There are a couple ways to answer the question, “What is Not Just A Label?” One is to enumerate it’s various functions — e-commerce boutique, content creator, critical resource, job board, fashion school compendium, and more. Another is to think of it as its founder, Stefan Siegel, does — an ever-evolving agent of change determined to offer a viable alternative to the mainstream fashion system. Founded in 2008, Not Just A Label’s primary objective is to provide a platform for fledgling fashion brands to not only reach, but sell to customers worldwide. By serving as a hub for literally thousands of labels — over 18,000 to date — NJAL allows designers to tap into a vast market while giving us access to work we might otherwise never have seen. For those of us always on the lookout for the next radical designer, the service has become indispensable. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Take me through the genesis of Not Just A Label, both conceptually and practically.

Conceptually, NJAL, for me, has always been much more than fashion. I sometimes struggle to contain all my ideas in our annual strategy plan, and I often face criticism for not simplifying the business by only relying on one sole revenue stream. Call us a platform, an e-commerce business, an aggregator, perhaps an accelerator or incubator. We might be a media company today and a political movement tomorrow.

Practically, what matters to me is why we do what we do, what objectives we can set for ourselves and how fast we can achieve these goals by leaving the nay-sayers behind, side-lining those who don’t want to change and pushing those who follow beyond their comfort zone. NJAL has become a collective that welcomes talented individuals in the creative industries to do what they love, and survive while doing it. Freedom of expression is a critical right. I want to empower people to step outside the enshrined structure and be able to run small companies across the globe while creating an ecosystem in which these labels can flourish.

What are some key attributes that such an ecosystem has to have?

Transparency has to be one. We connect the customer directly to the designer and that’s another step in reconnecting the broken links in the supply chain, and it has the capacity to educate the consumer on every facet of a garment’s production process. Another key attribute is global connectivity, and utilizing the digital platform to expand opportunities to young designers that might not otherwise be accessible. So many of our designers are from politically unstable, war-torn countries. Others are from countries that do not have fashion systems in place that support emerging talent, by, say, relying solely on consignment retailing. Another attribute is democracy — an ecosystem has to be democratic beyond the fact it only privileges the few who happened to have the right educational background and happen to be located in a fashion centre. Forward-thinking labels can only thrive in an eco-system with limitless opportunities.

NJAL thrives on e-commerce, and the rest of the industry, even the most reluctant labels, are moving in this direction, too. Mobile commerce is looking like the next frontier — What kind of impact do you anticipate it will have on the industry?

With consumers spending 89% of their time on media through mobile apps, it’s no longer something that can be ignored, and mobile commerce presents infinite opportunity for the industry. At a basic level, I don’t think customers will wait around if retailers don’t provide a seamless service. If we consider that millennials might switch between media platforms at an average of 27 times per hour, retailers need to be able support the relentless pace of contemporary consumption.

Do you see the importance of bricks-and-mortar retail waning?

I think it’s difficult to exist solely as a bricks-and-mortar retail outlet but I don’t think consumers will ever give it up either. We don’t visit stores exclusively for product selection or price points; it’s either about convenience or experience. NJAL recently made its biggest physical debut in Dubai with a multi-sensory experience pavilion at Dubai Design District (d3), eschewing the conventional pop-up store format. Instead, it was about combining a curated selection of products from an international cohort of designers, and matching it with music, art and an interactive spatial sensorium that reflected our diverse aesthetic sensibility.

What does NJAL look for in a designer? From which regions do you see the most exciting talent emerging?

Our selection is based on talent, quality, sustainable production, market environment and revenue opportunities, and never politics. We try to attend the most interesting fashion weeks around the world, all major graduate shows, and we do extensive online research to discover the most promising talents. Who makes it on the cover of the website is a decision we make together. It is very subjective, although we never base our decision on where they come from, how well known their brand is or for other reasons not connected to the design process itself. We leave politics to the establishment. Some of our best designers never attended a school and come from regions we would have never thought of.

What are some of the lesser-known fashion weeks and graduate shows that your team has been impressed by recently?

We consistently find incredible talent in Ukraine and that’s a country without a dedicated fashion design program, not to mention the constant political instability. Our Ukrainian designers are some of our best-selling designers, and to enable them to have a livelihood through their creativity demonstrates our ethos in practice. The team have been everywhere from Switzerland, to Poland, to Beirut, to Turkey in the last few weeks alone, and we’ve found a wealth of talent. 

Given the super-connected nature of the world today, is it still useful to differentiate between regions? Cathy Horyn suggested the other day that we are lacking innovative designers, ones like Margiela or Kawakubo who made strong statements about their time — do you agree?

I think a super-connected contemporary condition is a positive symptom of our time, especially in terms of propelling creativity. However, as the world becomes increasingly globalized, we should continue to make a conscious effort to protect and maintain our cultural heritage. I wouldn’t agree that innovation doesn’t exist, I just don’t think that innovation as a value has an infrastructure in which it can honestly prosper nowadays. I’ve previously mentioned a fashion revolution, and I know It’s a loaded word, yet, this is exactly what fashion needs — seismic and fundamental change! Fashion is an industry where authenticity, traceability and honesty barely exist and innovation can only be practised if there a system in which it can thrive, and we have to forge our own paths to make that happen.

How have you seen the industry has change since NJAL was established?

I don’t think we’ve had a revolution but I do believe consumers are starting to question the fervent pace of fast fashion and its devastating effect on resources, the environment, as well as human life. I also believe that consumers have started to accept that emerging designers are the future of fashion, and by supporting them at their infancy and buying their collections, it’s a way to salute the new generation and question the status-quo of fashion’s rulebook at large.

You stated “sustainable production” as something you look for in new designers. Can you expand on this a bit? What is NJAL’s outlook on the sector?

We actively support sustainable fashion. Most of our projects support the idea of “green fashion.” Many of our designers already produce locally, use fair trade or organic materials and try to preserve old production methods. Deceleration of fashion is a key goal for NJAL. Many of our designers have never adhered to fashion convention, and work to totally eschew a system of seasonal symbolism in favour of adopting a more sustainable model of doing both business and fashion. Instead of producing to the demands of a claustrophobic fashion calendar, they might create multiple capsule collections around the year, which give more freedom to experiment, provide manufacturers with a steady stream of work, as well as providing buyers with a constant stream of styles.

How is the industry responding to increased demand for these sorts of labels?

I think there’s a certain shift in the industry — with a return to craftsmanship and artisanal heritage. A part of this requires a real passion about transparency. I think the industry at large will have to respond by thinking about how their pieces can be fully mapped and engage with every customer to share the story of how each item is made, with the belief that the hands that manipulate the materials are just as important as the quality and sustainability of those materials.

You mentioned deceleration as a goal for NJAL — while there’s no question that the concept of slowing fashion is gaining popularity, the mainstream continues to move in the opposite direction. Do you think it’s possible to slow the, as you put it, “relentless pace of consumer culture” on a broad scale? How can we change the consumer behaviours we’ve learned from fast fashion?

Colossal change might be able to happen from the top-down, but a mass shift in individuals can provoke just as powerful of a change. I believe it’s an attitude that has to come from a broader view, not just slowing down in how we consume, but also slow down in general. Despite advancing technologies that have eradicated human labour, we are still working harder and longer than ever before. 

I think we reached a point where our consumption patterns are out of control and designers and retailers can have a huge impact on changing these by opting for more sustainable fabrics and production methods. This all requires education and a honest reveal of the off-shore manufacturing practices and processes of retail giants who rely on cheap labour to maintain cheap price points. In the future, I see sustainable fashion becoming more mainstream as young designers learn about the importance of ethical and sustainable design at an earlier stage in their education. The major fashion schools around the world are doing a tremendous amount of work to promote ethical design, and that’s very inspiring to me.

Q&A by Adam Wray, Curator of FashionREDEF. You can follow Adam on REDEF and Twitter (@FashionREDEF, @terminal_avenue), or reach him at adam.wray@redefgroup.com