Your first hire matters more than your first collection
Together with Paul Smith’s Foundation, we ask industry mentors the practical questions young designers are often left to figure out alone.
No designer scales a brand alone, and yet fashion education rarely says much about the people you build it with. Who is the first person you hire, and what do you pay them when there is barely any money coming in? Which jobs belong in-house and which are better handed to a freelancer or an agency? When do you stop being the person who does everything and start being the person who runs a studio? How do you price the work so there is enough margin for you and the retailer? And how do you build a place where people (including you) actually want to turn up?
For Ask a Mentor, we have partnered with Paul Smith’s Foundation to open up some of that knowledge to a wider community of students, graduates, independent designers, and emerging creative businesses. Founded to better the business skills of creative people, the Foundation runs in-depth business mentoring programmes in fashion and art, connecting early-career people with experienced industry figures who can offer the kind of practical, specific guidance that is often difficult to access early in a career.
This second instalment brings together Adam Andrascik, a designer and creative director whose career spans his own label and senior design roles across the industry; Henry Holland, the designer behind House of Holland and, more recently, the ceramics and homeware brand Henry Holland Studio; Alexis Barnes Wright, an HR specialist working on people and culture in fashion; and Jason Leung of The Alphabet showroom, who advises emerging brands on pricing, wholesale, and sales strategy. So, let’s get right to it.
“PR begets sales, but sales keep you alive. History is littered with designers who thought they had a viable company dressing Lady Gaga.” – Adam Andrascik
Building a team
Asked by Fidan Sadig: For a small independent fashion brand in an early growth stage, how would you structure the core team?
Adam Andrascik: A key first hire should always be someone with a complementary skillset who can handle a part of the business you either cannot do or don’t have the experience and background to do. This will most likely be a business partner who believes in the vision and viability of your brand, and understands how to structure and maintain limited companies. If they have a background in retail or fashion, that’s a plus. Historically, an offer of equity secures their employment prior to revenue or profit, but every designer’s situation is different. I would advise against employing a relative or significant other. You will have disagreements with your business partner. They may be heated. Your thinking needs to be dispassionate and outcome-based. And in the event that you outgrow them, or they you, it doesn’t also mean you’re looking for a new flat.
From there, your sole focus in building a core team should be maximising revenue and profit. I would advise keeping your overhead low by employing on a fixed contract, project basis. The industry is volatile, so flexibility is key. Again, hires should be focused on complementing your skillset to maximise efficiency. To do this, rigorously evaluate your skills by asking yourself three questions: What am I good at? What am I bad at? What am I slow at? You should not be hiring people in areas you are good at. There is no point hiring a knit designer if you are a knit designer and you design all the knit. Focus on hiring people in areas you are bad at or slow at. Doing something poorly or slowly often results in the same outcome.
Once you have a business partner and an MVP – minimum viable product – I would advise you to bring on freelance technical support to handle pattern cutting, sampling, grading, or any other area you are bad or slow at completing. If you have the space, you can bring on one or two interns max, but be warned: you must have real, collection-level work for them to do the entire day, otherwise you will spend your valuable time coming up with tasks to keep them busy. Handle external comms – social media and PR – and sales in the early days, as people respond more positively to the actual designer. Once you start to gain traction, moving to external PR or sales from a position of strength can mean a more advantageous rate or percentage, or they pitch to you, which is the goal. Remember: PR begets sales, but sales keep you alive. History is littered with designers who thought they had a viable company dressing Lady Gaga.
Overall, try to keep your team small and manageable, as long as it does not sacrifice efficiency, growth, or profit. Do not get romantic and think that working until 2am every night, alone, is how you scale or attract a lucrative CD offer. These things happen through a combination of PR, sales, networking, and luck. You’re not going to get noticed toiling away in your studio like some sad fashion hermit.
Asked by Fidan Sadig: Which roles are truly essential from the beginning, which can stay freelance or outsourced, and what should founders pay attention to when building the team culture, responsibilities, and workflow?
Henry Holland: For me it’s essential to know your own strengths and weaknesses and to begin by building a team around that. I have to admit that I struggle sometimes with delegation and tend to overwork myself, thinking I can do things myself far too often. All that does is put you into a burnout and reduce your overall effectiveness. I have always kept any roles based around sales in-house – I feel it’s key to have someone close to your business who will always put your collections first, rather than outsourcing this department too early. I have always worked with outsourced PR and marketing teams, and that has always worked well for me, but it’s key to build a strong relationship with your account manager.
When building the team culture, I personally operate almost exclusively from a place of needing to have fun. I need to be having fun in my job to feel motivated, committed, and inspired, especially when being creative, so it’s vital for me that there is an atmosphere that plays into that. Not that we don’t take what we do seriously – we very much do – but a playful approach high up on the priorities, and lots of laughter, has always been the key to my success.
Asked by Luluyetha Howell: As an emerging designer, when is the right time to get a studio manager?
Adam Andrascik: When your day-to-day activities rebalance your priorities away from strategy towards dealing with short-term crises. Putting out fires is a key part of your role, but if this inhibits you from being able to plan long-term, you’ve gone from being proactive to reactive. You cannot innovate, excite press, or increase sales by simply reacting to situations. Depending on your sales growth, this could happen as early as your second season, or much later. But it will happen. Not hiring a studio manager is, in my experience, the number-one cause of the sad fashion hermit. This happens because the designer spends all day firefighting and can only really start designing once the studio is empty. Beware.
Mentors, culture, and speaking up
Asked by Linda Bussola: What are the signs of a bad mentor or boss?
Henry Holland: Anyone who isn’t focused enough on you and your growth, and is only fixated on themselves and their own goals. At the end of the day, we are all working towards the same goals, and empowering people to do that is as important as clearly outlining their roles and responsibilities. As hard as it can sometimes be, it’s important to find time to listen to your team and, wherever possible, find ways to make sure they feel happy and appreciated in their role. The rewards will show themselves if you are able to do that.
Asked by Antonia: Voicing neurodivergence to corporate fashion HR – is it career suicide?
Alexis Barnes Wright: I understand why people ask this, because for a long time it probably felt risky to share anything that made you “different” at work. But honestly, my answer is no, it shouldn’t be, and in the right environment it absolutely isn’t. From my perspective in HR, when someone feels able to talk about being neurodivergent, it’s not a problem to manage, it’s an opportunity to better support them. It gives us a clearer understanding of how that person works at their best, and what might be getting in their way.
I’ve seen that when those conversations happen, the most important thing isn’t the label, it’s what comes next. Together, we can put a support plan in place that actually helps day-to-day. That might be small adjustments to how work is structured, how communication happens, or how someone’s environment is set up. Often it’s not dramatic, but it can make a huge difference.
I also recognise that it takes a lot of trust to speak up. Not every workplace has got this right yet, and people bring their own experiences into that decision, so it’s okay if it feels like something you need to navigate carefully. But good HR teams should meet you with understanding and openness. You shouldn’t be expected to fit a mould; the workplace should adapt so you can do your best work. For me, that’s what this is really about. Not career risk, but creating the conditions where people can work in a way that’s actually sustainable and successful for them.
Pricing, wholesale, and getting in front of buyers
Asked by Trine Nielsen: How do you translate the value of your work into a price when selling designs or taking on commissions?
Jason Leung, The Alphabet showroom: One of the biggest mistakes emerging designers make is pricing based solely on production cost. Pricing should reflect not only materials and manufacturing, but also the value of your design, brand positioning, research, development, and long-term business sustainability.
When calculating prices, designers need to ensure there is enough margin for both the retailer and the brand, but most important is your brand positioning. A beautifully designed product that is underpriced can be just as damaging as one that is overpriced. Before setting prices, research where your brand sits in the market and compare yourself to brands with a similar customer, quality level, and distribution strategy.
For commissions or bespoke work, it’s important to account for the time, expertise, and uniqueness of the project. Clients are not only paying for the finished garment; they are paying for your creative vision and specialist knowledge.
Asked by Sila Kezjar: How should I evaluate working with a sales agency or agent versus reaching out to buyers and stores alone as a brand?
Jason Leung: There is no single right answer, and the decision often depends on the stage of the business. In the early stages, many designers approach buyers directly. This can be particularly valuable because it helps you understand buyer expectations and pricing structures, and receive feedback firsthand. It also allows you to build personal relationships with retailers. However, this assumes you receive a response in the first place; buyers are busy and are inundated with people trying to solicit their feedback.
As the business grows, a good sales agency can provide access to an established network of buyers, strategic guidance, market intelligence, and support with appointments, negotiations, and order management. The right agency should act as an extension of your team rather than simply a sales channel.
Before signing with an agency, ask yourself:
Do they represent brands that sit alongside mine?
Which buyers and territories can they realistically open for me?
What level of support will they provide beyond sales?
Do our expectations align regarding growth and distribution?
A strong partnership should be based on transparency, shared goals, and realistic expectations on both sides.
Asked by Alexandra Sipa: How should designers approach buyers if they can’t afford a showroom yet?
Jason Leung: A showroom is helpful, but it is not the only route into wholesale. Many buyers discover new brands through lookbooks, line sheets, social media, trade programmes, and personal introductions. If your product is strong and your materials are professional, you can still start meaningful conversations without a showroom.
I would recommend focusing on:
A well-designed lookbook and line sheet.
Clear wholesale pricing and delivery information.
A concise introduction explaining the brand story and market positioning.
Targeting buyers whose stores genuinely align with your product.
Quality is far more important than quantity. Rather than emailing hundreds of buyers, identify a small number of retailers that have the most natural fit and build relationships over time.
Many successful brands secured their first wholesale accounts through direct outreach, trade initiatives, industry networking, and digital appointments before investing in a showroom. Buyers ultimately purchase products they believe they can sell, regardless of whether they first discover them in a showroom or through an email.