12 NY designers on what they'd do differently if starting again
Following our conversations with London and Paris brands, we hop across the pond.
If you’re looking for the most difficult fashion city to actually launch a fashion brand, look no further than New York – a city infamous for its extortionate rent, declining production industries, and few support mechanisms for supporting emerging talent. Yet the thing about New Yorkers is we love a challenge. It’s often what brought us there in the first place (“If I can make it there/I’ll make it anywhere,” etc. etc.).
Though season after season we’re fed the same story contemplating whether “New York Fashion Week is dead” (since like, 2016?), almost always reaching the same conclusion – it very might well be, were it not for a new crop of emerging designers truly challenging the perception of it as the most commercial, unimaginative stop on the schedule. Having a unique point of view and embracing your differences as a designer very well might be the best advice as far as how to make it in New York, plus a business degree. And “maintaining blind confidence that borders on delusional”.
As we’ve done in London and Paris, we’ve asked everyone the same question: If you were to go back in time and start your brand again from scratch, what advice would you give yourself?
Raul Lopez, LUAR
Stop chasing validation and trust that your perspective is enough. Early on, I spent too much energy wondering if there was room for someone like me – a Dominican kid from New York whose references came from family, the streets, nightlife, queerness, luxury, and survival all at once. I realised that the things I was once told to tone down were actually the things that made LUAR matter. I’d also tell myself to take a business class. As creatives, we’re taught how to make beautiful things, but we’re rarely taught how to build a sustainable company. Fashion isn’t just an art form – it’s a business. Understanding finances, production, pricing, cash flow, and how to protect your brand is just as important as having a strong creative vision.
Success isn’t linear. There will be moments when people celebrate you and moments when they forget you. Neither should define your purpose. Build your community before you build your audience, because trends come and go, but people who genuinely believe in your vision will carry you through every season. Most importantly, protect your joy. The work is strongest when it comes from curiosity, love, and a real point of view – not fear. Your uniqueness will always outlast approval.
Zoe Gustavia Anna Whalen
Transparently, I believe everything unfolds the way it must given the time and circumstances we find ourselves in. Starting my brand was chaotic and messy and wonderful. I was 27 and harnessing the power of my Saturn return to intentionally flip my life upside down and run towards what I loved. Those things are real and the energy of that still carries me. So, for me, this label needed to begin in a moment of growth and catharsis. I needed to throw myself into the unknown without too much thought or I would have never started. Should you have a less esoteric head on your shoulders, realise that you are creating a product, and create a business plan. Work in clothing production management for a year first. The production process is part of the art and perhaps the most important part of the puzzle.
Hillary Taymour, Collina Strada
If I could give myself one piece of advice, it would be to not expect others to recreate for you what they’ve created for someone else. Every independent fashion brand is built differently, so comparison is usually a waste of energy. Growth that works for one brand may completely miss the mark for another. You started your own brand to create a distinct point of view, not to follow someone else’s business blueprint, do not compare yourself. Trust your gut but ask a ton of questions amongst your peers along the way.