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The Glossy Podcast
Moda Operandi's Marc Rofsky on the brands and trends that stood out at Paris Fashion Week
00:34:44
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- [00:04]
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- [00:50]
Modern Retail Marketing Representative
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- [01:53]
Sophia Zwag
Hello and welcome to the Glossy Podcast. I'm Sophia Zwag, international fashion reporter, and today's episode is all about Paris Fashion Week and the autumn winter 2026 collections. So the Paris shows wrapped up with plenty of talking points this season, from Dior continuing to evolve under Jonathan Anderson to strong collections from houses like St. Laurent and Hermes, plus continued conversation around the direction of Chanel and the broader push towards ultra luxury and exclusivity across the Runway. But while editors and critics have debated the collections, another question matters just as much. What are customers actually buying from the Runway? And to talk about that, I'm joined here by Mark Rofsky from Modo Operandi, the online retailer known for letting customers pre order Runway pieces straight after the shows. Mark, welcome to the podcast.
- [02:42]
Mark Rofsky
Thank you so much for having me. Excited to be here.
- [02:45]
Sophia Zwag
Yeah, and I know that Moda's got a little bit of a unique way of working. So for listeners who might not know the platform, can you briefly explain how the kind of trunk show model works, especially during Fashion Month?
- [02:57]
Mark Rofsky
Yeah, for sure. Moda Operandi is really the only online platform that works in this way. It is how we started. It's how our co founder, Lauren Santo Domingo, really disrupted the online space in terms of luxury fashion. What we do is we host what we call trunk shows. It's literally a virtual trunk show of the collection days after it walks the Runway. So the brands are in market. They're selling to all of the retailers in a traditional wholesale capacity. But what we do is we take the whole collection that walked the Runway, and we basically create a micro site for each brand so they each get their own individual page on the site where we offer the full collection that's being produced. And the end customer who shops on Moda works typically with their personal shopper at Moda, although they can also work independently, just navigating the site, pre order what they want to buy for the season, and then we take, at the end of the trunk show, all of those orders, and the brand puts them into production. So it really is the most unfiltered way for clients to be able to access the full collection without it being filtered by either their own stores or other retailers.
- [04:15]
Sophia Zwag
Okay, so when a big Paris show happens, what happens on your platform in real time? Do you immediately see spikes in traffic or pre orders? And especially with Paris, you know, just finishing. What is it like now?
- [04:26]
Mark Rofsky
Yeah, for sure. So the trunk shows launch on site. You know, it's kind of like a waterfall. So the Paris shows are happening in real time. And then we're getting started on launching each collection, really right after it closes, when we start to receive the assets and information from the brand side. So we started to launch the Paris collections on site. They'll continue to launch through next week. We're already seeing a really strong reaction from Dries was a really stellar collection. This was Julian's third collection. He continues to just have a sharper and sharper vision for how he's taking the house codes into the next chapter through rich fabrics and embroideries, very feminine silhouettes that our clients are gravitating towards. We're also already seeing a great reaction to Gabriella Hearst Balenciaga. And we continue to have more and more shows launch every day. Givenchy as well. Victoria Beckham, Chloe. So all of these brands are kind of, you know, launching in real time. We're getting the reaction as they're launching. If it's a brand that the client follows already, they'll get a notification. If they work with a personal shopper, they'll be hearing from them. And then we do marketing on site and through email for all of the shows that launch. So the clients are kind of being navigated to each trunk show page through those various channels, and we see the spikes in response based on each of those touch points. And then there's definitely a lot of clients that want to wait for all of the collections from Paris to launch so that they can shop across a broader range if they're not necessarily allegiant to one particular brand.
- [06:14]
Sophia Zwag
So you were at the Paris fashion shows, and I know that you know the Moda customer inside out. Tell me, what do you think that be buying from this season?
- [06:24]
Mark Rofsky
This was a really amazing season in Paris for us. I think there's a lot that was shown, and the trends are very favorable for what the Moda client gravitates towards. First and foremost, I think the mood overall was really about true luxury. We're coming off of last season when there were so many designer shakeups, and we saw the first vision of what they are doing for each house across the board. This season, the creative directors were just much more assured and confident in what their vision for the house will be. And so the way that we saw that translate was just through, I would say, more elevated, luxurious fabrications. That really is, you know, probably the number one common thread that we saw across all of the collections. Almost every collection had either croc or croc, embossed leather, a lot of velvet, and Jacquard. So these really rich fabrications, embroideries, and a return to print. While the color palette in general was a little bit dark, we saw pops of royal purple and cherry red and cobalt blue continue to be shown, which are colors that the customer gravitates towards. And the silhouette overall has become a lot more feminine this season than what we were seeing over the past few years. So a category that is not always our best on Moda, because, you know, she is very sensitive to a feminine silhouette, is tailoring. The past few seasons, we've been seeing menswear inspired, oversized tailoring. The pendulum completely swung this season, and tailoring has become a lot sharper, a lot more feminine with a defined waist, even, you know, peplum waists in a lot of tailoring that we saw at Given. She did some incredible examples of that. Tom Ford did some incredible examples of that. And so we anticipate seeing a return to tailoring. Of course, it was also a strong outerwear season last year. Fall was really a shearling statement. I would say this season, there's still touches of shearling, but definitely Move. Moving into really strong cloth outerwear, such as the cocoon coats from Balenciaga were definitely something that stood out. And overall, it was really a separate, driven season. So we're seeing, you know, perhaps a bit more personality coming through in terms of personal style being embraced, where there's a greater opportunity for mix and match across separates rather than just single item dress looks. And that even extends to the styling. We think there's a lot of opportunity in kind of finish the look, styling accessories, as we call them. So gloves, stoles, scarves, long necklaces, headpieces, brooches, the list goes on and on. But there are ample opportunities for clients to really dissect the collections and kind of reassemble them to make their own personal statement for the season, which is quite exciting.
- [09:42]
Sophia Zwag
Yeah, definitely. And I think a lot of the times those entry accessories are almost the ways that people discover brands or kind of have their first purchase from them. I know that with Moda in particular, because of the fact that you guys kind of start so early, does it kind of give you an early read on what will actually sell months before it hits the stores?
- [10:03]
Mark Rofsky
Absolutely. So Trunk show is what we call our crystal ball. In addition to Trunk show, we have our day in, day out business. Internally, we refer to it as boutique, but really it's just our in season business. And we use the information that we gather from trunkshow to inform what we invest in that will be on the site in season. And so we're using data across, you know, different layers of touch points. We're seeing not only what's sold, but we're seeing which styles have the most page views, which ones have the most ad for later, where she. She might not pull the trigger now, but she's giving it a heart, a favorite on the site, and she wants to return to it later. And so we're looking at that not just at the brand and style level, but we're also extracting greater themes across the collections that we can apply to the broader business.
- [10:58]
Sophia Zwag
Yeah, so all of those saves, I've got a whole little folder of things that I'm watching, so I'm sure everyone else is doing the same. And I think one of those biggest saves, and we've already seen this in terms of demand in stores, is Chanel. And I know that Moda doesn't stock Chanel. Does the buzz around the shows still influence customer interest in luxury overall? And do you think that that's something that encourages them to buy into some of the other brands on site?
- [11:26]
Mark Rofsky
I think one of the greatest things that Matthieu has been able to do at Chanel so far is to just inject an undeniable energy into, you know, we're talking about a storied house that has very set codes that, you know, has had a very steady business over the past, you know, 20, 30 years. And he came in and he really injected a youthful, exciting energy through the collection, through the way that the collection's presented, through the brand ambassadors that are coming to the shows. And that has definitely sparked a wide interest, I would say. In Paris, you can always kind of tell what's working the best just from hearing from all of our peers in the industry, stylists and editors, and where they're shopping while they're in Paris. Everyone's schedule is so crazy. So if you're making the time to go to a store, there's definitely a high level of intention. And everyone was in Chanel this week. Of course, it was no mistake that they dropped the collection during Paris Fashion Week. And it was certainly a frenzy. I mean, you would run into friends at shows and hear what they were able to sneak in and buy in between shows from Chanel. There's also a lot of interest in Dior and Celine. I think Jonathan Anderson at Dior has also, you know, started to hit a really nice stride for the house. It was one of the shows that everyone was talking about this week. Yeah, definitely applying a bit of a lighter hand to the collection, but injecting such a, you know, such a level of newness that it's bringing a lot of new eyes to the house. And Michael Ryder at Celine also, you know, it's a. It's a house that is known for the bourgeois, and he's kind of bringing it back to that. He is definitely demonstrating an understanding of what women want to wear today. And I think what's exciting about Michael Ryder at Celine is that he's really capturing a mood, and it's coming across not just through silhouette and proportion, but also through the styling. He's really an expert stylist. And so, you know, even a buyer on our team this week was able to translate what we saw on the Runway. A leather belt styled over a coat. It's such a simple styling trick, but it looks so fresh and modern, and it's certainly what the fashion woman wants to be wearing today. So I think across these new collections, or, sorry, across the new creative director's debuts this season, the collections are hitting the stores in real time. And so it's becoming a bit of a Flywheel or a feedback loop of you're seeing the in season demand and reaction while the next collections are walking the Runway, which are just further enforcing that desirability. And for us, what that's doing is definitely reigniting an interest in the luxury houses our clients are on. Moda respond extremely well when there's either a final collection from a creative director, kind of that collector's instinct kicks in. And when Tom Ford showed his last collection, it was one of our biggest trunk shows ever because the client didn't know if they'll ever be able to get anything designed by Tom Ford again. And on the flip side, when there's a new creative director, Mota uniquely has a client who is interested in seeing what that next vision is and she wants to be the first to have it. And so whether it was Matthieu's debut at Bottega, Peter's debut at Alaia, Chemina's debut at Chloe, this season we have Maria Grazia's debut at Fendi. Clients are so excited to get a piece of that first collection and really be a part of the conversation. That's what kind of distinguishes the Moda client, I think, from any other platform is we really have that well informed kind of self selecting group of clients that are tuned into the fashion industry. They don't necessarily work in fashion, but they're following along. And the buzz and halo effect of everything that's happening on the runways is, is inspiring her to add to cart, which is great for us.
- [16:05]
Sophia Zwag
I love that. And this kind of feeds a little bit into my next question. I know that obviously you mentioned that they're interested in the first and last, and they're real kind of collectors and fans of all of these brands. But in terms of the pieces that they actually buy, is that leaning slightly more towards these statement Runway pieces, something a little bit more extravagant or something more wearable, especially in this current kind of economic climate?
- [16:32]
Mark Rofsky
Yes, and yes, I would say both. Traditionally on Moda, what we see on the trunk show channel is definitely more of an emotional purchase, right? She's putting down a deposit, she's waiting six to nine months for it to deliver. And so she's falling in love with the piece that she's pre ordering. And that does tend to be something that is a bit more editorial, a bit more exciting and emotional for her. Whether it's a statement outerwear piece, whether it is a fabulous cocktail dress, or if it's something, it's a very savvy client. So they also, they're working with our personal shoppers. And so they're understanding that not everything that they see in trunk show is going to get produced. And if it gets produced, they might not be able to find their size. And so that's driving that emotional purchase, because she wants to make sure that she's locking it in in real time. On the flip side, as the overall industry is kind of in a state of flux right now, I would say just by nature of trend, we've seen more and more wearable pieces in the collections. And what's exciting this season is that wearability does not mean boring. And we're coming off of the trend of quiet luxury, which we've spoken about ad nauseam and don't even like to say the word anymore. But I think one of the lasting benefits of that trend, if you want to call it a trend, is that there was a pragmaticism across the houses and their understanding that the best way to incite a purchase is to make sure that the client can envision themselves actually living in the clothes. But this season, I would say, by and large, there's a greater approach to finding that balance between desirability and wearability. And so what we're focusing on and where we think the client is going to go is looking for pieces that have an element of surprise and delight in a silhouette that is easy to digest and easy to wear. And that doesn't mean going for a piece that's boring or overly simple, but it does mean it doesn't need to be overly conceptual or tricky. And so wearability, I would say, is more so being translated through silhouette. And desirability is coming through in terms of materiality, surface, embroidery, color, and texture.
- [19:28]
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- [20:39]
Sophia Zwag
With Paris, there are still a lot of smaller and more emerging brands. You know, what are you looking for for that Moda client? When you're seeing these designers, Moda is
- [20:50]
Mark Rofsky
first and foremost a point of discovery. And we really pride ourselves in that. We hear it from clients, we hear it from the rest of the industry that the first time that they discover a brand is likely going to be on Moda, and we have the, you know, we have the unique ability to introduce new brands because we have Trunk Show. And so unlike other retailers that need to make an upfront investment, we're able to test and put a collection in its entirety live on Trunk show and see what the client's appetite is and from there, decide if, you know, if we're going to move forward. That being said, at the same time, we also pride ourselves on Moda of having a point of view. We don't show everything that's in the market because not everything is right for our client. And so we are being very decisive and strategic when we are seeing new collections to make sure that they are, I would say, maybe a different chapter in the book of our client style, but still within that book, right? We're not trying to divert too drastically and alienate the customer, but we are trying to show them something new and something that they might not have expected to see from Moda. And that's really exciting for us because sometimes we'll test a new brand and not be sure if it'll work. But we have that inclination because we do know our clients so well. So a success story, for example, from last season was we had our first Connor Ives trunk show, and it was a runaway success. We sold many units of the highest ticket items that were in the Trunk show, which is a testament to, I think, our client's appetite for really special and elevated pieces. For her to be able to take a risk with her wallet on, the most expensive piece offered in the collection really, really demonstrates where that customer is at. And that was exciting for us to see. And so now that gave us the conviction to really stand behind the brand. We adopted it for Boutique. So we have a spring buy coming in, and we're feeling even better about the collection that just showed that we were able to see in person during Paris market. So that's just one example. This season, we're also really excited to launch Mugler in Trunk show, it was Miguel Castro Fritas second Runway collection. He's so immensely talented. The first collection for Mugler ended up being a lot of demi couture and styles that weren't going to be produced, but certainly sparked an interest. His level of construction and execution is really, really incredible to see. And this collection was a bit more of his daywear vision for the house. And so we were able to really jump on that quickly. And we have that trunk show launching soon, which we're really excited about.
- [24:15]
Sophia Zwag
That's very exciting. Mugler is obviously a great and storied brand and I think one that a lot of people recognize in terms of Connor Ives, if you want to listen to a little bit more about that. We did discuss that with Tiffany for the London episode a couple of weeks back, so you can have a listen there. I know that with Paris, it's often seen as the kind of most commercially influential fashion week. Do you typically see kind of stronger demand tied to the Paris collections and as a result a bigger basket size compared to maybe some of the other cities?
- [24:47]
Mark Rofsky
I would say Paris is definitely listen, it's the main stage of fashion in the world. And so it is critically important for Moda to be messaging and registering the Paris collections because this is the most prestigious and premier piece of our portfolio and it is probably the largest lion's share of where we see the client demand, especially during the trunk show season with New York being a close second. We have a lot of significant and consistent businesses that come from New York as well as there's a new emerging class of the New York designers that are really striking that balance between commerciality and desirability. But in terms of the true power players and the power designers, they're all coming from Paris. So this is a really important week for us. We also see the Paris collections, you know, it's the last part of the season, but it is also the most forward looking in terms of, you know, fashion quotient. It's where the trends are being cemented, I would say, for the season and where we are picking up on what we can anticipate from next season on Moda. We are really excited and proud to offer a wide selection of exclusive capsules and exclusive product drops on the platform for our client and Q4. So kind of like that holiday and resort timing and is such an important time for us on the site. We have a lot of activity, a lot of client interest, a lot of client end uses that we need to address. And so coming off of The Paris collections is when we start to really hone in on the key themes and trends that we see continuing after Paris as well. So it's not just about the fall season. It's also our predictor for what's going to carry forward into resort and pre spring and where we're going to look to distort or emphasize within any special projects that we're now working on, which is kind of our next step that we kick off next week as we kind of continue to roadmap the season.
- [27:19]
Sophia Zwag
I'm assuming all of those are top secret, but maybe you can tell me a little bit more about some of the past ones. What are some of the exciting, exclusive capsules that did really well last holiday season? So just a couple of months ago.
- [27:32]
Mark Rofsky
Sorry, give me a second to think back to the holiday.
- [27:36]
Sophia Zwag
Sorry, I'm making you go forward and backwards.
- [27:38]
Mark Rofsky
Yeah, I know. What's interesting about Moda is we live in three different seasons at once. So we're trunk showing what's on the Runway now while we're selling current season and then we're developing the following season, all kind of at the same time. So it's definitely an interesting dynamic for us and keeps us on our toes, but also just enriches our understanding of the client. Last holiday, we had an exclusive capsule with a brand that we feel really strongly about, Colleen Allen. And that was a holiday capsule that we did. She only does one collection a season. However, she is a designer that we feel very strongly about. She's one of the LVMH semifinalists this season. We're always really proud to see a brand that we launched first on Moda, then become a designer, you know, semifinalist in the most prestigious fashion prize for emerging designers. We're so, so proud to see. But Colleen, you know, it's a small brand with a lot of, you know, staying power and a very, you know, while it's a while, it could be seen as very niche. It's a very loyal client that we've already started to build for Colleen, and she has such a singular and unique point of view that we really wanted to amplify. But she does one collection per season. And so Q4 was just, you know, we saw as an opportunity for us to have another touch point for the brand. So we asked Colleen to develop a holiday exclusive capsule for us. We shot it in our holiday campaign. It was based on beautiful periwinkle velvet, which is funny because we started to see so much velvet on the Runway now this season, and lots of shades of purples and some updates to styles that we had sold out of from prior seasons from Colleen. And we launched it and it blew out immediately and we ended up placing reorders. So that's one during holiday that worked extremely well. At the same time in Q4, we're also working on resort. So we have a client that is going on holiday and constantly looking for newness. I would say in Q4 it's really about emotional holiday fashion. Whereas in Q2 when it's buy now, wear now for summer, she's looking for something a little bit quieter. So we tapped Christopher Esber for a holiday getaway capsule last Q4, and we shot that in a campaign in Mexico and it was extremely successful. We ended up reordering, I think four times and it's still pumping up.
- [30:38]
Sophia Zwag
Wow.
- [30:38]
Mark Rofsky
Oh, my God. And so our client loves to find product on Moda that she can't find anywhere else. We're basically working on one exclusive cap, one mono brand exclusive capsule for every month throughout the calendar year is how we're kind of mapping it out. And then three times a year, we're also working on multi brand exclusive capsules. So our big exclusive launch for the summer is what we call Club Moda. And for that we work with about 20 brands. They create one to three exclusive looks for us that are around a common theme that we, you know, we kind of share a mood board with them and you know, a loose destination of where the client's going. And that has been extremely successful for us and continues to get bigger and bigger each year. So look out for that to be dropping from us in April. Then we also do a multi brand exclusive capsule around summer event dressing. Our client is going to so many weddings and events during the summer. So we also tap about 15 brands to create one to three looks from us that we present in a guest of multi brand Capsule that launches in May and then we do something similar to that also during holiday. So we're kind of working through roadmapping the rest of the year from here on out, which is really exciting for us.
- [32:11]
Sophia Zwag
That is a huge amount of projects. Gosh. I mean, the pace of that and working on three collections at a time is kind of insane. I know that. With Paris wrapping up, has the spend been any different this year? Because I know certain types of customers as well are not maybe able to buy. I think that the economic climate as well as the situation in the Middle east has affected some of that spend. Has there been any noticeable difference so far from yourself side?
- [32:42]
Mark Rofsky
Knock on wood, Our client has been quite resilient. We, we definitely cater, especially on the trunk show model, to the top of the pyramid client in the US and we, we ended a really strong 2025 and we're already off to a really strong start in 2026 in terms of the Middle east. Of course, we do have some top clients that are based in the Middle east, so we're seeing that they're just kind of taking it day by day. Our personal shoppers are in touch with them. Of course, we can't be insensitive to everything that's happening around them and around us in the world. And it's really easy to, especially during Fashion Week, to kind of be in that fashion bubble. But there's the reality of the macro climate that we're operating within. And so it is a day by day approach. But we're lucky that our clients are extremely engaged and continue to come back to the site and to come back to their personal shoppers at Moda. And so, you know, we're cautiously optimistic, I would say, about 2026, considering the momentum in our business and also the positive trend on the runways. As I said earlier, the collections ended up being very favorable towards where our client typically goes in terms of, you know, overall aesthetic and mood. And so we think that that appetite will, will definitely continue.
- [34:24]
Sophia Zwag
Well, I think that's everything from me and Mark. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
- [34:30]
Mark Rofsky
Thank you so much for having me. It was a lot of fun.
- [34:37]
Sophia Zwag
And that's all the time that we have this week. Don't forget to give us a rating and a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you're listening to this. It really helps us out a lot. Thanks for listening,
- [34:50]
Mark Rofsky
Sam.