How I Became… An Omnichannel Fashion CRM Director

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Following a “fascination with clothing construction, branding and storytelling”, Jackie Wong began her career in fashion in New York shortly after graduating from Stony Brook University with a degree in Environmental Studies and a concentration in Economics and Business Management.

“My first step into fashion was in retail, working in a store,” he told BoF during the latest Building a Career in Fashion live event. “Nothing can prepare you for how to react when there’s a line of ten people on a busy Friday and you’re trying to make sure you’re providing the right service, the customer has a great experience, and you’re bending the clothes, while there is someone talking to you in your earphones.

He landed a marketing role at Burberry before working as a customer relationship management (CRM) analyst at Christian Dior. He left Dior as head of CRM – a role he held at Moncler in 2016. He has since transitioned to omnichannel and currently works as an omnichannel CRM director in luxury fashion. Now, BoF is sharing key insights from Wong’s interview on building a career in fashion.

For the full interview, watch our LinkedIn Live, Building a career in fashion with Jackie Wong.

What attracted you to a career in fashion?

If you look at my background and what I studied, there wasn’t a lot of fashion there. Lots of biology, microbiology, chemistry — lots of data, and days and nights in the lab. But coming back to New York, I wanted to find a way to mix [in] things I loved, like fashion and being creative. My family grew up in the apparel industry – I’ve always been fascinated with clothing construction, branding and storytelling – so I wanted to find a way to get into the industry.

You have to love the fashion world to be part of it. My first steps in fashion were in retail, working in a store. Nothing can prepare you for how to react when there’s a line of ten people on a busy Friday and you’re trying to make sure you’re providing the right service, the customer has a great experience, and you’re folding the clothes , while someone is talking to you in your headphones. There’s nothing that can really teach you that except doing it.

How did you leverage your STEM degree to pursue a career in fashion marketing?

I think the parallel in environmental science is that you look at a lot of hard facts, which are really related to the psychology of human behavior. And CRM – what I do and have done in my career – is where we look at the hard data. We were really able to explain why a consumer buys or doesn’t buy something, or behaves in a certain way. I think it’s really [about] understand that there is an art and a science.

How do you reconcile science and creativity in fashion?

I don’t think you necessarily need to have that perfect balance. In my first role in data, I remember staying late at the office and staring at the screen thinking, “Why is this so complicated? But now we have so many resources – there’s a tutorial on every Excel formula you’ll ever need. These are skills you can improve. Often, creativity has no logic – there’s a lot of emotion in it, and a data-driven mindset is the opposite. So it’s about being able to understand the value of both.

Often, creativity has no logic – there’s a lot of emotion in it, and a data-driven mindset is the opposite. So it’s about being able to understand the value of both.

[Burberry] was one of the first brands to partner with Salesforce, which is a CRM platform that I still use today. I realized that not many people knew CRM well and there wasn’t a lot of know-how – that really appealed to me.

What is your advice to stand out and make an impression?

You have to assume that your peers haven’t spent the time going through everything because it’s not their expertise. CRM is a marketing tool. Marketing is about communicating with the consumer. So really understanding where CRM fits into the big picture – that’s how you’ll get listening ears and people will really start listening.

What do you think is the best way to network in the fashion world?

I think wherever you are, meet people in other ministries. If you send a message and you’re very honest about it: “I’m trying to find out more about it” or “I’m curious about this industry, this role, this part of the business most people are likely to answer.

Give yourself a goal, like “I want to talk to three people today, ask them who they are, what they do,” because you never know who you’re going to run into.

I subscribe to all emails from all brands. I subscribe to every text. I scan each QR code. I just want to know what people are doing and what innovations are happening.

I remember the greatest highlight [of my early career] It was my first time in London with Burberry: I really felt like I was in such a special place and time, being an American in Europe for the first time. Some former colleagues are still my friends to this day – so I think outside of the career, being able to make good friends along the way will be one of my strongest points as a young professional.

How do you stay up to date with the latest industry developments?

I subscribe to all emails from all brands. I subscribe to every text. I scan each QR code. I click on every Instagram ad. I just want to know what people are doing and what innovations are happening.

Another thing that is really valuable to me is having a network of like-minded CRM individuals in different industries – not just fashion. But also within fashion, having a network of people to discuss these topics with, both from a consumer perspective and from a fashion industry perspective. I think it’s important to ask a lot of questions.

What motivated your different career paths?

For Christian Dior, it was the era of Raf Simons, a complete change in aesthetics. I think Moncler at the time was also in a turn where it was a fairly quiet brand in the United States. But I was always looking for a brand that was best in class at what it did, and that’s what really got me excited – knowing that a brand has a direction.

What are some of the skills you look for when hiring someone in a CRM role?

I think it takes business acumen. What I’m generally looking for is to understand how this person thinks, asks questions and solves problems. Often there is no right answer, but someone who is very detail oriented.

Then for the other part of CRM – the customer engagement side. It’s about being able to understand what the consumer wants, using data to determine which experiences, activations, campaigns, will attract a consumer. But I let my team really strive in what they’re good at and I’m just there to push a little bit.

What advice would you give to someone looking to break into fashion?

I would say be very good at your craft. I think it’s really about being ready to work, absorbing as much information as possible, and really working on your skills.

For me, moving to different companies or brands, the things that I have retained are the skills that I have built on my own. If I hadn’t spent hours staring at a screen in the beginning [career]I couldn’t identify some things.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.