Simon P Lock: A Visionary in Fashion Innovation

Simon P Lock, Chairman and CEO of The ORDRE Group, has been a leading force in fashion innovation. After founding Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia in 1996 and later selling it to IMG, he spent six years as Senior VP before launching The ORDRE Group—a fashion tech firm redefining luxury brand and retailer relationships.

In 2020, The ORDRE Group partnered with JOOR, integrating its ORB360° technology into JOOR’s platform, enhancing wholesale management with high-quality 360° imaging. This collaboration has since evolved with JOOR Custom, offering bespoke virtual showrooms. Together, ORDRE and JOOR are revolutionizing the wholesale fashion industry.

Simon’s extensive experience in fashion and global perspective gives him a deep understanding of the changing needs of the worldwide fashion environment. With a shared vision for improving the wholesale buying and selling process, ORDRE and JOOR are transforming the way fashion brands and retailers do business.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.‍

I’ve been in the fashion industry for a long time. I got my start on the physical side of things, producing fashion shows for brands internationally, and with a company that owned wholesale showrooms. Then I founded Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia in Sydney. When I sold the business to IMG, I made a complete transformation and pivoted to the digital side of the fashion world. That was when I founded The ORDRE Group—offering brands virtual showrooms, ORB360° image capture, and Authentique, our new web3 products.

What drove you to create The ORDRE Group? 

Honestly, it was working and producing so many fashion weeks. In the mid-2000s especially, I recognized how relying on physical fashion shows could limit operations. We could see the need to create a whole new channel. What we ended up with was the first cloud-based website for virtual showrooms, that allowed for remote orders.

What excites you most about the partnership between JOOR and The ORDRE Group?

Integrating our innovative 360° imagery and video into the industry’s most intuitive and effective order management platform is a win-win for our clients. The beauty of using such a complete digital system is that the images being produced can be used anywhere along the chain: from B2B to B2C to social media. It’s a one-stop reservoir of digital images that can be used right through the promotional supply chain.

JOOR and ORDRE are both committed to investing in innovation and delivering solutions to address our clients’ needs. It’s exciting that we get to bring new technologies to JOOR’s clients, such as our recently launched JOOR Custom—the best personalized virtual showroom on the market.

Let’s talk about JOOR Custom.

Some buyers are still coming to a physical showroom, but today the majority need to access showrooms remotely. The fashion world has entered a hybrid model of wholesale. JOOR Custom allows brands to build an entire online environment in which to show their collections . They can showcase their brand DNA in a single destination where buyers can review new collections each season.

With JOOR Custom, you can offer virtual tours of the physical showroom. ORB360° can make everything visible with high quality images and interactive videos. Plus you can upload curated video content: interviews, talks with designers.

You can also allow access to media and influencers who want to review samples and collections, or even create special access for VIP customers and give them the opportunity to place pre-orders at the same time as wholesale buyers. When buyers and media can see collections on the runway, we’ve seen a large increase in pre-sales.

JOOR Custom is a great partnership for us, because it really brings together the strength of each of our organizations to offer something exceptional for our clients.

Get access to JOOR Custom and ORB360° on the world’s premier wholesale management platform. Request a demo today!