Remodista, a social think tank that analyzes disruptive markets in global retail and fintech, hosted its second annual U.S. Women2Watch in Retail Disruption 2017 Innovation Award Show on Sept. 19. The event was held at The Glasshouses in New York.
Its Innovation award was received by Chau Banks, the executive vice president and chief information officer, channel integration at New York & Company; Marta Wohrle, the founder of Truth in Aging; Julie Mathers, the chief executive officer and founder at Flora & Fauna; Michelle Grant of Euromonitor and Abby Wallach of Linger. The Spirit of St. Jude award was presented to Veronica Katz, the vice president and general manager of large enterprise growth at PayPal.
Kelly Stickel, the founder and chief executive officer of Remodista, said that the awards recognize “a combination of fashion- and beauty-related companies that are incorporating technology into their products. These are companies [that] are new and differentiating themselves.”
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Stickel told WWD, “[The list of nominations] is all based on problems they’ve solved this year.” She added, “We’re able to take the research and work they were doing and put it in front of the community.”
Women2Watch in Retail Disruption features over 80 influential women who are among the top executives innovating in online and bricks-and-mortar retail, as well as problem solving across operations, CRM, marketing, commerce, IoT, supply chain, logistics and globalization. The awards program accepts self and peer nominations.
This year, guests at Women2Watch could test new products via its Innovation Lab, from beauty, wearable technology, artificial intelligence and mobility brands. Selected for attention to utility, personalization and the crafting of unique experiences, these brands are disrupting in their respective fields. Products included wearable tech rings and bracelets from Ringly, a scent invention called Linger that extends the life of perfumes and solutions from brands such as Content Square, Lively, Tulip Retail and Pebble Post.
Its panel of judges included Alice Kuepper, the event director for online retail portfolios at Reed Exhibitions; Alanna Bastin-Byrne, cofounder and chief marketing officer of Femeconomy; Anne Marie Stephen, founder of Retail Innovation Lab; Dan Hodges, chief executive officer of Consumers in Motion; Debbie Hauss, editor of Retail Touch Points; Samantha Kent, chief operating officer of Flow Commerce; Veronika Sonsev, managing partner of Chameleon Collective and Zia Daniell Wigder, the chief content officer at Shoptalk.
Nominations for 2018 will be open to the public on Oct. 15 and includes expansion to Europe.
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