RaiseFashion Panel Charts Path for Independent Designer

Independent designers have unprecedented visibility but often lack the business infrastructure to build lasting companies. This gap was the focus of a panel hosted by The Business of Fashion with talent incubator RaiseFashion on September 11 in New York.

According to a BoF and McKinsey report, 68 percent of American luxury clients said challenger brands reflect their identity better than legacy names. More than 60 percent said these brands feel more exclusive. Clients are gravitating towards labels that feel personal and culturally specific.

Turn Attention Into Action

Every panelist warned that getting noticed is not the same as getting paid. Felita Harris, co-founder of RaiseFashion, was direct. "Attention doesn’t equal momentum, and it doesn’t equate to revenue," she said. Hiywet "Mimi"Girma, founder of Yesaet, described her practical path. A single trade show led to a RaiseFashion connection and then to relationships with major retailers."Attention is great, but you have to turn attention into action,"she said. ## Grow on Your Own Terms

Sustainable growth depends on knowing which opportunities to walk away from.How we make the product is core to who we are, she said. Helfman said protecting a designer's creative instinct is a reliable partner's job.

Harris identified tension in retail infrastructure itself. Big retail systems were built for brands with large staffs, not for small independent labels. Designers face challenges being included in systems not meant for them, she said, citing shipping and sales reporting as friction points.

Build the Business Literacy

For Harris, closing the gap comes down to infrastructure. RaiseFashion’s network of 400 advisors is paired with a self-serve platform spanning 75 expertise categories. Harris pointed to outcomes: 85 percent of designers from the masterclass have expanded their distribution.

For Girma, that infrastructure changed her bottom line. It also eased the isolation of founder life. Helfman offered a parallel where Afterpay functions as working capital for brands. She described an independent Brooklyn designer who used it to reinvest in inventory.

The same logic sits behind the Designer Production Fund, presented by Afterpay. It provides production funding to help designers bring collections to market. The point, Helfman said, is that accessibility must work both for the consumer and the designer.

That question of access pushed Harris to write her forthcoming book, The Designer’s Path. The 14-chapter guide covers supply chain, community-building, and AI. It is aimed at designers who lack access to a programme like RaiseFashion’s. Harris said talented designers need access to advisors and more business literacy to unlock what’s possible.