Creative Counts 23

Interview by Ketia Jeune | with John Averill

What does strategic communication mean to you, and how would you explain it to someone with no industry experience?

Strategic communication isn't just about decks and Excel sheets listing targets and angles—it's deeply human. It's about understanding who you're speaking to on a personal level, not just demographics. When I pitch an editor, talk to an influencer, or even chat with a friend, I'm thinking: What are their values? Why would this story matter to them? That's always your starting point. There's tremendous empathy involved. You need to understand what message you're delivering and how best to deliver it to that specific person. And crucially, you must be willing to pivot when something isn't working. It's about asking yourself: Why isn't this cutting through, and how do we need to adapt?

What's the difference between communications for a luxury brand versus a sustainable marketplace?

With heritage luxury brands, you're working within established parameters. There's a brand identity that's been cultivated for decades, often with strict guidelines about messaging and partnerships. Resale platforms like Depop are completely different—they're revolutionaries. The fashion resale space is relatively new, and we've dramatically changed the narrative around fashion in just the last decade. What's fascinating is seeing luxury brands now coming to Depop looking for audience engagement and sustainable credentials. Our work has unlimited creative potential—we collaborate with sellers, talent, other brands—and that's incredibly inspiring. The industry has acknowledged how dramatically resale has influenced fashion. Trade publications constantly report that resale is projected to be one of the biggest sectors by 2030.

I've noticed established brands are now on Depop. That seems like a major shift.

Absolutely! Just today we launched a partnership with DKNY—40 pieces, 12 looks from their 90s archives. They even purchased additional inventory from Depop sellers to complement the collection. We're seeing this happen constantly. Tommy Hilfiger, Away luggage—brands are approaching us about establishing permanent shops on Depop. What makes us uniquely valuable is our data. We can tell brands exactly what users are searching for—like a 40% increase in DKNY searches over the past year. This gives brands incredible consumer insights into upcoming trends, helping them understand what Gen Z and millennials genuinely want.

So Depop is where trends begin before going mainstream?

Exactly—we're the underground source where trends originate before hitting commercial markets. Our platform connects culture to fashion in real-time. If a celebrity makes a statement, we immediately see their fans searching for related items.

How are you tapping into Gen X, especially since their nostalgia differs from millennials and Gen Z?

Our proposition is simple: Depop is for everyone. While our core audience is Gen Z, anyone from teenagers to boomers can find nostalgic treasures on our platform. We recognize the challenges in reaching older demographics. We've worked hard to crack the stigmas around secondhand shopping, which can be more challenging with older generations. But they're not unwilling—there's just an education piece needed. That's where storytelling comes in. We need to explain why shopping secondhand matters beyond sustainability—it's about discovery, community connection, and inspiration. The bigger question is: how do we construct a narrative that brings users from eBay or Facebook Marketplace over to Depop? We're looking at this closely because if sustainable resale fashion is truly for everyone, then we have a responsibility to educate people about what makes Depop special.

How did PR, comms, and fashion find you? Why did you choose each other?

I never chose it! I'm always surprised when PR professionals tell me they've always wanted to do this, because it was never on my radar. I studied business and was considering finance.Growing up, I devoured magazines like Details and GQ, studying the mastheads and editorial content. I knew I wanted to work in fashion somehow, but I didn't even understand PR existed until college.An ex-boyfriend found me an internship at Karla Otto while I was in school. It's one of the bigger global agencies, and they'd just opened their New York office. I fell in love with the work, and they hired me directly from the internship. That's how I stumbled into this career.I started in the showrooms as a manager—those were brutal hours, sometimes 8AM to 2AM, organizing and tracking everything.

What's something surprising about PR and storytelling?

There's a critical organizational aspect to it. You absolutely must be organized. I'm most creative when things are organized and there's no chaos around me. That's when I can do my best writing and thinking. I thrive with structure. I like having clear guidelines about what needs to be done, and within that framework, I'll find ways to innovate. Coming into an environment with no structure and having to create it from scratch always feels backward to me.

Thank you John. This was lovely.