and frothy pastel tulle spoke to my little queer heart at the time. It still does!

From there I found myself excited again and again with everything the fashion world had to offer: designers, collections, garments, all the way down to an interesting sleeve detail (hello Nicolas Ghesquière's Balenciaga A/W 2003!). Fashion was a total escape — not from anything bad, but from the ordinariness of the everyday.

Brittany: I see you studied textiles in college. What did you learn in this program?

Brent: Ultimately I learned that I am a fussy control freak. I started to explore other majors in the second semester of sophomore year and took a flat pattern design class. In that class I realized that a lot of what I wanted to make relied on specific fabrics or fabric manipulations that I would spend ages (sloppily) developing. The teacher was just asking for a basic pair of pants, not a Comme des Garçons inspired drop-crotch short with wool-laminated wire mesh. Because of my interest in developing product from the ground up, my professor suggested I take a couple textiles classes.

Within the first few weeks of these classes, it felt like all the boxes were being checked and I could see a viable career ahead of myself. I loved the math and planning of weaving & lacemaking, the chemistry of dying & processing fabric, the art and intuition of surface design, and the futurism of novel fabric development. I learned that I really needed a full, top-to-bottom, vertically integrated, ideation-to-runway understanding of how the garments from designers I was worshiping were created. I was encouraged by my professors and mentor to integrate my POV and interests in science and technology into my work and really felt a connection to everything I was doing. Beyond the skills I learned, I honestly do think learning about textiles and production helped me understand how my silly little brain works.

Brittany: It was also during college that you started working at Urban Outfitters in sales and merchandising. Can you tell me more about your time there? Any insights you can share as an insider?

Brent: What a time! I met some incredible people during those 5 years, many of whom are still close friends. I was a regular sales associate for a few years at the gigantic flagship, so things were hectic ALL the time. I then moved into specializing in shoes for the rest of my time with the company. I saw the launch of some cool designer collaborations, always had dibs on the good shoes, and got to work with the super talented merchandising team for a couple years. Since it was a flagship and had one of the larger set-building teams, I got to help execute the merchandising vision that would be rolled out of stores nationwide. It was neat to see how homegrown the merchandising was for such a massive company!

Brittany: While at Stitch Fix, a subscription-based styling service, you were a liaison of sorts between stylists and clients as well as a stylist and coordinator. What did you learn pivoting from a major brick & mortar retailer to what might have been considered a startup at the time?

Brent: I think a lot of companies like to say that they are client-first or have great customer service, but Stitch Fix — and it may be liiitle bit experience bias — really took it to the next level. I went in being very fashion-fashion-fashion, but had to pull it back and remember that everyday clothes can be just as important.

After I was a stylist, I moved into a customer-stylist liaison position where I worked closer with a mix of customers that were a higher touch: VIP clients, those who weren't having a great time with the service, and women that had very specific needs that could make or break a buying decision. Prior to that role, I never considered the difficulty in shopping when you have to accommodate a medical device, find something flattering after a major surgery, or consider how a garment gets on your body when you have mobility issues. It was quite eye-opening and helped me think more about the utility of clothing.

My last 3 years at Stitch Fix were spent in product development for the in-house brands. It was a great opportunity to flex my knowledge of textiles and construction, and apply that to the customer framework I developed over the two years prior working directly with clients. I'll admit, the product wasn't exciting to me, but I genuinely respected that the company was filling a hole in the market and empowering women to push their style. I was also so excited by the way that technology and data science were being leveraged to design clothes that were more democratic and also less wasteful. This was the first time I had seen such a modern approach to design.

One really cool project that stood out, and ended up being one of the last things I worked on, was a collaboration with the data science team where we developed a tool that generated clothing designs based on a model that was fed sales, client info, and customer feedback. It would spit out designs for product with proven combinations of silhouette, color, print, and design details that were vetted by my team, then sent into production. With a very high level of accuracy we were able to predict which specific clients the styles of work for, what to price them at, and how many units we should buy without losing money or sending unsold product to landfill. It was kind of surreal to see these items perform better than things designed by a human.

Brittany: At The RealReal, an online luxury consignment marketplace, you've been working as an editor. Can you tell me more about this? What does your typical day as an editor entail?

Brent: I finally reached the intersection of some of my favorite things! My role as an Editor is a little interesting as it's a mix of a copyeditor, fashion editor, and a bit of site merchandising.

The big headline is that I help steer the language on our product pages and build the tools that enable a great shopping experience. With our Authenticators / copywriters, I ensure they are equipped with the knowledge and technical wherewithal to publish product on the website that is as descriptive as possible — from trends that are happening on the primary market to the silhouette of a dress. Because we have had millions of individual items come through our doors, a lot of this work is around creating and maintaining a catalog of discreet attributes and language that can be applied en masse without losing the fun of buying a ridiculous beaded party dress. Once we have an optimized catalog of things like neckline, jacket type, fabric, skirt shapes, and even special colors used by designers, we can start connecting dots together and improve the total shopping experience.

Like most online stores, the goal is to get you to that dream coat in as few steps as possible using those little filters on the side bar — charcoal vs. light grey, double vs. single breasted, wide lapel vs. collarless, polyester vs. wool — then we use some BTS magic. We are looking to change this by using really good product recommendations where, in an ideal world, that coat would find you along with a dress you didn't know you wanted, a cardigan that you've been looking for, and a bag that goes with the whole outfit. Basically a mini-shop that is curated specifically for you where you don't have to wade through thousands of pieces. I also get to browse an incredible catalog and pick out my favorite items!

Brittany: You've had so many roles in fashion. Do you have any advice for others trying to break into the industry? What are some common misconceptions about working in fashion that some may have?

Brent: You kind of just have to dive into whatever area of fashion excites you! Once you're in, talk to as many people in different roles as possible to expose you to other areas of the industry — you might find there is something else that excites you. SO much goes into getting an item on a rack, and every person that contributes to the supply chain has a unique perspective and something to say that could greatly impact your work. I once spoke to an accounts payable associate about tops and dresses we were shipping in from China and found out that although it was more efficient and cheaper to hang garments before shipment, we were losing a ton of units because of damage made by the hangers. Something so small and almost insignificant like that helped reshape our shipping practice. The industry is wasteful enough, we don't need more garments in a landfill. 🙃

Brittany: What fashion brands are you excited about right now? Any trends you'd wish would go away?

Brent: Too many, I'll keep it short-ish! Loewe & JW Anderson, Sacai, Hanifa, Y/Project, Botter, Willy Chavarria, Ottolinger, Barragán, and the return of Blumarine and Diesel. As far as majors go, Balenciaga, Valentino, Rick Owens, Jil Sander, Iris van Herpen, and Dries Van Noten are consistently good!

I find a way to love all trends and think that all can be done well, but there are definitely some that I have reservations about. I am not usually impressed by unhinged, super maximalist trends like clowncore / kidcore — you need to have a little bit of restraint. At the other end of the spectrum, the rise of the "clean girl aesthetic" made me laugh since it's just a repackaging of late ‘90s and early 2010s minimalism with different accessories. I also winced at trend reports about ketamine chic, but am curious to see how it pans out since it reminds me of scene kids.

In general it's not really individual trends I want to go away, it's the way people are buying into microtrends and ultra-fast fashion. I think the speed of the trend cycle has gotten unhealthy and as a result, consumer demand for cheap-and-cheerful fashion has skyrocketed. We really need to pump the brakes on buying from stores like Shein and Fashion Nova — they are creating so much waste and are known to have some of the worst working conditions. There is a reason that trendy dress is only $8. But I could go ON about about that like a little fashion curmudgeon.

Brittany: Has being a stylist influenced your own sense of personal style? What's your philosophy around your own style?

Brent: If anything, I think my style has gotten a bit more reserved over the years! Gone are the days of silver loafers, my American Apparel Tyvek jacket, "the casual cummerbund," and the jodhpurs I used to love with it. A few years ago a friend and I were talking about how we both create characters in our heads to come up with styling ideas. We came to the conclusion that I have become "supervisor of the boiler room on a spaceship" and that ended up ringing true after all these years.

These days I tend to go for neat utilitarian pieces and let materials and silhouettes speak for themselves. I somehow got to a place where my closet is a little more Doug Funnie and not as crazy as it was 10 - 15 years ago when I would buy things with little consideration of how it would fit in my wardrobe (see items listed above). I unintentionally created a uniform where I rarely stray from variations on the configuration: a button-up, a midlayer knit or overshirt, and some sort of outerwear. I never wear t-shirts, I exclusively wear black or navy pants, and only own black shoes — mostly boots. I play with color / pattern with tops and everything in my wardrobe goes with almost everything else.

When shopping, I look for special pieces that are great quality and seem to have longevity in both style and wear, but of course I still go for the drama from time to time! Also, it's a little neurotic, but when I really love something I tend to buy multiples of things. It's becoming a problem... I have five pairs of the same pants in different fabrics / lengths / sizes, three neoprene sweaters in two colors, and two of the same giant horse print shirts just to name a few.

Brittany: I know you can sew and are a great cook. Can you describe your creative pursuits for when you're off the clock?

Brent: Yes! This past year I have been having so much fun making costumes for a friend that is a drag performer. It has allowed me to explore more out-there looks in proportions that I have never worked with before — her hip pads are HUGE. I'm always looking for fun hobbies and have been stalking eBay for knitting machines for the past few months. I also love to cook and try to do so 5 - 6 days of the week. If I could throw a dinner or party with great food every week, I would. I'll see you this Thanksgiving! ;)

Brittany: What can we look forward to seeing from you in the future?

Brent: More drag costumes! I'm starting work on a shiny, fully rhinestoned, fringy little number for my girl Juannina Million's holiday performances. Maybe I'll get around to making something for myself, too!

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Photo provided by Brent Duplessis.

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Special thanks to Brent for discussing his work with us. You can learn more about him by checking out his Instagram and LinkedIn.

#Brent Duplessis #Fashion #Merchandising #Styling #Urban Outfitters #The RealReal #Stitch Fix #Fashion tech #Interview #San Francisco

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