Fashion loves a new name. Give us an emerging designer with a killer collection, a celebrity placement, or a piece that goes viral on Instagram, and we’re all ears. Suddenly, everyone’s calling them the next big thing. Their designs are on our moodboards, their names are in our group chats, and their collections are making the rounds at Fashion Week. But there’s a question we don’t ask nearly enough: Is anyone actually buying?
Because behind every beautifully constructed jacket or impossibly cool handbag is someone figuring out how to pay for the next production run. And while a viral moment might get you a few thousand new followers, those followers aren’t necessarily paying the bills.
Destiney Bleu, founder of D.Bleu.Dazzled, knows this better than most. The designer has spent 15 years building her business, with her work making its way onto some of the biggest names in entertainment. You’d think that kind of visibility would mean she’s made it, right? Well, it’s a little more complicated than just a couple of moments in the spotlight. “I don’t think people realize how much goes into running a business,” Bleu tells Refinery29. “It’s not just the cost of the item. It’s, like, the rent, the insurance, all of the payments.”
In fact, Bleu says that after more than a decade in the industry, much of what she earns still goes straight back into her business.”I have been in business for 15 years, and I don’t really get paid, which is another misconception,” she says. “I know that I need to build a salary into it, but that is one of the sacrifices that most business owners make.”
Fifteen years in business. Major celebrity placements. And still having to make those kinds of decisions to keep the business going. It’s a reality check, especially in an industry where success is so often measured by who wore what.
It’s also part of what made The Penthouse Edit, the New York City event Refinery29 hosted alongside RAISEfashion, so interesting to me. The room was full of beautiful clothes, yes, but the real action was happening beyond the racks. Designers were connecting with buyers, meeting editors, and having the kinds of conversations that could lead to actual business. And according to RAISEfashion’s co-founder and executive director, Felita Harris, that’s what Fashion Week should be about. “The one thing that people get wrong about Fashion Week is that it is purely experiential. It’s not,” Harris tells me. “This is the moment for designers to showcase their collection, meet with buyers, network, and expand their business.”
The shows are fabulous. The parties are fun. But the designers? They’re working.
There’s something undeniably exciting about watching a small brand have its moment. Maybe it’s a handbag that suddenly starts popping up everywhere, or a celebrity wearing a designer you’ve been following since they had 2,000 Instagram followers. You want to see them win. But getting noticed and getting paid aren’t always the same thing. “Discovery is only one piece of the equation,” says Tanuj Parikh, global head of revenue at Afterpay and Cash App. “The bigger challenge is building the infrastructure to act on that attention.”
Think about it: What happens when a brand suddenly has hundreds of orders but only enough inventory to fulfill a fraction of them? Or when a buyer wants to place a wholesale order, but the designer doesn’t have the cash to produce it? A big break can become a big headache pretty quickly.
And according to Parikh, one of the biggest mistakes founders make is assuming that more attention automatically means a healthier business. “One misconception is that growth simply means reaching more people,” he explains. “More awareness can be valuable, but it can also expose weaknesses in the business if the brand is not prepared to fulfill the demand it creates.”
Even selling out, something we’d usually consider a major win, can be a missed opportunity. “Selling out can look like success, but it may also mean the brand underestimated demand and left revenue on the table,” Parikh says.
On the flip side, producing too much inventory can leave a founder with racks of unsold merchandise and money tied up in products that aren’t moving. Neither scenario is particularly glamorous, but both are part of the reality of building a fashion brand.
So what does successful growth actually look like? According to Parikh, it starts with understanding who your customers are, what they’re buying, and whether they’re coming back. It also means knowing how much it costs to acquire those customers and what remains after production, fulfillment, and other expenses.
“The strongest founders protect the product and point of view that made the brand special while being disciplined about the less visible parts of the business: inventory, fulfillment, margins and customer retention,” he says. In other words, a great collection will get people talking. Knowing how to run the business is what keeps the conversation going.
Here’s something else we don’t talk about enough: Opportunity can be expensive.
Getting a major retailer interested in your collection sounds like a dream until you realize you need the money to manufacture enough pieces to fulfill the order. And for independent designers who don’t have the financial backing of a major fashion house, that can be a very real obstacle.
It’s one of the reasons Afterpay’s involvement in The Penthouse Edit went beyond sponsoring a Fashion Week event. The company also partnered with RAISEfashion on the Designer Production Fund, which provides independent designers with direct funding to help bring their collections to market and fulfill new business opportunities. Independent designers with immediate production needs or business opportunities can apply for funding now.
“Our contribution to the Designer Production Fund makes that support tangible,” Parikh says. “It helps address the production and inventory needs that can determine whether a designer is able to act on new demand.”
A buyer can fall in love with your collection, but if you don’t have the money to produce the order, what happens next? That’s the gap the fund is designed to help close. And for independent designers who are constantly balancing creativity with the cost of doing business, access to production funding could make a meaningful difference.
And it’s not just about money. Sometimes the right introduction, a little guidance, or access to someone who’s already navigated the challenges of running a fashion business can make all the difference.
Harris points to Hiywet “Mimi” Girma, founder of YESAET, who’s simultaneously running a direct-to-consumer business, expanding her wholesale operation, and participating in RAISEfashion’s advisory programming. “I think that’s very difficult to do today being an independent designer,” Harris says.
And she’s right. When you’re an independent founder, you’re often the creative director, marketing department, customer service team, and finance department rolled into one. There’s no massive corporate machine behind the curtain making sure everything runs smoothly.
That also means making smart decisions about where to spend money, especially when the budget is tight.
Parikh says one investment he often sees small businesses make too early is broad marketing, before they’ve figured out whether their operations can support the attention they’re trying to generate. “A major campaign can attract attention, but if the product, inventory or customer journey is not ready, the business may pay to expose its own points of friction,” he explains.
Meanwhile, the investments that tend to happen too late are the ones that aren’t quite as exciting to post about: inventory planning, customer service, fulfillment, and systems that help founders understand what’s actually happening in their businesses.
Of course, getting customers to discover your brand is still important. It’s just one piece of a much bigger puzzle.
Beyond its flexible payment options, Afterpay offers participating merchants opportunities to be discovered through its shopping app, as well as access to reporting, marketing resources, and business tools through its Business Hub. For smaller brands competing against retailers with enormous advertising budgets, having additional ways to connect with shoppers can be valuable. “Independent brands may not be able to outspend larger retailers, so relevance becomes especially important,” Parikh says. “They need to reach consumers who are already interested in discovering and shopping from brands like theirs.”
And when those customers do find a brand they love, the shopping experience matters just as much as the product itself. “A brand can invest heavily in its product, storytelling and marketing, but still lose the customer if the final steps feel confusing, inflexible or inconsistent with the rest of the experience,” Parikh says.
It’s a reminder that the work of building a successful fashion business doesn’t end when someone falls in love with a piece. You still have to make it easy for them to buy it.
So let’s say it finally happens. Your collection gets picked up by a major publication. A celebrity wears one of your designs. Or that product you’ve been working on for months suddenly goes viral.
Now what?
Parikh recommends making the most of the first 30 days after a major exposure moment. His advice? Make it easy for people to shop while they’re still interested. Ensure the product is easy to find, be clear about what’s available, and give customers a way to stay connected if something sells out.
A waitlist, pre-order option, or email sign-up might not sound particularly revolutionary, but it can help turn a passing moment of interest into an ongoing relationship with a potential customer. And whatever you do, don’t promise something you can’t deliver. “Be realistic about inventory and fulfillment, communicate timelines clearly and avoid overpromising simply to capture every possible sale,” he advises.
Then comes the part that’s less glamorous but arguably more valuable: looking at the numbers. Where did the new customers come from? What did they buy? Did they come back? And can the business handle another surge in demand without stretching itself too thin?
For Parikh, the ultimate goal isn’t necessarily to become the biggest brand in the room. It’s to build a business that can consistently deliver on what made people fall in love with it in the first place. “The real test of a partnership is what remains after the event is over,” he says. I’d argue the same goes for Fashion Week.
The next time an emerging designer has their big moment, by all means, celebrate it. Share the collection, save the look, tell your friends about the brand. But remember that behind those beautiful clothes is someone managing inventory, negotiating with manufacturers, answering customer emails, and figuring out how to make the next collection happen.
Fashion Week might introduce us to our next favorite designer. What happens afterward determines whether we’ll still be shopping their collections five years from now.
And as Harris reminds us, designers aren’t just here to put on a good show. “Designers are in business to make money, to expand their brands globally.”
Let’s make sure they get the chance to do exactly that.
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