Startup Spotlight #193: TITOV
TITOV is a luxury lifestyle brand with a focus on inclusivity.
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I got the chance to speak with Masha Titova, co-founder and CEO of TITOV, about what she’s working on at her startup, and any advice she has for emerging entrepreneurs.
TITOV was started by Titova while she was working at Yeezy and getting her MBA. Before launching the brand, Titova also worked for brands such as Marc Jacobs & BCBGMaxazria. Titova's personal experience with her lingerie not living up to their part, while being based in hot temperature Los Angeles, led her to look into an everyday solution that would still be sexy. Based in NYC, TITOV brings exclusivity into the lingerie space, by offering small batches, limited edition drops, and made-to-order models.
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Startup Spotlight: TITOV
Problem: Typically undergarments are catered to a hyper-sexualized image of what a woman wants or the polar opposite with basics that are simple or borderlining athleisure. Once you do find something you like the chances of finding your sizes become even lower, but most brands are not catering to the expansive bra sizes needed by women.
Solution: At TITOV, we wanted to merge the two worlds of sexy and comfort, by creating undergarments fit for special occasions, but comfortable to wear every day. While also offering bralettes in real bras sizes outside of the typical xs-xl size range.
Team: Our Founder & CEO, Masha Titova has worked at Marc Jacobs, YEEZY, Section4, and consulted with many start-up fashion companies. Our team consists of mostly freelancers handling items like paid social, content creating, modeling, & production. Our interns rotate from Universities such as Suffolk, Babson, MassArt, Lasell, and St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Recent Success:
Titova: Being able to utilize my network and ask for help. I think the cutthroat mentality of entrepreneurship is outdated and more people want to help you than you think. I would have never been able to achieve one of my biggest milestones of being on the official New York Fashion Week Calendar if it was not for the incredible friends I’ve made throughout my journey.
Recent Struggle:
Titova: We’ve struggled with Customer Acquisition that isn’t reliant on Facebook/ Instagram ads. Being a bootstrapped company, we don’t have the millions that most VC companies have to pump into paid social. And outside of this when we did use paid social ads, they worked well until the IOS changes that left us back to square one. It’s been a key focus of ours to work on getting new customers onboard in effective, creative, but cost-efficient ways.
Founder Advice:
Titova: Keep going! It gets really, and I mean REALLY hard out there, but I always push through to see through the difficulties and don’t be afraid to ask for help. The worst thing you could do is burn a bridge because with every passing day I see how small my industry is and I can guarantee yours is just as close-knit. Word travels fast, so be nice, be helpful, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.
Three Cool Founders You Should Know About:
Titova: Here are three founders you should check out next!
Kaylan Sliney, Founder of Gotham Labs: A blockchain technology firm.
Ashli Stockton, Founder of Sunday Forever: Ultra fast-growing lifestyle brand, based out of NYC.
Kenneth Anand, Co-founder of Sneaker Law: The first book and educational platform that teaches all you need to know about the sneaker industry.
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