At the Intersection of Business and Fashion: Holly Soroca ’93

At the time, WWD’s West Coast Executive Editor, Booth Moore, noted several other celebrities had recently “stepped out” in Dôen, including Dakota Johnson, Kaia Gerber, and Michelle Monaghan, and wrote: “Welcome to the summer of Dôen — well, actually, the second summer of Dôen, following the run the L.A. brand had last year with Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, Kylie Jenner and others wearing and driving sales of its dreamy dresses and tops, most of which are priced under $500.”

The buzz surrounding the brand extended to a wildly successful Gap x Dôen collaboration last May. As Dôen fans attested across social media, many of the pieces in the collection quickly sold out. While Soroca’s role in all of this has been largely behind the scenes — she compared it to that of a chief revenue officer — it is still exciting and requires her to bridge the gap between the creative and the business side of operations. 

“The most exciting thing for me is that I continue to learn,” Soroca said during an interview this fall from her home office in New York City. “Having e-commerce, and digital marketing, and the way that social media impacts consumer behavior is so new. I mean, the internet didn’t exist when I was starting out, so it’s really exciting that I don’t come to work and say, ‘I’ve done this all.’ I’m seriously learning new things every single day. I’m working with people who work for me who are teaching me things. I love where I am because I love being at companies that are in high-growth mode. It’s chaotic, and stressful, and fun, but it’s different and exciting every single day. I really thrive on that.” 

A big fish in a small pond
When she was growing up, first on Long Island, and then in Westport, Connecticut, Soroca’s parents owned clothing stores, but she didn’t “catch the fashion bug” until after she graduated from college. At Gunn, where she enrolled as a sophomore day student, after her family had moved to New Preston, her primary interest was theatre.

“I sang. We did musical theatre. I participated in every theatrical event that existed at the time. That was my passion. I wish I had been able to go to the school when there was an actual theatre space,” she said, recalling that plays were produced on a small stage in the Student Center, which was in Brinsmade. “We did Once Upon a Mattress, which was my junior year. I’m going to see it on Broadway in a few months. Of course, I know every word, I was the lead. Actually, my fondest memories at The Gunnery were around theatre, and I had no idea that I was going to be interested in fashion.”

The decision for her to enroll at Gunn from a larger, public high school provided an environment in which she thrived. “Being able to be a lead in a show that, at a bigger school I probably would never have had that opportunity. It gave me that confidence, in terms of getting up and performing in front of people. And being in very small classes, and being able to excel in that way, led me to go to a small liberal arts college,” said Soroca, who majored in economics and minored in theatre at Hamilton College. 

Julie Dansingburg, who taught economics at Gunn and was, coincidentally, a Hamilton alumna, was also a formative influence. The economics class, Soroca said, “really made an impact on me. I was like, ‘Oh, I really love this. I think this is something that I want to study.’”

Starting at Saks
Her path from Hamilton to a career in fashion in New York was inspired by a family friend, who had started The Fifth Avenue Club, a private shopping club at Saks, and told her about the company’s training program. Soroca secured an interview with Saks and was ultimately placed in the program, which taught her everything she needed to know about buying, planning, and merchandising.

“It was absolutely the best mix of the business side of fashion, while having a slight creative outlet,” she said. “And because I had the economics side, I knew how to think and be analytical. It was an amazing opportunity.”

New York has been her home ever since. After finishing the training program, Soroca took a job as a buyer at Saks, where she worked for three years. “Theory had just launched and it really did sort of bridge that gap for women who were dressing up at the time for work and didn’t necessarily want something from the junior market or Ann Taylor, but also didn’t want to spend on really high-end, luxury brands,” she said. 

Soroca said she became close with the founder of Theory, Andrew Rosen, and joined the brand as vice president of sales for three years. “It was at a pinnacle time in the growth of that company, and super exciting. I feel like I learned more in those three years than I did anywhere else in my career,” she said.

From Theory, Soroca returned to Saks for a few more years before leaving again to join the contemporary fashion brand Joie, where she worked for 11 years, and served as president. “I have three sons and I say it was like my fourth child. I went through a lot of life milestones while I was there and the company grew at a pretty tremendous rate. I oversaw all of the revenue. When we first started, we only sold wholesale, and then we launched retail stores,” she said. “I oversaw their e-commerce, and their merchandising, buying, and planning.”

Working with entrepreneurs
During her tenure, Joie launched two additional labels, Equipment and Current/Elliott. Soroca oversaw all three brands before leaving to become president of the high-end fashion brand Frame for four years. Three years ago, Soroca joined Dôen, having previously worked with the brand’s founders, sisters Katherine and Margaret Kleveland, at Joie. 

“They started Dôen just about eight years ago and I watched as a huge fan and loyal supporter but was able to join them in 2021. It’s been really exciting. They’re incredible women and I’m so excited to be reunited with them,” Soroca said.

She noted the Klevelands founded Dôen with a group of women, which was unique in the industry. “They both really wanted to make sure that, even down to the factories that we work with, that there were opportunities for women, and not just for women, but women who could balance career, and family, and workplace,” Soroca said. “At the end of the day, they wanted to create a brand that made women feel good when they’re wearing our clothes. They wanted you to be able to drop off your child at school and then go to work and feel comfortable.” 

While Soroca does not consider herself an entrepreneur, she learned from her parents, who were serial entrepreneurs, what it takes to succeed. “I’m not a risk-taker. I probably couldn’t be an entrepreneur myself. But I admire it so much and I appreciate it. I know how to balance it. I think that’s been one of the reasons I’ve been able to be so successful in my career of working with entrepreneurs. I generally let them push me where I’m uncomfortable, and then I push them where I think the risk is too great. It becomes a very good blend and partnership, particularly where I am today.”

The demands of being a corporate president are so great, and it is hard to find balance, but Soroca said the workplace has evolved over the past 20 years, giving women in particular the flexibility to manage work-life balance. When she first started out, working from home one day a week was “the dream,” she said. 

Post-pandemic, it is the norm, yet it still comes down to finding the right place and the right people. That’s why she chooses to pay it forward. Some of the women on her team have been with her since she was at Theory, and she has seen them get married and start their own families.

“I think I was able to thrive because I found people who trusted me, and empowered me, and knew that I was going to work 24/7 no matter where I was physically sitting,” said Soroca, who has three sporty sons with her husband, Brad, who works in marketing strategy and business development “I also love being at a place in my career where there are students who have graduated from Hamilton and The Frederick Gunn School who have reached out to me. I love talking to people, and giving them advice, and making introductions. I had some really important mentors, and I’m excited that I’m at a point where I can do the same for other people.”

This article originally appeared in the fall/winter 2024 edition of Gunn: The Bulletin of The Frederick Gunn School.

Photo (top) by Brad Soroca; photos below, courtesy of Dôen