“I am, without a doubt, a content junkie,” Lisa Ruffle tells me, in the most matter-of-fact way possible. “It can get overwhelming because my appetite for information is huge. I can easily stay up all night reading if I don’t make myself stop.” It makes sense: a glut of her career has been spent absorbing information and driving what she has learnt into commercial strategies. She worked for more than half a decade as a Buying Director at luxury behemoth Moda Operandi, and before that, over a decade’s worth of experience in the global retail sector, applying herself to sales, consumer experiences, and most of all — the business of fashion.
At Moda Operandi, Ruffle worked closely with founder and former American Vogue editor Lauren Santo Domingo on procuring merchandise for the business, which drove up to 80% of the company’s revenue. “It was exciting to examine the consumer cohort of America firsthand, which is its own beast,” she says. “It was a lot of hard work but my eyes were opened to unbelievable opportunities too.” An extensive travel schedule, including ongoing return trips to Paris and Milan became the norm. During the duration of her time working abroad, Ruffle also attended shows on-schedule at Paris Fashion Week, including the notable Balenciaga autumn/winter 2020 show, (“It’s the end of the world as we know it, thanks to Demna.”) Her first ever runway? Celine by Phoebe Philo. (“There’s nobody like her!”)
There were frills, but also curveballs. Ten months after Ruffle gave birth to her child, she decided to leave the business entirely to focus on the personal. Work crept back in slowly: a string of consultancy roles landed on her lap, namely for Matteau and Conde Nast in America. “I helped them build out their shopping strategy for eight months, mapping out what American women were and are looking to buy and wear — it was an amazing opportunity,” she recalls. “But I missed curating incredible experiences with customers first hand, and being that direct point of contact — something I have been turning over in my head for a very long time.” The founder and her partner moved back to Australia, staying in the rumpus room of her parent’s house, where she and her partner started assembling together the business she had been dreaming up.
Every night, Ruffle read up on AI. New features and interfaces at the intersection of technology and fashion pique her interest, and inform how she is going to push her vision forward — a newly launched premium marketplace by the name of DOTSHOP. “We’re creating the number one destination for the modern, discerning customer who loves fashion and beauty, and who might be after a platform that feels curated and different.” As the Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of DOTSHOP, her arm of reach will extend to delivering sales and consumer experiences for the public at an elevated level, while managing an entirely new team. It is, according to her, no walk in the park. The output is intense, building momentum from scratch is even harder, but as Ruffle puts it simply: “We’re working around the clock to make it happen.”
"We're creating the number one destination for the modern, discerning customer who loves fashion and beauty, and who might be after a platform that feels curated and different."
~ Lisa Ruffle
When asked why, she cites the simplest and most obvious understanding coming from the world we currently live in: technology is moving at warp speed. The founder is interested in carving a shopping experience with enough stamina to match its growth. “It’s so much harder than you think it’s going to be, but it’s rewarding,” Ruffle says of starting her enterprise. “We are going to build the number 1 premiere destination for the modern Australian consumer.” Her mission has always been to create something meaningful and enduring, and the only shift in that is how central AI has become to that core pillar of her work. Discovery is the biggest tentpole of DOTSHOP, and it happens on the site through authentic, personalised recommendations made by women, for women. Every piece online is cherrypicked by the Founders and curatorial team, and authenticated by a panel of experts before it is made available for sale. With a global outlook—and a team to reflect that, stretching from Sydney, London and Los Angeles, Ruffle is intent on diversifying the market she wishes to serve, and the people who work alongside her in building this business together.
Another facet of her business, or really, interest, is staying ahead of the curve with runway trends. She reads widely on emerging talent in the design world to stay riveted to her clients’ needs — and how they might differ from person to age to lifestyle. “Online shopping is hard enough,” Ruffle notes. “I want us to be able to sift through the noise, providing thoughtful dialogue and a curated experience — multi-brand, authentic and modern.”
"Online shopping is hard enough ... I want us to be able to sift through the noise, providing thoughtful dialogue and a curated experience - multi brand, authentic and modern."
~ Lisa Ruffle
To cull through the barrage online, Ruffle also pulls on the past. References hailing from podcasts, old films, music, specifically, Fleetwood Mac, blues, and soul are a tremendous source of grounding. Travel, while limited at this current stage, is something that she also deems instrumental in unlocking her own knowledge and growth. Visuals are important to Ruffle too, especially for moodboarding and image referencing. And what is market fashion without either?
When it comes to distilling an idea, the founder recharges her creative wattage by putting a concept to life, and seeing it come together as a realised entity online. But on the matter of who can bring it to life with her, Ruffle collaborates exclusively with people she trusts. “It is so much more enjoyable to work together in person, bounce ideas off each other, and build upon those existing relationships and projects that we’ve started. We don’t always agree, but that’s what makes it way more interesting,” she continues. “Pushing those creative boundaries together is often where the best moments happen.”
The next thing on Ruffle’s to-consume list? Mindset by Carol Dweck. She claims that the book’s thesis, which is that growth mindsets can lead to greater achievement, has taken over her mind. Carol Dweck’s mindset theory distinguishes between two core beliefs about ability: the fixed mindset, where intelligence is seen as unchangeable, and the growth mindset, where it can be developed through effort and dedication. If it isn’t obvious enough which camp Ruffle belongs to, we may soon discover which side she’s on by following her journey.
Profile by Karen Leong
Photography by Maya Pratt
