Mint Focus: Giff Constable for Aprizi

1. Tell me a little about yourself. Where are you from? What's your educational background? What are your general professional and non-professional interests?

I originally grew up in Washington D.C. and jumped into the world of tech startups after I graduated from Princeton years ago. I never looked back. I’ve also been an artist (a painter) and have always been interested in great design in all its forms. Liz, my co-founder at Aprizi, is from Sydney, Australia, and has a PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon. She’s been a dress-maker, but honestly Aprizi keeps us so busy we don’t have too much time for extra hobbies right now!

2. What does fashion mean to you?

Fashion is the fascinating merging of self-expression, craftmanship, and art.  And I admit it also represents the perpetual frustration that I don’t have a bigger wallet!  With my own curation on Aprizi (http://aprizi.com/browse/curator?curator=9&display_name=Giff), I focus more on accessories and homeware, and let our team of amazing women from all over the country handle the apparel side of things.

3. How would you define your city's fashion?

New York has so many fashion subcultures it is cannot be pinned down. This time of year, you see black black black. I can’t wait for spring when outfits come back to life with color.

4. Can you please tell us what is Aprizi and what is it that you guys do?

Aprizi started because Liz Crawford and I were frustrated that it was so hard to discover brilliant *smaller* designers, brands and artisans on the Web.  We felt like the search engines pushed the big brands and failed to make for an effective and fun experience.  So we started building what we call a “Pandora for shopping” which aggregates wonderful independent design and fashion from around the Web, and tries to personalize for your tastes.  We want to have an experience that feels like you are walking through the coolest part of town, discovering awesome boutiques and fascinating new products. We are still a young site so lots to improve, and we will soon be opening up a small e-commerce arm of our own.

5. What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture? How did the idea for your business come about?

We wanted to support the incredible community of independent and emerging designers, brands and artisans out there.  It’s not that we don’t have items from big brands in our closets, but frankly it is more satisfying and more fun to discover that incredible find, that unique item, and that meaningful story.

6. Where you see yourself and your business in 10 years? 20 years?

We want to build the connecting technology that brings together shoppers and independent designers. A simple statement and a massive challenge. To do so, we feel that we need to make discovery both fun and personalized.

7. What are some of your favorite designers?

You can actually see my personal Aprizi favorites here: http://aprizi.com/likes/user/8ad7144c (any Aprizi user can opt-in to share their “likes”).  But I might hightlight Mara Hoffman’s swimsuits this season, Amanda Pearl’s clutches, Dannijo’s jewelry, Irregular Expressions’ (a Turkish designer selling on Etsy) stunning textile jewelry, and any of the designers featured by the Australian lighting boutique Tongue and Groove.

8. Where can readers go to shop for items?

Browse Aprizi and see where it takes you!  www.aprizi.com

Thanks for taking out your time to do this interview Giff! 

Fashionably yours - Shellena