Thursday, November 12, 2026
Marika Semerdzhian
The ROI of a Wardrobe: Running Your Closet Like a Portfolio
Wharton Club of Southern California
Thursday, November 12th @ 12:00pm – 1:00pm PT | Virtual Workshop
Event Overview
Your closet is full. You have nothing to wear.
If that sounds familiar, the problem probably isn't shopping. It's clarity. Most of us have built careers on disciplined capital allocation, then spend on clothes with no thesis, no tracking, and no exit strategy. The result: overweight positions in pieces we admire but never wear, and underweight positions in the things we actually need on a Tuesday.
What if you ran your closet like a portfolio?
Join fellow Wharton SoCal alumni for a session with Amy Lan (WG‘09), founder of Alter Studio LA, who has spent her career translating runway trends into what real people actually wear. Amy breaks down cost-per-wear, the "admired but unworn" trap, and why less can outperform more. It's a practical take on getting dressed like the savvy investor you already are, plus the digital tools that make it easy to maintain.
You'll leave with a framework for auditing what you own, a smarter rule for what to buy next, and a faster path from closet to out the door.
What You'll Learn
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Cost-per-wear: the only metric that matters
Why the $40 impulse buy is often your worst-performing asset, and when an investment piece earns its price. -
The "admired but unworn" trap
How to spot the dead weight in your closet (the aspirational, the sentimental, the still-has-tags) and decide what to keep, restyle, or exit. -
Why less outperforms more
Building a concentrated, high-conviction wardrobe that works across the office, the weekend, and everything in between. -
The digital tools to manage it
Tools for tracking what you own, what you wear, and what's actually missing.
When: Thursday, November 12th @ 12:00pm – 1:00pm PT
Where: Virtual (Zoom link provided upon registration)
Cost: $0 for members, $10 for non-members and guests. Tickets are non-refundable.
Format: Live, interactive talk with Q&A
Contact: Marika Semerdzhian, [email protected]
About the Speaker
Amy Lan (WG‘09) is the founder of Alter Studio LA, a Los Angeles styling practice that helps clients get dressed with clarity and confidence, without a full closet overhaul.
Amy's path to styling runs through business school, fashion PR and a New York design house, and a retail consulting firm where she worked with Target, Kohl's, and Bloomingdale's to translate runway trends into what actually lands on store racks. She then spent a decade in LA tech startups and now runs her own toy business alongside Alter Studio.
Through Alter Studio, Amy offers closet edits, personal shopping, and style consultations, bringing an operator's eye to the question every busy professional faces each morning: what actually works for my life?
Learn more: https://www.alterstudiola.com
