Imran Amed Reflects on His Time at Business of Fashion

**In his own words, Imran Amed reflects on the cornerstone moments in his time at The Business of Fashion, the industry’s web of connectivity, and following his curiosity.**

The first big step Imran Amed ever took toward his passion fell through. It was when he had uprooted his “traditional, high-achiever business path” in search of something he felt more aligned with. For him, that had always meant fashion, and his idea at the time was to start a company that could support aspiring London-based designers in finding their career breakthroughs. The idea only lasted eight months, but he laughed it off. “It was a big failure,” he smiles. “But in that year, it was like my crash course in fashion. I met so many people. I learned so much. And I started writing things down.”

There were all these barriers up back then, he recalled with a certain fondness, “the most incredible, unexpected challenges you could never even invent in your head.” But they would lead him on a different path, one that opened up organically, via password-protected blog that at one time was only meant for friends and family. When his company closed, he took that password off and, at only eight months in, he was already getting media requests for his commentary on the fashion industry at large. Now, The Business of Fashion has grown into something of a movement, where hard news on the industry is met with deep reflection and pathways to resolution.

“It takes real perseverance and courage,” Amed said on the journey it takes to find purpose. From where he spoke, he was addressing a theater at full capacity, packed with a bright mix of creatives, entrepreneurs, and veterans in their respective fields. To the aspirants in the room, he emphasized a need to follow their curiosity, to draw closer to that initial pull: “the thing that sparks energy in you, that keeps you up at night, that gets you excited.” From growing up as a bright-eyed boy in Calgary to now, as he tells Vogue Philippines, his own remains unchanging: “My curiosity usually starts with people.”

Imran Amed at Vogue Talks with Vogue Philippines editor-in-chief Bea Valdes and fashion director Pam Quiñones. Photographed by Artu Nepomuceno

Moments after he stepped off stage, the founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of The Business of Fashion (BoF) shares a brief conversation with Vogue Philippines on seeing the industry from the perspective of an outsider, lucidity in internet comment sections, and just what is moving fashion forward.

Vogue Philippines: From starting the Business of Fashion as a blog to growing it to a global platform, what have you found most fulfilling?

Imran Amed: The most fulfilling are the moments when you have a firsthand appreciation of how powerful words can be, and those words can be expressed in writing, or for podcasts, or for videos. But I [also] think the most fulfilling moments are when, you know, someone gives me their feedback that something that anyone on our team has created on BoF has helped them in their career or in their business or in trying to understand a big industry problem. You know, at its best, BoF helps people do their jobs better. And so that’s what I hope for. When we receive feedback, it almost feels very fulfilling.

I’m sure you’ve received constructive criticism. How do you approach receiving that kind of feedback?

You know, criticism is just as helpful as positive feedback, right? A lot of the initial feedback I used to get was in the comments. Maybe this was when commenting was a bit healthier online. Like now, I think commenting can sometimes be a bit toxic. But back in the day, you know, people would leave lots of comments on articles; and if they disagreed with me, that would be something to learn from. Also on Twitter and on Facebook, there was much more constructive dialogue [then]. And all of that feedback helped me to shape and plan and strategize on, like, “Well, what can I learn for next time?” I think when you’re building a business from scratch, you know, really learning from customer feedback is a really important part of just understanding and shaping and adjusting what you do.

Imran Amed for Vogue Talks. Photographed by Artu Nepomuceno

During the talk, you spoke about growing up around people who didn’t take work in fashion seriously, and that’s true for us in the Philippines as well, especially young people. What has navigating this been like for you?

For a long time, my parents didn’t really understand what I was doing, in part because I didn’t understand what I was doing. You know, I was writing a blog. My mom always asked me, like, “Why are you on email all the time?” I’m like, I’m not on email, I’m writing. [Laughs]

But in all seriousness, I think for a variety of reasons, fashion is not seen as a legitimate career. And one of the nice pieces of feedback that I’ve had from people is that, because BoF exists, it’s something that people could show to their parents and be like, look, there this whole thing. And it’s not just that kind of glamour; there’s an industry. Look at all these jobs on BoF Careers, and like, look at all these different pathways. I think there’s just a lot of work that the industry still needs to do to explain and be more transparent with people about how vastly diverse and multifaceted this business really is.

Throughout your journey at BoF, have you found any insight that has surprised you? What thoughts have you been reflecting on?

I think the way the fashion world is seen on the outside is often not consistent with how it feels on the inside. I think a lot of the people who are drawn to fashion are actually misfits and outsiders. I think people like that are sometimes drawn to fashion because it’s an industry where you can express yourself pretty freely, without judgment. It embraces all kinds of characters, even a nerdy kid from Calgary.

I think a lot of those people also find that there’s something about their growing up, maybe feeling a little bit like an outsider or even not part of the mainstream. It feels good to find a sense of community. I think every industry is relationship-based. In fashion, we used the word “community” intentionally for a very long time before it became trendy. But fashion really is a community of people who are kind of drawn to it because of, of course, a sense of passion as I said on stage but also [because they are] looking for a place where they feel more comfortable, where they can be themselves.

And I think, as a result of that, it’s an industry that’s become a web of relationships. And so for me as a complete outsider, that meant really building one relationship at a time and really listening to people’s stories. I don’t think people outside of fashion really see fashion that way. I think they just see fashion as a bunch of like, champagne-spilling dilettantes. And of course, there is that side of fashion as well, but there are so many incredible, passionate, hardworking, talented people in our industry.

What do you see in fashion that has made you stay curious after all this time?

My curiosity usually starts with people. I like meeting people. I like going to new places. I like learning. And usually, I meet someone and it’s their personal story or their journey or their work that is the basis for the conversation that we have, and that usually is how I learn about something new.

And then I also just try to make sure I don’t get stuck in a fashion bubble. I think the more you can spend time in places where you’re outside of your comfort zone and you’re meeting people who are not operating in your world, the more you’re likely to find something different and interesting and unexpected. So yeah, I venture out from my regular homes. That’s why I’m here in the Philippines, right? Because I feel like whenever I can try to experience a different place, I’ll look back on that trip and I’ll have learned a lot, seen a lot, and met a lot of new people. And that will stay with me.