ting out, and what’s next for the brand. Inside Retail: Prior to launching Cozyland, can you describe your initial journey into the world of retail? Morgan Lane: I grew up in a family of fashion, with my first job working for my mother’s company, Jill Stuart, as an intern at age 16 and later as a sales representative in her SoHo boutique at age 18. Since then, I worked my way up, learning all aspects of her business. In 2014, I launched my first pajama line, Morgan Lane. IR: After launching Morgan Lane (the luxury lingerie and sleepwear brand), how did you come up with the concept for Cozyland? ML: During the Covid-19 pandemic, I spent time with my new baby, Lottie, and just wanted to be in cozywear all the time. I wanted to expand into a material that I could wear all day in simple shapes and prints that were both washable and fashionable. I spent a long time researching pima cotton and top-quality manufacturers in Peru, and then Cozyland was born. IR: In what ways has your experience launching and running Morgan Lane prepared you for running Cozyland? ML: Morgan Lane had a big focus on wholesale; we were in every store from Harrods to Saks to Le Bon Marché. When Covid-19 happened, our online sales boomed and our hanging merchandise got stuck. I learned from that experience to focus on my online presence and building a loyal community that shopped directly from the source. IR: What are the main differences in your experience as a brand founder, launching a second sleepwear/loungewear apparel brand? ML: When I launched Morgan Lane, I was constantly chasing buyers, appearing at trade shows and applying for different contests and grants. There was a big focus on what other retailers thought of you versus the customers themselves. When it was time to launch Cozyland, we wanted to focus solely on the customer. Any retailers who requested to buy Cozyland came to us directly, without any outreach on our part. IR: What were the toughest challenges you faced in the initial stages of launching and running Cozyland? What strategies did you incorporate to overcome these issues? ML: When launching the second brand, I thought I would be able to leverage the success of the first brand, and I really depended on that in the beginning. I quickly realized that Cozyland had to have its own voice, its own social media presence, and its own brand identity, so I basically had to start from scratch. We decided to build it from scratch with its own website, a different team, and a new group of brand ambassadors. This is when things really started to change and grow for us; customers felt they were discovering something new and special, rather than an extension of what already existed. IR: What have been the biggest highlight moments of running the business thus far? ML: One of the biggest moments for us that put us on the map was when Olivia Jade discovered us on Instagram and made a post about it after purchasing her favorite set on our website, taking customers through her discovery of Cozyland. My favorite times are always when all the samples arrive from Peru; it feels like Christmas, opening the box and seeing my designs come to life. The best times spent in Cozyland for me are with my kids, eating breakfast in our matching pajamas that Mom made, and now that we have men’s pajamas available, my husband can join us too! IR: This summer, Cozyland launched a new product category for the brand, swimwear. What inspired you to dive into this product segment? What other products will the brand expand with next? ML: After launching Morgan Lane, I was asked to relaunch the women’s swimwear lines Favourite and Striped, and Take 15. One of my close friends, founder Isaac Ross, came to me with men’s swim trunks and an idea. He said if I could make beautiful lingerie for Morgan Lane, how hard could it be to dabble in women’s swimwear? We had a lot of fun and success with that brand, and I learned a lot about the technical strategy behind fit and quality. Cozyland is a brand to live and dream in. We want that to include our favorite days by the pool and at the beach. In the future, we hope to expand into more cozywear layers. IR: What goals do you hope to carry out with Cozyland over the course of the next year and over the next five years? ML: In the next year, I want to focus on marketing our special collaborations. We have seen a lot of success there and I hope our customers love the exciting ones we have in the pipeline! In the next five years, I hope we become the destination for all things cozy. IR: What is a piece of advice you would give to the day one version of yourself on your brand founder journey? ML: I would tell myself to start small. When I launched Cozyland, I had way too many SKUs, and it became hard to keep up with sales and costs, and our focus was a bit all over the place. This is why with swimwear we are only testing four SKUs to begin with. By editing and keeping our SKU count tight, we can provide our customers with a much clearer picture of who we are. IR: What is your current favorite SKU from the brand? ML: My favorite style is the Baby Jean Tee in heather gray pointelle with the matching Ellie Pant; there is nothing on this planet softer than this fabric. Further reading: Monday Swimwear CEO Natasha Oakley on her brick-and-mortar expansion