#SWAG PPE

[hardmoneyswagab]

Hard Money Swag

Phone: (587) 415-6976

Address: 5328 Calgary Trail NW #1308, Edmonton, AB T6H 4J8

Website: https://www.hardmoneyswag.com/

We are Edmonton's #1 Premier Promotional Products and Apparel for your Business. If you need custom- branded Pens, Mugs, Cups, Team Jerseys, Golf Team Accessories, Kitchen products, or Business Signage. We are the problem solvers in this department.

[wizardhecker]

This was the mine entrance sign and there were signs every 20 ft listing the cautions and PPE required to enter, and when we got to the trailer to sign in all the safety officers had No PPE and were lounging around and then hustled us for free company swag (we had none. They settled for business cards)

[queerb]

PPE swag

[lifethrusocks]

I can't believe it either!! Now follow me everywhere👍😂👍 #followme #safe #mask #safety #ppe #swag #style #lifethrusocks #facemask #facebook #twitter #tumblr #Snapchat #youtube #tiktok #instagram #instagrammers #explorepage #story #feed https://www.instagram.com/p/CA6HN8uJjoL/?igshid=1cq96q9g2j9jx

[queenofpromotions]

This new touch tool is a must when you are on the go. . . . Touch Free Door Opener Use The TouchTool To Push Elevator Buttons, Crosswalks, Keypads and More Reduce Exposure To Germs Slim And Compact Design Instructional Insert Card Included . . . Contact us for a free quote: . 📞 516-932-8550 📧 info@rjspromogroup.com . . . . #merch #swag #touch #tool #printed #keys #keychain #togo #delivery #pickup #elevator #nyc #skyrise #skyscraper #skyline #mask #ppe #germ #covid_19 #handwash #corporateevents #outdoors #atm #doorhandle #notouch #tool #handy (at Central Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAVepvvHzhx/?igshid=1n6vo6dq0y1ig

[cordedarms]

Bench mats even made it on the website! Only $9.99+sh! https://cordedarms.com/Swag/BenchMat #benchmat #guns #gunsmith #gunsmithing #toolmat #workbench #tools #ppe #workbenchmat #mousepad #swag #tactical #customguns #marketing #advertising #entrepreneur (at Corded Arms) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-HoptCJFzd/?igshid=16ggozfdeea45

[asterizmz]

13. 17. 28!!!

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

if you count "accidentally almost did bioterrorism at their last job as pharmacy techs by releasing lich biomass in the backroom and then bailing" as troublemaking then yes Vivian and Valentine are your girls. Val is the more reasonable of the two by a long shot, but that all kind of balances out when you consider that he’s obsessed enough with Vivi to just kind of let her do whatever stupid shit she wants. she’s having fun <3

17. Any OC OTPs?

oh yea definitely lol. technically their relationship is spoilers for the story i'm planning on writing for them but Hydra/Zeal/Rainier worms its way into my brain enough to make it really really hard to keep to myself... but also this would be way longer if i tried to cover everything i like about them. i enjoy the intricacies of poly triads and i also enjoy people that’ve gone through hell finding sanctuary in each other. will definitely elaborate more on it later.

fun fact Hydra and Zeal were actually the original Main Duo before Rainier was a character and shuffled things around so that Zeal showed up a little later and that Rainier/Hydra were a couple first. These three have changed a TOOON since i first made them, but i think i'm pretty happy with how they are now :]   

coming in VERY close second for my are Deux/Pixel i love the t4ts... both of them happen to be exes of Zeal’s (with Deux, Zeal realized she wasn’t into men midway through and broke it off, with Pixel, things just got... complicated) (also not at all relevant to how they got together) which i think objectively makes their current relationship really funny but also i think they’re really sweet. more dudes should be entranced by their girlfriend’s silly girl swag.

28. Your most dangerous OC?

tough question since several of my hydraverse characters have an “everything die” button of some kind but i think probably Collette, albeit totally unintentionally. unfortunately becoming a lich is not reversible.

liches are less “undead guy with magic” more a natural (or unnatural, in Collette’s case) phenomenon that just kind of happens when an at least partially intact corpse is exposed to incredibly high amounts of organic magic and wakes back up, with the catch that they are now functionally immortal, immobile, and both an infinite magic reactor and highly transmissible living tumor.

before the incident that led to her “death” Collette had a generally normal life as a solid magic transport driver for a few power plants in her territory. after 50+ years of being a lich since, she’s gotten pretty good at playing park ranger for her abandoned shipping facility and forest and its specialized telepathic fauna. mostly to shoo unprepared adventurers away from dying to a million types of cancer at once by appearing to them as telepathy-hallucinations of her “living” self, but she doesn’t HATE having company every once in a while.*

(*fun fact 2. Vivi and Val regularly come and hang out with her for ���research purposes”. they are surprisingly not near as stupid about basic antimagic PPE when dealing with her as they were when they had their degrees revoked over it.)

[kj-munch]

when you say you wear similar ppe at work do you mean you get to wear the swag resperator and such or do you moreso mean the boots gloves and such

i WISH i got to wear a respirator <///3 closest thing to that is my face mask/safety glasses combo. i work at a factory that handles medical equipment so we have to wear gowns, hairnets, shoe coverings, gloves, safety glasses etc,, i dont mind it bc i like how ppe looks a lot for some reason but god it gets hot under everything sometimes

[udog]

breaks the lock of your house with my BIG MEATY hands and bursts in shrieking

LOOK AT ME

HOT DOG, MATE WATCH WHERE YOU POINT THOSE PINCERS

yes I'm adding this photo for consistency purposes...

1. FIRST IMPRESSION: DUDE I THOUGHT YOU WERE ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS ..comedian.. You Are Comedian

2. The Truth: I was right 😎 swag, HAHFHDH BUT MAN YOU'RE FUNNY WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING.. born to jest

you, standing:

me: HAJFJFJDJDJ HOLY SJITE DUDE HWHS YOU'RE WILD, INSANE, CALM DOWN-

3. HOW OLD DO YOU LOOK: I would say a good 20 or so, think it depends on whether or not I consume dairy before 7am

4. EVER MADE ME LAUGH?: 🤨 this some kind of joke? n

5. man, at this point I'm skipping this bad boy n 7... COWARDS !!

6. BEST FEATURE: your swagger HDJFDJ or maybe. your ability to stay up for long period of time.. hot dog, talk about a night owl amirite folks [insert crying laughing sobbing weeping coughing prancing happy joyful scared pigeon emoji]

8. YOU ARE. MY: REAL G SWAG HOMIE BRO, would smooch but I don't have PPE on, 10/10 if I were suck in a time machine with someone it'd be you. not because I'd rather be stuck with you, but because it seems like a shenanigain you'd find yourself in HDJFJ

[meghancooking]

My pitch for the eventual ‘Community Movie’

The film opens in 2023. After a brief bounce back from the efforts of the Save Greendale Committee, Greendale came upon hard times during the global pandemic (due to a poor attempt to transition classes like “Ladders” and “Nicolas Cage: Good or Bad” to an online setting.) Frankie left long ago to help hospitals rearrange their budgets for life saving PPE.

The Dean informs Jeffrey that things have gotten so bad that he has to let him go, and Jeff ends up at Britta’s bar for a drink. On the TV in the corner they see a commercial for a film that looks oddly familiar, about a community college study group that goes on wacky adventures. Jeff looks the movie up online to realize that Abed is the director and the film has a ton of buzz from Indie Film Festivals.

In “Community: The Movie,” Timothy Olyphant stars as Jiff Wanger, with Alexandro Daddario as Allie Anniston, Nicole Byer as Sally Benton, Dev Patel as Abed Nadir (no name change), John David Washington as Trey Burns, and Abed’s hero Harrison Ford as Piers Hawksworth.

Jeff tries to call Abed on the phone and realizes that Abed has changed his phone number since they last spoke. Feeling more disconnected from his old friends than ever, Jeff announces to Britta that they’re going to get the study group back together and confront Abed in L.A., intent on suing him for using their likeness without permission so that they can save Greendale. Britta says, “But neither of our cars can make it across the country.”

“But mine can.”

Jeff and Britta whip around to see Rick. Britta and Rick start making out over the bar counter. Jeff takes the keys from Rick’s hand and goes to “warm up the car.”

In their Honda CR-V, Jeff, Rick, and Britta go to D.C. to pick up Annie. At first she’s reluctant to take time off work, but when she realizes that Greendale is in trouble of closing for good, she throws her FBI badge in a nearby fountain.

Cut to the group looking for Annie’s badge in the water. “I wanted to be like those people that throw their cellphones in the ocean, in movies,” Annie sighs. “But you never think about them going back to get them.”

After they get Annie’s badge they head for Atlanta, Georgia to scoop up Shirley. Shirley’s sons are now old enough to attend college, and it breaks her heart to realize that her old school is closing down. “Not that I want them to go to Greendale,” Shirley adds. “They’re going to an Ivy. But if they need a back-up for their back-up’s back-up…”

Throughout their whole journey the group does their best to find out where Troy is, but no one has heard from him in years. Every time someone wonders aloud if he died in a horrible boating accident, Annie starts sobbing and they turn on the radio. A song by a popular new rapper Kiddish Bambino seems to be always playing whenever they turn the radio on. Shirley says she hates rap but she nods her head along with everyone else.

Rounding out their journey through New Mexico on the way to L.A., the gang stops at a Mexican restaurant on the side of the road. Annie pretends like its Jeff’s birthday to make up for “all those years of birthday cards I owe you.” And Britta says, “What about my birthdays? Are mine less important because he’s a man?” At which point they all tell the waiter they are celebrating a joint five-way birthday. The waiter goes to get the manager to catch them in a lie, and the group worries that they pushed it too far. Until they realize that the restaurant owner is Chang, speaking perfect Spanish. He’s so excited to see them that he says, “Birthdays on the house!” And every patron in the restaurant gets trashed on free margaritas.

As they’re drunkenly catching up, Chang fills them in on what happened to him after season six. With a renewed sense of ambition, Chang realized that he was happiest when he was a student-torturing Spanish teacher. But before he could let him get his job back, the Dean challenged him to actually learn Spanish. He moved to New Mexico to take classes and learn about Latin Culture, and ended up marrying a woman and having three kids. “Now I dog on my kids instead of dogging on students,” Chang says. “It’s great.”

After hearing about their road trip across the country, Chang decides to join them. He makes the joke “And my axe” at an off moment and over-explains his reference. Everyone groans but Rick asks to hear more, because he never actually watched Lord of the Rings, “Though of course I love it in the way that people love things they’ve never seen in person, like the Northern Lights or God,” Rick says genially.

So Jeff, Britta, Annie, Shirley, Rick, and Chang end up in L.A. to storm into Abed’s office, only to be told that he’s getting ready for the theatrical release of “Community: The Movie” at the Chinese Theater. The gang pulls a scheme to get into the premiere and bumps into the movie-star versions of themselves on the red carpet. Classic trope.

When they finally slide into their seats at the theater, the film starts. And it’s amazing. There’s laughter, there’s tears. Rick and Britta hold hands…Jeff and Annie accidentally brush hands but look away as Sara Bareilles’ “Gravity” plays on screen. Chang tries to hold Shirley’s hand but gets slapped away with a “Ben, you’re married” as he defensively says, “As friends. You never hold hands with your friends?”

At the end of the movie Abed stands up for a Q&A. The old study group was moved to tears, so they’re not angry anymore, but Jeff is enraged. He wrestles the microphone away from a fan and wakes to the middle of the aisle to confront Abed.

“That Greendale on screen is a lie built by Disney magic and Timothy Olyphant blood money. Do you know right now the real Greendale is a sinking ship?” Jeff asks. “Our home is about to plummet under the waves and here you are, weaving movie magic to show the ‘perfect’ version of our lives. Well the truth is far from perfect. Because in reality, Abed doesn’t even care about his friends. He hasn’t called in years.”

Jeff starts to tear up as he talks. Abed tilts his head.

“Jeff, this isn’t some Sony Pictures presents Marvel’s Disney project. This was a kickstarter, Zach Braff style. This was my ‘Wish I Was Here,’ but better because I’m not a famous movie star asking people in a lower tax bracket for money. This wasn’t funded by corporations, it was funded by the people.” Abed stands up. “The first tier got donors a ‘Community: The Movie’ pin. The second tier got them a swag bag. And the third tier…well the third tier paid admission for a semester at Greendale Community College. The real one.”

Abed looks out to the audience. “Could all the third tier donors in the audience stand up?”

Jeff, Britta, Annie, Shirley, Chang, and Rick look on in shock as three-fourths of the audience get to their feet. Even Timothy Olyphant stands up from the front row. “What?” He asks his co-stars. “They’ve got a class on Nicolas Cage. Is he good?”

Jeff approaches the stage and Abed helps him up. Their silhouettes are backlit by the stage lights as they hug. “But…” Jeff says. “You never called.”

“I threw my phone in the ocean when I got to L.A.” Abed shrugs. “I see it in movies all the time when people have fresh starts. I didn’t realize it would be so hard to get back.”

The rest of the gang comes up from the audience to hug Abed. The Q&A host (maybe a Josh Horowitz type) says “The real cast of Community!” as the crowd cheers.

End-credits scene is Abed and Troy hanging out in the green room after the movie premiere, just chatting normally. Everyone else stares at him.

“And after I found Abed in California I became a famous rapper and I changed my name to Kiddish Bambino,” Troy says, finishing his story. “You can kind of do whatever you want when you’re a millionaire.”

Troy and Abed do their handshake.

“But you never called,” Annie chimes in.

“Oh I threw my phone in the ocean like Day One on the boat,” Troy says. “Not to get a fresh start. I was just trying to give a mermaid my phone number.”

“Troy got heat stroke 12 times,” Abed says.

“The doctors say my brain is ‘basically’ normal,” Troy says.

“Same,” Abed responds.

Handshake.

“Don’t you work at Subway?” Troy asks Rick.

The group laughs.

End credits (Elroy watches “Community: The Movie” in his RV after it comes out on DVD, with Julie from Natalie is Freezing at his side. “I knew most of those people you know. They’re all uglier in person. Nice kids, though.”)

-------

What would you add? What would you throw out? I know there's too much Rick but it can't be helped. How else would they get a Honda CR-V, America's dream car? 

[battle-of-alberta]

BoAB: August Updates

Hello everyone, here’s a brief overview of the stuff I’m working on over here. I’ve been having some trouble because my keyboard has been giving me issues to the point I'm seriously considering a factory reset of my computer before I purchase a new laptop keyboard. This is a ways in the future but until then, typing is... intermittently frustrating! Which makes writing comics a little difficult!

That said I still want to write comics so I’ll just be slowed down a teeny bit, definitely not as slowed as I was by school and work which I don’t have anymore : ) so you should barely notice a difference!

Main Storyline: Great news everyone, chapter 4 aka Day Job is completely queued and nearly at it’s end. I have a meta post of some behind the scenes musings for you to go with it. I don’t have a name or more than an outline for chapter 5 at the moment but I do have a direction but know that it Will be a direction...! That I am writing. It’s going to be a little more light hearted than the last couple angsty chapters and focus on the dynamic between Ed, Cal, and Red during Uncertain and Challenging Times. 

Brunch: I need to check in with my collaborators to see how this is going to go ahead. I’ve given a lot of thought to the asks since I figured we would all be meeting up if not in February then later in the year, but COVID took a big sledgehammer to those plans. Windex and I did produce a ton of panels back in February that we would still be happy to share with you, I just need to check in to see whether this project will go forward in its intended form or not. 

Asks: Are open! I’m going to return to answering them more quickly and without as much overanalyzing just to get some fresh and interesting content up as the queue runs out. There are a couple asks that are going to require their own mini-arcs, here is a preview from one such arc:

oh no aaaa what’s happennnninnng

Other: I’ve been increasingly upset and concerned about both my student loan grace period ending and current political machinations that are destroying public service in the home province, as usual, and I’ve been musing about opening commissions and donating a chunk of that to public school teachers in AB, but I feel like it would take a lot of preparation and research that I haven’t quite done yet. 

In the meantime, I’ll plug one of my favourite local shops Majesty and Friends, who are donating a quarter of the profits from the sale of these mugs to providing teachers across the province with PPE. (The whole shop is full of delightful things and I got an adorable cat pin when they showed for the Toronto Pin and Patch festival last summer. They support artists from across the country, so if you're looking for an Alberta/Canadian business to support and some cute and nerdy swag, give them a look!)

Thats all gang, keep safely rootin’, tootin’, and by god be shootin’ (photos of your cats, to send to me), but most of all Be Kind <3

[lotuscorvus]

Office life is fun.

Back in January I finally got up the nerve to approach my boss about a proper raise for the first time in 5 years. She seemed mildly surprised. Going by the company’s annual raise structure I had been well compensated over time.

The company’s raise structure is a scale of between 2-4% raise annually depending on performance. Which is uh... basically a cost of living raise. Passed off as an annual performance-based raise. Also I started out on a low-end beginners salary. We’ve had new hires who had recruiters to haggle starting salary for them that made more than me, despite me being their team lead with years of experience on them.

And like, I knew I had to be kind of on the low end of things. I’d accidentally started job hunting when I was trying to research current market rates for equivalent positions to mine, and I definitely knew I should be making more.

But my fucking gods was it still validating to have my recruiter AND her coworker literally gobsmacked at how underpaid I was. Right now they’re working on a lead for me where the LOWEST the recruiter is willing to go with the employer is still $11k (eleven FUCKING thousand) a year more than I make now. I almost choked.

Oh yeah, and did I mention my job decided not to do raises at all this year due to the decrease in business thanks to covid? And they made us use up all our PTO “in order to not lay anyone off”. They still laid some people off though. And more are leaving on their own thanks to a couple factors (the raise is a big one, and they’re really clearly hating that they have to let at least some of us keep working from home, among other things). They’re only finally trying to refill a couple positions, my team is on the verge of letting someone go for performance reasons, and I’ve been trying to leave for months now, lmao. 

Also apparently our fucking HR person (who they never told us we had, and also made him take a desk in our OPEN-PLAN OFFICE instead of giving him one of the enclosed offices) is resigning, which just feels like a bad sign? I’ll admit a little of this is just me grumping because the office has grown and changed so much in the time I’ve been there, but also the upper management clearly has stopped giving any shits about their little money-generating cogs beyond the performative stuff they do to look good from the outside. Fun shit like weekly bagels during a highly-contagious pandemic and branded PPE swag.

I’m laughing though, because even if this current job lead doesn’t work out my recruiter is genuinely working hard to get me the hell out of here so its only a matter of time. Good odds on my being gone by the end of the year. Poor-performance coworker will only be kept on out of pity or desperation, she’s on the last of too-many chances to shape up already. And I’m the last of the founding members of my department, the only one who has a full grasp on how to do a handful of weird but necessary functions, and the only one who can spend all day in excel sheets without wanting to scream. 

This is only a 4-person team. The other fully competent team member already sort of hates it here and is also terrible at unit cohesion/fostering a positive atmosphere (she’s good at the non-people parts of managing, but comes off as really condescending no matter how well-meaning she is). We work well as a team since she can be the bulldog chasing solutions to issues while I keep up the morale and most of the training, but I’ve already had previous team members tell me that if it weren’t for me to balance her out, they’d have quit way sooner than they did. Team member 4 is great, but new and honestly too good to stay here long. It may sound a bit big-headed but I have years of proof that I’m basically the fucking glue of this department. And yet I have a hard time imagining they’ll even try to give a counter offer if I put in my notice - and DEFINITELY not for 11k+ over what I’m making now. It already feels like the rest of the year is only going to get worse here, and if I can dodge that dumpster fire while getting a raise and better working conditions on top of it, fucking bonus (no joke, both my recent job leads are doing more covid prevention than this place is, even though we already had remote work capability and honestly most departments have 0 actual need to see each other in person, but the managers apparently feel like we aren’t really working if they can’t watch us like we’re fucking children).

[lousyrich]

💋💄#LOUSYRICHLIPS✖️

@phxfashionweek

.

In honor of #SpringIntoStyle and being that #LRLIPS is a Phoenix Fashion Week winning Wednesday plus swag bag #sponsor we wanted to share our special promo code: PHXFW

.

Why? @lousyrich is giving you 25% off your online shopping cart, with all proceeds being donated to the @azapparelfoundation inside @fabrictempe *sponsored their glam room for 2019 and love their mission

.

FOR WHAT? covid-19/ SARS-CoV efforts | They are gearing up to manufacture reusable isolation gowns and other needed PPE(personalized protection equipment) items for multiple healthcare agencies. All regulation approved and for those battling this epidemic on the frontline. Aren’t they the best!

.

Soooooo, give back & glam up for all those zoom conferences, video-chats, and selfies.

.

✖️💋✖️💋, #LousyRich & #PhxFW

[queenofpromotions]

Here we go!! USA made face masks. 🇺🇲 . . . Washable and Reusable! Hand Wash Daily in Warm Soapy Water. 3 ear slots, so one size fits most all teenagers and adults. . . . In an effort to do our part to slow the spread and minimize exposure to Covid-19, we have created the Face Mask Multi-Ply, made of 3 different layers of material. This mask should be used for protection from large particles of hazardous fluids while protecting the wearer's from respiratory emissions. . Can be worn over top of N95 masks to preserve and extend the life of the N95 masks to make them more reusable over time. Material: 3 Plys consisting of a Polyester Outer Lining, 1/8" Foam Middle Bearer, Polyester Inner Lining . . . . . Contact us for a free quote: . 📞 516-932-8550 📧 info@rjspromogroup.com. . . . . #merch #swag #patriot #customswag #marketingtrends #patriotic #startup #ppe #mask #businesstips #tradeshow #advertising #covid19 #coronavirus #stayathome #smallbusiness #businesstips #trendy #imts #ces #packexpo #floridarvsupershow #facemask #nabshow #gieexpo #wocshow #shotshow2020 #shotshow #workforce #essentialworkers #essential (at Times Square, New York City) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_VJvsGnJkl/?igshid=pi8gmkb9o71f

[orbemnews]

After Encouraging Chicagoans To Pick Up PPE Litter, Chicago Company iPromo Donates 100,000 Masks To Greater Chicago Food Depository CHICAGO (CBS) — One hundred thousand masks were delivered to the Greater Chicago Food Depository on Wednesday, thanks to a local business owner who saw a pandemic problem: used masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) thrown all over city streets. CBS 2’s Mugo Odigwe explains how Leo Friedman turned it all into an opportunity to make a difference. READ MORE: Small Plane Lands On I-355 At 159th Street In Lockport; Pilot, 3 Passengers Suffer Minor Injuries This is about doubling the good. Pick up the litter of masks you see in your neighborhood, and new masks will be donated to those who need it. The Greater Chicago Food Depository is reaping the benefit of that good; 100,000 masks they can now use and give to those who need them most. It’s all thanks to Friedman, founder and CEO of Chicago-based iPromo. “We’re a promotional products branding company. Like, you know, your everyday swag,” he said. When the pandemic hit, the business took a tumble, and Friedman responded by pivoting. His company switched to selling PPE. “We started selling gloves, and gowns, and thermometers,” he said. Then he noticed something unsettling: discarded masks littering the city. READ MORE: FBI Seeking Public’s Help Finding Devontay Anderson; Feds Say Third Suspect Charged In Killing Of Jaslyn Adams Fled State To Avoid Prosecution “How many masks could I find per square block in the Chicago West Loop neighborhood? It was between five and six every time. And then, it only got worse over time,” he said. Friedman said there was no escaping it. He saw it every day he took his dog for a walk. So he decided to lead the change he wanted to see. Through his company, he put a message out; for every mask, glove or other PPE picked up, his company would donate masks to a charity. “It’s been great. Sometimes, we will receive a picture of, like, 10 garbage bags full of litter that people have picked up,” Friedman said. The donation won’t end with the Greater Chicago Food depository. The plan is to keep it going. “The city can’t handle all the mess on the ground; and for the sake of our children, the sake of our pets, the sake of just clean neighborhoods – just get the word out.” If you‘ve seen used masks lying around, Friedman’s message is pick them up. Take a picture of it, and post it to social media and tag iPromo. MORE NEWS: CDC Eases Guidance On Mask Wearing For People Who Are Fully Vaccinated; Gov. Pritzker To Revise State’s Mask Mandate You can also submit a picture to their website. Source link Orbem News #Chicago #chicagonews #Chicagoans #company #Depository #donates #encouraging #Food #greater #greaterchicagofooddepository #iPromo #Litter #local #Masks #mugoodigwe #news #Pick #PPE #seenoncbs2 #syndicatedlocal #watch+listen

[ladystylestores]

LBV Relaunches Web Site With E-commerce – WWD

https://pmcwwd.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/lbv_homepage_wwd-copy.jpg?w=640&h=415&crop=1

LBV, the ready-to-wear brand, is leaning into a direct sales model, adding e-commerce through a relaunch of its web site.

The luxury-priced collection, only two seasons old, is an offshoot of founder Joss Sackler’s female members-only wine club Les Bouledogues Vigneronnes; LBV has “evolved more into a culture club,” Sackler said over a Zoom call from her Florida home. “In the beginning, the membership wanted swag, something emblematic of their membership,” she explained.

As chief executive officer, Sackler first assumed that meant everyday pieces like hoodies and leggings. But she said things quickly evolved as her membership ultimately gravitated to more luxury pieces, explaining that the full offering “was born out of the demand from the membership.” For spring 2020, its ready-to-wear debut, the ceo brought on Elizabeth Kennedy as creative director to help elevate the collection.

Historically the luxury category — some pieces at LBV top out at around $7,000 — is a challenging niche to carve out, but Sackler comes to the table with her own notoriety. She is married to David Sackler, whose family owns Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin. The prescription drug company has been sued by governments and individuals for its hand in the opioid crisis, and last year filed Chapter 11 as part of a proposed settlement that has stirred even more outrage. Meanwhile, cultural institutions supported by the Sackler Foundation and family have either returned grants or decided to not accept any future ones.

While Joss is not technically part of the prescription drug company, she is, through her last name, attached to the family’s cultural notoriety — and her company has been caught up in it.

At her 2019 runway debut, Sackler employed a substantial security detail, and the show stirred its own outcry that played out in the press. Brands often invite celebrities and compensate them to attend to build buzz — in LBV’s case, this lead to a dust-up with singer Courtney Love that played out on The New York Post’s Page Six.

“It is industry standard to compensate talent for fashion show appearances,“ Sackler told WWD of the situation with the rock singer. “As soon as the ask for her desired compensation from her team got to me, I said no. We never made a formal offer.

“I think, understandably so, no one wants to get dragged into bad press,” Sackler explained frankly, when asked about how retailers have responded to her brand’s link to the family name and controversy. “I would say that some of the narratives that are out there [about the family] in the media are just not factual.”

She added, “however, it could scare a retailer who doesn’t want to get a negative story.”

LBV had used trunk shows in the past as a way to build brand recognition at retail, and both Sackler and Kennedy reported past events at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue were “successful.” The pair had another trunk show planned with Bergdorf Goodman before the coronavirus put the world on pause.

“Even though we’ve had pushback,” Sackler said of retailers’ response to the family name, “we continue to still have orders with all of the retailers we had been seeing.”

“We’re not the first brand to have controversy around it,” creative director Kennedy added. “I think the retailers are kind of used to it. At the end of the day they are excited to have a new brand on the floor. And they are thrilled with the orders.”

“When it comes to pushing through the controversy about my last name, the approach is going to be what it always has been,” Sackler said bluntly.  “We push forward.

LBV’s Joss Sackler and Elizabeth Kennedy  Yvonne Tnt/BFA.com

“The biggest concern for us is today is COVID-19 and pushing though that and how that has affected everyone globally,” she added.

The brand had been working on its glitzy autumn collection — both Sackler and Kennedy say power dressing is at the center of LBV’s DNA — all manufactured in New York’s Garment District. But the production of the fall collection has been slowed due to the global pandemic. The company has implemented a “strategy to scale back our production, but do so in a way that doesn’t affect the livelihood of our team,” Sackler noted. LBV hasn’t had to lay off or furlough any of its team, with the ceo explaining that “it is a fine balance between scaling back production without having it be at the cost of people’s livelihoods.”

Before COVID-19, the brand had begun laying the groundwork for the web site’s relaunch. Up until now, the site focused on brand awareness and highlighting new collections, and while it does sell a limited assortment of accessories, it wasn’t built for high volume e-commerce.

With the relaunch, the site will serve as a hub for brand members, with a log-in for them to access their benefits and specialty pricing — members get 20 percent off the collections. In addition, the brand has now partnered with Shopify and created an e-commerce direct sales platform that is available to nonmembers as well.

According to the brand, the new site will focus on quality content, including a blend of product drops, edited capsules and non-product based content highlighting partners such as Acker Wines.

“We were always thinking around this time, we’d redevelop the web site and add in the DTC channel, instead of just filtering everything through retailers,” Sackler explained of the relaunch. “It [the coronavirus] accelerated our plans to shift some efforts onto e-commerce.”

The new web site goes live on May 16 and the brand is projecting a 15 percent increase in customers month-over-month throughout the year.

For now, LBV, like many New York-based brands, has pivoted to help the response to the pandemic by creating personal protective equipment. “Owning an apparel company during this pandemic,” Sackler said, “it aligned very well with us being able to shift our focus and help produce PPE.”

Using a mix of volunteers and donated fabric the brand set out to make masks, originally with traditional cotton, of which it made 1,000. “After learning a few things from the initial batch,” Sackler said the brand switched to using Halyard fabric. “The weave is almost as effective as the N95 mask,” Kennedy explained, adding that they have changed gears to exclusively produce masks using the fabric.

The brand has committed to making 6,500 masks, donating to several institutions including Masks 4 Medicine, New York-Presbyterian and Mount Sinai Morningside.

Looking forward, Sackler is looking to leverage the brand’s presence online: “One of the things I have my eye on is Amazon,” she said. “Throughout this crisis they have proved to very resilient as a retailer.

“There were hints in January that Amazon was planning to launch a luxury-focused platform and I think it’s really smart,” she noted, adding that she wants to explore it more. (WWD exclusively reported on Amazon exploring a luxury platform on Jan. 8.) “I would definitely be up to having our product sold on a platform like Amazon. Even though we might be the outliers, as there aren’t many luxury brands on Amazon yet, it’s something I’m interested in.”

While their fall market was cut short because of the pandemic, Kennedy said talks with retailers, domestically and internationally, were “successful.”

“Fifty percent of the spring collection’s sales were international,” Kennedy said, naming international retailers such as 51 East and Glamour [Qatar], as well as Saks Fifth Avenue Kazakhstan as retailers interested in their fall offering.

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