Business of Fall Fashion 2015

stuff - women?”
Interestingly enough, Sood has attended investor
meetings where the men ask, ‘Do women really buy
jewelry?’ which was rather astounding to her.. “This
explains that the ‘For Silicon Valley, by Silicon Valley’
model is going to go by the way of the Dodo bird. You
have to understand the consumer that’s purchasing
your product. I’m kind of a neophyte that’s landed in
Silicon Valley land,” she says. CUFF has defied all the
odds to get to where she is. A lot of investors in Silicon
Valley are “a bit myopic about what’s the next Uber
for smart jewelry vs. what do people actually want to
buy? It takes an open mind, and they oftentimes want
formulas to replicate past successes / models,” she
shares. And although it took hours upon hours and
countless meetings to convince the investors and to get
them to understand the profit within the multi-billion
dollar jewelry industry, Sood has overcome it and CUFF
has taken flight.
Can we cut this sentence and the next paragraph? It’s
not really necessary this far into the article, and it isn’t
that groundbreaking of a way to start. I would mention
the two largest manufacturers, suppliers, distributors
statistic somewhere at the very beginning or at the very
end instead.
. Two of our biggest partners are two of the largest
manufacturers, suppliers, and distributors in the world.
CUFF has teamed up with Richline, a subsidiary of
Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway that deals with high
end jewelry for stores such as Macy’s, Nordstrom, QVS,
and Tiffany’s. Since Richline has such extensive retail
partners that provide unique ways to customize the
jewelry she and her design team create, a vast amount
of new opportunities await for CUFF.. “It’s an exciting
industry to be in. The electronics go in and out of an
ever-expanding assortment of jewelry. Kate Spade,
Mont Blanc, and Diesel (just to name a few) want to
put CuffLinc into their pieces. And all the pieces can
talk together - creating a CUFF network. That’s very
powerful,” she says.
As far as future developments with CUFF, there will be
gesture control sensors where the Bluetooth technology can turn on / off house lights upon entering / leaving, turn on music at
the touch of the wrist or pendant, or alert a break- in. Health and fitness will also be implemented into the technology shortly
.Sood recently signed a deal with Comcast Xfinity Home that will integrate CUFF with other ‘smart home’ products.
“Of all the ways a product like ours can interact in the way the internet continues to evolve, I want to continue to make beautiful
pieces that people treasure,” she says. Sood is certainly on the pulse of what’s both fashionable and tech savvy. She’s developed
CUFF at a time when there’s an insatiable appetite for fashion tech; the possibilities are innumerable.
“Jewelry as smart as it is beautiful.”
Pre-order your CUFF today to be shipped Fall 2015 at https://cuff.io/.
36 | Business of Fall Fashion Issue | Fashion Xchange Magazine