Candy Gram

Web site delivers fashion news to subscribers’ e-mail boxes

As the founder and chief executive officer of DailyCandy Inc., an upstart Web site for fashion cognoscenti, Dany Levy sees her job as staying in tune with what’s hip— from fashion to books to restaurants—and then passing that information along to as many people as possible.

Levy, who graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in English, started her career in 1994 at New York magazine. After a brief stint as one of the founding editorial staff members of Lucky magazine, Levy created www.dailycandy.com in 2000. At first, she wrote most of DailyCandy’s items herself, but she moved on to hire two editors and now works with a stable of freelance writers nationwide.

DailyCandy is based in New York but relies on a staff of California stringers for the West Coast edition.

DailyCandy has helped local designers get discovered.

“A lot of buyers who said DailyCandy was the first place they read about our company, including Bloomingdale’s and Bergdorf Goodman, called us and placed big-sized orders,” said Christopher Enuke, designer for Los Angeles–based knit line Oliver Twist and denim line Oligo Tissew.

Recently, California Apparel News Manufacturing Editor Claudia Figueroa caught up with Levy to discuss all things sweet and successful.

What is DailyCandy’s mission?

Levy: DailyCandy is the ultimate source for the latest need-to-know information about fashion, food and fun. It’s like getting an e-mail from your clever, unpredictable and totally in-the-know best friend who always has the scoop on everything. The free daily e-mail makes subscribers feel like insiders with proprietar y information on such things as who’s designing the jeans of the moment or where to score the Pumas that aren’t officially for sale in the U.S. yet. Daily- Candy lets its subscribers in on everything from secret beauty treatments and cool tech toys to must-read novels and coveted accessories for hipsters.

How did you come up with the Web site’s concept?

Levy: I was studying to go to business school and spending a lot of time online. It struck me that there was a dearth of short, concise, informative resources out there. I’d started subscribing to an investor Web site called TheStreet.com and thought to myself, “Why has no one done this in the realm of lifestyle and fashion?” We are all on such information overload these days—between phone, e-mail, faxes, TV and the countless publications to weed through. Why not create one streamlined source of timely information that was quick to read and was ultimately a simple way to stay in the know?

How do you find fresh new designers and lines for your fashion segment?

Levy: We get our information through all sorts of outlets. The best ideas come wordof- mouth—like a friend has a friend who designs these whatnots, and we should check them out. Our subscriber base is also incredibly valuable. People write in to us daily suggesting ideas for DailyCandy items. And we have writers and stringers across the globe who are constantly out there sourcing the latest and greatest.

You recently sent out an e-mail outlining your editorial and advertising policies. Obviously, advertising is important to your business, but how do you keep it separate from editorial?

Levi: Like any editorial publication, we try to check out everything that comes our way and decide on what to write about according to our editorial judgment. The e-mail we recently sent to our readers was meant to clearly point out the line between advertising and editorial. DailyCandy’s business and DailyCandy’s editorial are two distinct processes. When we write about something, it’s because we found it, like it and think you might like it, too. It’s that simple. Our primary revenue source is advertising, which you see placed around our e-mails. These are always marked “Advertisement” or come up in banner or “Sponsored Link” format.

DailyCandy, on occasion, sends out carefully selected “dedicated” e-mails, on behalf of sponsors who want the privilege of strutting their stuff. When we publish one of these, you will know. The subject will read “DailyCandy Dedicated E-mail” to differentiate it from a regular DailyCandy item. But one cannot, under any circumstance, pay to be featured in DailyCandy’s editorial.

That would destroy the integrity, fun and legitimacy of DailyCandy. And above all, we would lose your trust. In every category, without exception, we don’t make a dime off your meal at a restaurant we’ve reviewed nor a penny from the sale of the latest accessory.

How many hits do you get each month?

Levy: We’ve been serving a bit over 1.25 million pages a month, looking at last October and November. That works out to 250,000 to 300,000 a week.

What are some of the more unusual items featured on DailyCandy?

Levy: Our fashion picks range from the newest, latest undiscovered designer to the most obscure items, like Wonder Buttons or disposable bikinis.

What types of stories are you looking for in West Coast fashion?

Levy: We are always looking to find the undiscovered “new thing.” We shy away from mass-markety stuff you’d read about in more mainstream publications. The last thing we ever want our readers to think is “Geez, I knew that already....”