Innovation means going where others have not yet gone.
Back when we started ThirdLove in 2013, we were determined to innovate in a space that hadn’t …
Innovation means going where others have not yet gone. Back when we started ThirdLove in 2013, we were determined to innovate in a space that hadn’t innovated at all in the past 20 to 30 years. At the time, « DTC » wasn’t even a mainstream term. The thought of selling bras and underwear to women over the Internet, shipping directly to their homes, hadn’t been done before at scale. More importantly, very few lingerie brands seemed open to being inclusive to all body shapes, sizes, and colors. Conventional wisdom said what worked, and most businesses followed suit. But what’s interesting is that if you look at where ThirdLove as a company is today, all these things we built our original brand and company around are now table stakes. In 2020, brands have to be inclusive. Brands have to have DTC strategies. Even the concept of the company having a female CEO back in 2013 seemed unconventional. Today, it’s more common than ever before. When you are a successful innovator, you eventually transition from being the underdog to being the leader. And in order to remain the leader, you have to start innovating against yourself. You have to keep innovating your products and business model to stay ahead of the competition — even when you were the one who created that category to begin with. Read more: Lingerie startup ThirdLove, which has raised $69 million since its inception, recently launched an entrepreneurship program for women of color founders — here’s how to apply1.
