Photo: Courtesy of The RealReal
Watch the full conversation between Kristen Naiman and Fashionista Editor in Chief Dhani Mau on The Fashionista Network.
Kristen Naiman’s decades-long fashion career may be a “winding road” spanning editorial, styling, brand development and creative positions, but all of her professional pursuits remain grounded in her lifelong passion for style.
“I always loved style, and I think that was a huge part of my identity growing up,” Naiman told Fashionista’s Editor in Chief Dhani Mau on The Fashionista Network. (Watch it here!) “I was really engaged with clothes. I grew up in a place where I learned early that it really was a language that people used to describe themselves.”
While taking a semester off from college, Naiman got her start in the fashion world as a fashion editor’s assistant at the now-defunct Condé Nast Sports for Women. After nearly two years at the title, she became a freelance stylist and landed a gig helping the Hanson brothers evolve their image. A vintage Gap jacket Naiman upcycled and embroidered for one of their magazine covers caught the attention of Gap’s concept team, who later hired Naiman, sparking her interest in the brand side of fashion.
Naiman went on to spend nearly a decade at both Isaac Mizrahi and Kate Spade, with the latter offering her an outlet to explore her interest in film and storytelling through the its memorable #missadventure web series starring Anna Kendrick. “It was about this idea that we all are the protagonists of our stories,” Naiman explained. “It’s these small stories, and the way that the material world around us and the products we have and the stuff we wear and the things we consume, all of those things become actors.”
Now, she’s the chief creative officer at The RealReal, a pioneering luxury consignment marketplace. Long before the position was available, Naiman was inspired to send a cold LinkedIn message to The RealReal founder Julie Wainwright and President and CEO Rati Sahi Levesque expressing her admiration for the company’s mission. Serendipitously, after Naiman decided to leave Kate Spade, The RealReal got back in touch with her and the two joined forces to, as she puts it, “help people rethink the way that they shop.”
With a year now under her belt at The RealReal, Naiman is focused on centering the retailer’s vision for a more sustainable consumer culture in fashion. “To me, The RealReal is visionary, and has been visionary, and there is a vision for a future way to engage with fashion that I think feels really healthy and sustainable,” Naiman said.
In the full interview, Naiman expanded on how to treat one’s closet as an investment portfolio, as well as The RealReal’s ability to quickly identify trends based on fashion week runways and red carpets. For example, the Fall 2025 runways featured multiple product reissues that sparked immediate renewed interest in the secondhand market: Dior’s “J’adore Dior” T-shirt was up 50% week over week, McQueen’s skull scarf was up 127% week over week and Chloé’s Paddington bag was up 48% week over week. Naiman noted that The RealReal also sees immediate spikes in certain brands following creative-director shifts, and expects to see a similar result in the wake of Demna’s switch from Balenciaga to Gucci.
Naiman also shared plenty of career advice for aspiring fashion professionals, including to “follow all the threads of your interest and not worry about how they stack up.” Get more insights by watching the full interview here.
This conversation was hosted on The Fashionista Network powered by interactive media platform Fireside, where viewers get the chance to participate and speak directly with industry figures. Learn more about The Fashionista Network here.
Please note: Occasionally, we use affiliate links on our site. This in no way affects our editorial decision-making.
Source: Fashionista.com