Modern Fashion: Steen Marcuslund Of Steen LLC On The 5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today

Always keep innovating! We’ve just launched recently but already have exciting plans to develop the brand further. We now have 17 models, 5 in stock and 12 exciting new colors under production with much more to come.

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any in the fashion industry have been making huge pivots in their business models. Many have turned away from the fast fashion trend. Many have been focusing on fashion that also makes a social impact. Many have turned to sustainable and ethical sourcing. Many have turned to hi tech manufacturing. Many have turned to subscription models. What are the other trends that we will see in the fashion industry? What does it take to lead a successful fashion brand today?

In our series called, “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand Today” we are talking to successful leaders of fashion brands who can talk about the Future of Fashion and the 5 things it takes to lead a successful fashion brand in our “new normal.”

As a part of this series I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Steen Marcuslund.

Steen Marcuslund is the founder of Steen LLC, a fashion house with focus on Travel essentials, especially Italian hand made Foldable Travel Slippers and Bamboo Loungewear, among other accessories. Steen is a frequent world traveler who values the importance of flying in style. He created the fashion house in order to bridge the gap between commute and comfort, creating a product line where sophistication, function, and luxury collide.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”?

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my earlier career, I traveled a lot for business and when you spend 11–15 hours on a flight it’s all about being comfortable. Some airlines will give you some fabric slippers and on occasion a PJ, but the quality is just not great. The idea was you get on a plane, you want to put on your compression socks for improved blood circulation, your amazing loungewear made of Bamboo keeping you cool, and when you need to move about, there’s no need to put your shoes back on, instead just wear your comfortable slippers.

Also, I spent 9 years living in Asia and when you visit friends and family, you always have to remove your shoes, in this case you can just take the pouch out of handbag and voila, you now have your own comfortable slippers and no need to walk barefooted. People can have their slippers pouch in their coat pockets, handbag, or really any small storage that one would have access to on a typical day

Can you tell us the story about what led you to this particular career path?

Spending time in both Asia & Italy I fell in love with the care the manufacturers put into their work. I feel a lot of clothing these days can feel mass produced in exchange for efficiency, so I wanted to find a way to merge the two ideals. Sure, you can find plenty of luxury full-size slippers, but that’s not convenient to bring with you when out and about, so instead we designed this slipper to be foldable and minimize the total length, so you can take them with you, in your handbag or coat pocket, meeting fashion with function.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

We work closely with the artisans at the factory in Tuscany, Italy. The time from when the order is placed to the Slippers being ready to be shipped from the factory, takes about 3 months. First, we need to select colors, and decide if we want the embossed with a crocodile look or plain. The leather then takes about 1 month to prepare, and once prepared all skins are sent to the cutter; we use sheep skin, goat skin and bison skin for the upper (where your toes are), goat for the inner lining, and Bison for the sole.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

Yes, we did have about 10 prototypes before we decided on the final model. We had to pick the softest leather for the upper house (where your toes are), which is why we decided on Sheep skin, which also allows for the slippers to be more compressed when in the pouch. We tried it with calf skin but it was just too thick and stiff. We had to make sure that the sole would be comfortable but also foldable, so we tested many thickness’s for the proper foldability. It was then decided to use Bison for the sole as it proved to be comfortable while also being especially durable. We also didn’t like that the sole would be folded into the upper house without protection, where the dirt would be transferred into the upper house, so we decided to add sleeves to the sole, so that when folding the sole inside the upper house, you don’t touch the under sole and no dirt is being transferred into the upper house.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Do you see any fascinating developments emerging over the next few years in the fashion industry that you are excited about? Can you tell us about that?

I think sustainability and creativity is the most fascinating to me, and solutions to problems are being found in a lot of interesting ways. For us, we think a product that will last you a very long time is a great way to both provide long term value to the customer and the environment. In an era of fast fashion, well-made and long-lasting shoes crafted by seasoned professionals can be a kind of revolution of its own.

Can you share how your brand is helping to bring goodness to the world?

I think comfort is a more important part of life than we give it credit for. The impact a comfortable outfit can have on your mental and physical wellbeing is significant. It can be especially beneficial to bring comfort to uncomfortable places like travelling.

Can you share with our readers about the ethical standards you use when you choose where to source materials?

All of our packaging is recyclable. When you get standard slippers from an airline or hotel, they are used once and then end up in a landfill, whereas the STEEN slippers are a permanent solution you can easily bring along and enjoy on an ongoing basis. We also like that this benefits the customer directly as those flimsy disposable slippers are often too large or too small, but with Steen you will have your own slippers which you can count on fitting just right every time.

Fast fashion has an advantage, that it is affordable for most people, but it also has the drawback that it does not last very long and is therefore not very sustainable. What are your thoughts about this? How does your company address this question?

We consider ourselves to be a great counterpoint to this growing trend. The value of the dollar does not always align with the value you get from the product. Cheap garments that are thrown to the wayside after a couple of uses are not helpful to anyone. In order to achieve the high degree of quality Steen is known for, at the factory in Italy once all the cuts have been made, there is about 8 steps to produce the slippers, all performed by hand to produce the utmost high-quality slipper

Thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Lead a Successful Fashion Brand”. Please share a story or example for each.

1. Always have a targeted customer base. This applies especially during the creation of the product, for Steen I found that there was a need for a variety of sectors. We definitely had the “traveling person” in mind when we designed the slippers but we also thought beyond. As an example, we knew these would work great for real estate agents who are constantly placing their shoes in blue plastic bags, and when used once those bags are discarded and thrown away, causing an ongoing plastic pollution.
2. Diversify your brand but know your customers. We have expanded our line beyond foldable slippers to other products that can help the traveling individual and have seen great success. We now have incredibly soft and comfortable Lounge wear & t-shirts made of Bamboo, music headsets and beanies with built-in bluetooth, an eye and facemask, and wipes for face and hands, in addition to Bum wipes so you can refresh yourself, all in travel friendly packaging.
3. Solve needs with your brand. The idea for us was that you don’t have to fly 1st or business class in order to be comfortable, comfort should be available for all, and especially when flying economy or premium, you want to wear comfortable clothing (lounge wear) & you want to be able to move around without having to locate your shoes.
4. Ask for help. We work closely with the artisans at the factory in Tuscany, Italy. I took a lot of advice from them on what makes the best and highest quality fit. I think a lot of designers like to be very insular but one of the best things you can do is get a great team around you that you can rely on.
5. Always keep innovating! We’ve just launched recently but already have exciting plans to develop the brand further. We now have 17 models, 5 in stock and 12 exciting new colors under production with much more to come!

Every industry constantly evolves and seeks improvement. How do you think the fashion industry can improve itself? Can you give an example?

There are a variety of factors that consumers enjoy about clothing. I think the best thing to do to continually improve and evolve is to pack as many of those factors into each and every item you create. We should keep finding ways to make clothing comfortable, fashionable, convenient, and accessible among many other factors all at once. The more care and effort we bring to each product the more value it provides to the public and the industry as a whole.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I think it’s important for people to treat themselves to luxury and comfort. A lot of us can become very stoic and feel above these things but caring for oneself and making your life more enjoyable at every step can unlock doors you didn’t know existed.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Check out the website?https://travelbysteen.com/

You can follow us on social media at @steen.brand to keep up with the latest!

https://facebook.com/steen.brand

https://instagram.com/steen.brand

https://www.tiktok.com/@steen.brand

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCylemJYXGnC0rI-Ddk9dIZQ

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.