Boardroom spoke with luxury online auction platform Top DRWR CEO Yasir Malik about building the online auction house alongside French Montana.
Luxury online auction platform Top DRWR is launching on Wednesday with its first drop, featuring a collection of personal items from NBA star Jimmy Butler‘s closet.
Pronounced “top drawer,” the company was co-founded by CEO Yasir Malik, CTO Franc Nikolla, head of partnerships Kamran Syed, and Grammy-nominated artist French Montana.
Top DRWR’s platform merges luxury fashion and entertainment into a unique online auction experience. Collectors, fans, and pop culture enthusiasts can get ahold of memorabilia from famous brands and talent through the company’s auctions, which will often include apparel, sneakers, and other timeless accessories. Auctions will include items from OffWhite, Rolex, Versace, Fear of God, Gucci, Fendi, and Louis Vuitton, to name a few. The startup secured venture capital investments from Courtside Ventures and FJ Labs ahead of its launch.
“Top DRWR is a platform where we auction items that are curated from the personal collections of all different types of high-profile talent,” Malik told Boardroom in an exclusive interview. “French Montana was the first person we pitched this idea to, and after we started working with him, we decided to onboard him as a co-founder of the company. French opened up his network and brought a ton of different talent for us to engage with.”
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Top DRWR partnered with stylists Calyann Barnett and Khalilah Beavers to curate Butler’s collection, authenticated in partnership with The Shop Miami, a collective of brands, artists, and innovative concepts. The Butler auction will close on Thursday, Aug. 31, with exclusive items like sneakers, pants, and an array of jackets up for grabs.
How Top DRWR Works
Athletes, musical artists, and entertainers are often the ones who set new trends in the fashion space. Malik has always been a sneaker enthusiast and streetwear collector who would often resell items. The more he dove into this hobby, mixed with his strategy work at StockX over the past three years, he discovered a pocket of opportunity to connect fans and collectors with luxury memorabilia.
Top DRWR isn’t your typical online marketplace. Each auction item on the platform is accompanied by content that tells stories about where the memorabilia was worn and what it means to the talent whose collection it belongs to. The platform was built by a team of seven, including the four core founders. Interested buyers can easily create an account on Top DRWR’s platform, place a bid, and wait to see how the sales shake out when the auction closes.
Top DRWR will donate a portion of the proceeds from its initial auctions to the Social Change Fund United to support issues impacting the Black community.
What’s Ahead
While Top DRWR’s initial auction only includes items from Butler’s closet, Malik said the platform will run auctions across multiple collections simultaneously in the future.
Malik said the network effects behind the business are strong, and since connecting with French Montana, Top DRWR already has a lineup of talent to drop collections with. He also said Top DRWR won’t limit itself on the type of talent it taps, so expect some diverse collections on the platform.
“One area we would say is our main focus is that we want direct access to where we’re getting the items from,” Malik said. “We’re really focused on securing items that are coming from the stars and talent themselves.”
Malik said he sees Top DRWR launching between 50 to 100 auction collections in the next year. The company is building the platform like a marketplace and will continue to work alongside stylists Barnett and Beavers to curate future collections. As an official partner in the business, The Shop Miami will continue to authenticate items as well.
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