After searching for creative talent for Alice + Olivia, brand founder and CEO Stacey Bendet noticed a gap in the marketplace. When it came to finding creatives and their work, the designer saw there was a need for a platform that showcased it all in one place for future employers.
Enter Creatively, a professional network connecting creators across all industries while giving companies one-stop-shop to discover and hire talent, both for full-time and freelance jobs.
Officially making it’s debut on Tuesday, Bendet decided to move up the original fall launch date because of the coronavirus crisis and its severe impact on the fashion industry.
“Our goal is to help creatives, who are in dire need of work, as well as the companies and brands that rely on them,” she told FN. “The industry is being hugely damaged by corona — stores can’t open, customers can’t travel, the supply chain is a mess and people don’t have as many reasons to shop. That being said digital business is booming and the creative needs for that content are too.”
The free platform is available through iOS and web in beta. Creatively offers site features including immersive, free portfolio tools, allowing for art of different dimensions and sizes to be showcased in high resolution, up to 30-second videos, customizable mosaic displays and search tools for brands.
“Our goal is to disrupt LinkedIn, which hasn’t evolved with the rest of the creative world and looks the same as it did in the early 2000s,” Bendet added. “There aren’t other networking sites that are truly geared towards creators of all different mediums. This platform will be an active place for the creative community and it will help companies discover talent. It also is modern in its reflection of how we live in our new mobile world, [living] anywhere, [working] everywhere.
So far, brands involved at launch have included the CFDA, Beautycounter, Alice + Olivia, James Perse, Parsons, Trip Advisor, Vince and more. Key investors in Creatively include Shari Redstone’s Advancit, Aryeh Bourkoff’s LionTree, and Michael Eisner’s Tornante Company.
