New Global Online Site Rose Crosby Offers Fashion, Beauty and Home Products
Rose Crosby, an e-commerce site offering an edited selection of luxury fashion, beauty and home products, launches today.
Founded by husband-and-wife duo Lauren and Jay Kirloskar, the site aims to champion brands that have an unusual story to tell.
“Rose Crosby was conceptualized from a dearth of platforms dedicated to amalgamating the three separate but interconnected industries of fashion, home and beauty,” said Lauren Kirloskar, founder and chief creative officer. “It felt like a necessary and obvious niche in the market that was particularly relevant today. Paramount to this vision was prioritizing global design that was sustainable and inclusive, and making it accessible to shoppers worldwide.”
When they came up with the idea of Rose Crosby about two years ago, it was supposed to be more fashion-oriented. “But obviously with COVID-19, the priorities of consumers have shifted considerably. We’re putting way more emphasis on home and beauty,” she said.
“People are really into self-care right now, so we’re emphasizing those kinds of products. And they’re interested in making sure that their home is beautiful and they’re happy with the environment they’re staying in every day,” Kirloskar said.
Among the approximately 20 brands featured on the site are Costa Brazil, Mad et Len,and Estudio Personal, as well as emerging labels such as Manasi7, Takeyoshi Mitsui and Reflections Copenhagen.
Another feature of the site will be showcasing limited-time digital trunk shows with women’s wear label Patine and fine-jewelry label Bil Arabi. The trunk shows will run today through Dec. 15.
Rose Crosby seeks out products worldwide. The site will eventually have an editorial component via its “Rose Report.” Kirloskar said she named the business Rose Crosby because she had the idea when she was standing on Crosby Street in New York, and “rose is a nod to the sustainability, natural, organic, beauty side of the business.” The packaging will be sustainable, as well.
Jay Kirloskar, chief executive officer, said the business is financed by themselves and a small subset of private investors. They employ four people.
Lauren Kirloskar said they buy all the inventory.
She said Rose Crosby is really a reflection of her peripatetic upbringing. She lived primarily in India as a child and studied in Paris and London.
“In my travels over the years I’ve come across a lot of interesting brands that I thought were really fantastic and could be quite successful if they had that spotlight. I really wanted to bring these global brands to a larger platform,” she said.
After moving back from India to the U.S., she felt there was no platform that takes the three industries of fashion, home and beauty in a broader sense. Her site runs the gamut from makeup to furniture. “It’s in a very curated tight sense.
“A large part of what we do is sustainability. A lot of brands we’re partnering with have a lot of sustainability initiatives,” she said.
Lauren Kirloskar previously launched the web site La Lola, which spotlighted design, and later worked at such magazines as Vogue India, Ssense and Domino. Jay Kirloskar launched a start-up called Triegg, which became a key player in the educational market.
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