Eileen Fisher Uses Values to Transform Product Cycle

Great things can happen when you take people in separate buildings and bring them together.

That's what Liz Wisler, Vice President of Product Development for Eileen Fisher, shared with me during my trip to their design studio in New York City.

What I love about my interview with her above is that we take a deep dive into the question: What does it mean to live a value? And when you let values lead, how do ythey change your daily rituals? Eileen Fisher decided to change one fundamental piece of their product development cycle to more deeply align with their core value: CONNECTION.

In the old system, the creative team worked in their NYC-based design studio, while those working on turning designs into samples were based at Eileen Fisher headquarters in Irvington-New York.

The process created a stressful time crunch: every season more than 600 styles would be passed between teams in a 3-day meeting, and would then very quickly need to be turned into samples.

In the new system, a production team is located right in the design studio, allowing the creative team to pass the designs as they are ready.

Bringing the teams together under the same roof has created a more seamless process, one that is easier for Eileen Fisher and vendors alike.

Listen to Liz Wisler describe how more fully embracing their core value of CONNECTION has positively transformed how creative designs become beautiful clothes in the video above.