Darren Glenister | how solving a single product issue became fashion’s big step forward

Any entrepreneur can be presented with a random moment of opportunity, whether that’s a global pandemic or a lucky conversation. But opportunity only lasts as long as the strength of your product. For Darren Glenister, Founder and CEO of Material Exchange, opportunity came out of the blue—but it was his unique, industry-shifting product that made his business a trusted partner to some of the biggest fashion brands in the world. 

Today, Material Exchange transforms the way the fashion industry sources materials and products, making things more efficient, transparent, and sustainable. Its state-of-the-art Digital Sourcing Platform allows material suppliers to showcase their materials more effectively to fashion brands, and fashion brands to find the materials they need in a fraction of the time. 

I sat down with Darren to find out more about this incredible venture, exploring how he took a single idea for a product and transformed it into a thriving global business. 

Darren Glenister's journey began in Battersea, London, before a move to Wimbledon. Fresh out of college and eschewing university, his first job was at a marine telecoms company. Reflecting on this experience, Darren recalls, "It was essentially the Vodafone or the O2 of the day, but for marine airwaves." However, this unremarkable start was marred by a quick dismissal. "It was a complete disaster because I got fired after half a day." 

I shared a similar marine-themed stint between college and university, working as a dockmaster and likely using the very telecom system Darren worked on. Darren quips: "You were probably using it on that very day. Which just happened to be the day I accidentally hacked the whole system and brought it down from the inside."

This misadventure led Darren to reconsider university, ultimately steering him towards web design. He landed a job at Scoot, a ‘tech-focused version of the Yellow Pages,' by bringing his own computer to the interview—a move that secured his position. "For that interview, I walked in with a tower computer and a CRT monitor that weighed about 12 kilos. No one else thought to bring a computer to the interview. It got me the job."

Darren’s entrepreneurial spark ignited after a move to Sweden, where he developed a tool to streamline designers' use of Photoshop and InDesign. Darren elaborated, "The tool essentially scanned a computer’s hard drive for the fonts, then worked out and categorised the aesthetic relationship between them. It was an algorithm-based product, in partnership with a leading university." This innovation led to the founding of Plugin76, born from an unexpected job ad for a plugin developer, ultimately leading to a collaboration with Adidas. 

For Adidas, Darren enhanced existing plugins that facilitated data transfer from Adobe Illustrator to their PLM (product lifestyle management) system and created a colorway tool for designers. This work caught the attention of PTC, a PLM company, who proposed an acquisition. "By the time we were finished with it, they’d asked us if we’d be interested in being acquired by them and brought into the company. The answer was yes."

This pivot marked Darren's transition from plugin development to innovation management, paving the way for his next venture, Material Exchange. Material Exchange started as a solution to manage fabrics in PLM systems, aiming to streamline the fashion supply chain. Initially self-funded and unique in its approach, the company faced the dual challenge of innovation and survival. "In the beginning, we had one core value: survival,” Darren tells me. “We were building a product that had no sales or marketing and had started as a product for someone else. It was ours now, so we had to change in order to survive."

The COVID-19 pandemic, while devastating globally, accelerated the digital transformation of the fashion industry, validating Material Exchange's model. "We never thought there would be a moment where the fashion industry would be forced to stand still. There was always this notion of digitalization, but during and after Covid, brands were forced to embrace it."

A significant turning point came with a focus on denim through a partnership with the denim-focused Kingpins Show. "Denim was the first domino to fall for us. Kingpins couldn’t operate in person and was looking for a way to engage brands and suppliers online. Our business was not built to be a show platform. However, we wanted a way of building relationships between suppliers and brands, and shows are a natural way to do that," Darren explains.

This relationship building has since evolved into multiple targeted showrooms including Best of Denim, Trend+, Deadstock Depot, and One Stop for Footwear. Each showroom is created using a selection of hand-selected materials from top suppliers around the world, creating a curated, niche experience for brands looking to differentiate themselves from their competition.

“We started with Best of Denim, a natural evolution from our partnership with Kingpins,” explains Darren. “This showroom is truly a testament to how thorough industry knowledge can build something really valuable. Our most recent showroom is Trend+, which brings together materials best suited for today’s latest styles. There’s something for everyone.” 

Looking ahead, Darren envisions Material Exchange evolving into a real-time, transparent system akin to flight booking technology, offering comprehensive visibility into product availability, sustainability, and quality. "Where we want to be heading next is similar to flight booking technology. When you book a flight, you're using a system something like Sabre or Amadeus, but you don't even know you're using it. It allows you to see in real-time which seats are free and where they’re located in the aircraft, that sort of thing. I think fashion needs that too: real-time technology that shows you exactly what is available and from where. But, more than that, it also needs to show you how sustainable a product is and what the quality is like. Full transparency, made easy."

One step in this direction came in the form of Frank the bear in Spring 2024. Frank is a dapper AI sourcing assistant for Material Exchange customers who “listens to what brands are looking for and then directs them to the showroom that offers the best match.” This AI tool has been highly trained over the previous months on every detail of the materials in Material Exchange’s system as well as its sales interaction data. Frank can manage fabric samples, capture leads, and more. He’s also designed for sales reps on the textile sales side of things as they support brands in finding their next perfect fabrics.

“We’ve had a lot of fun with Frank these last few months,” says Darren. “He’s bringing a unique element to sourcing and it’s really resonating with brands and sales reps as they meet him at shows and take advantage of his vast pool of knowledge. Sourcing is entering a new era, and Frank is leading the way.”

Reflecting on his journey so far, Darren shared a pivotal piece of advice from Romain Lavault at Partech:

"Think about the biggest problem and the biggest opportunity within the space that you’re in."

For aspiring entrepreneurs, Darren emphasises the importance of focusing on fundamentals over fleeting milestones: "One thing I’ve come to understand is that the goalposts move incredibly fast. All these milestones you set for yourself in the beginning change so quickly, so I think—more than milestones—you have to think about fundamentals. The things that will stay the same for your company no matter what happens, no matter what it becomes."