Still Think Fashion Design And Business Are Two Separate Things?

Still Think Fashion Design And Business Are Two Separate Things?

From the start, you were taught to keep them apart:

Design is creative.   Business is strategic.

Design comes from the heart.   Business comes from the head.

Design is cool.   Business is boring.

But what if that belief,  the one that feels so normal, so obvious,  is the exact thing holding you back?

Why So Many Designers Stay Stuck

Let’s look at what shaped this belief.

• Fashion school taught you how to develop concepts, sketch ideas and construct garments. But it didn’t show you how to build a business around that creativity.

• Internships taught you how to cut a perfect sleeve, not how to structure a launch or create demand.

• Awards celebrate “visionaries,” not profit margins. You’re praised for pushing creative boundaries—not for building a brand that actually grows and sustains itself.

So of course the “business side” feels like it belongs to someone else.
You weren’t trained for it. You weren’t rewarded for it.
And deep down, you might even believe that getting good at business would somehow dilute your creativity.

But let’s be honest for a second…

If Creatives Can’t Run the Business… Then Who Is?

If it were true that you need to “stay in your creative lane,” then:

• No creative director would ever run a fashion house.

• No independent designer would survive.

• And none of the brands you admire would be built by creatives.

But they are.

Examples You Can’t Argue With:

🟡 Stella McCartney didn’t just design sustainable clothes. She built a business model around ethical values — long before it was cool.

🟡 Phoebe Philo wasn’t just sketching. She designed the entire aesthetic system of Céline, from typography to lighting to store layout, and when she launched her own brand without even a preview, 275,000 people joined the waitlist.

🟡 Demna at Balenciaga turned fashion shows into cultural commentary. The IKEA bag moment, the Simpsons episode, the political statement runways.  These weren’t creative stunts. They were intentional, strategic business plays.

BALENCIAGA                                                                      IKEA       

If being “good at business” meant stepping away from creativity…
how are these designers selling out launches and landing global press without ever giving up creative control?

And if you’re not leading the business… then who is?

Someone who doesn’t understand the vision?
Someone who reduces your story to a spreadsheet?

That’s not leadership.   That’s compromise.

Design is business. You’ve just been taught not to own it.
Every fabric choice, silhouette, colour, caption, and campaign is a business decision,  whether you realise it or not.

What the Most Successful Designers Actually Do

They don’t separate creativity from commerce.

They build a structure where:

• Design drives strategy

• And strategy protects the design

 Here's the 3 step formula students go through inside my programme, Fashion Launch Catalyst, to launch brands with strategy that supports creativity:

🦋 INSPIRE – Design a launch plan before you design the collection.

Most designers pour everything into the collection… and have nothing left to actually sell it.

Instead, we flip the process:
You start by creating a launch plan that supports your creative vision, not suffocate it. That means:

• Setting timelines that make room for real craftsmanship

• Creating a realistic budget with space for PR, marketing, and content so the right people see your work.

• Knowing exactly what deliverables you’ll need before you start sampling

When the plan comes first, your creativity flows with structure, not stress.

🦋 CAPTIVATE – Let your narrative shape the collection.

Your story isn’t something you slap on in the press release.

It’s the thread that runs through every detail — the shapes, the styling, the visuals, the experience.

In this phase, you:

• Build a brand world around the collection’s theme

• Create editorial content that draws buyers in before they even see the clothes

• Develop copy, names, and visuals that sell through story

The goal?   Make the design itself your sales strategy, not a moodboard with a price tag.

🦋 AMPLIFY – Promote like a brand, not a panic-stricken creative.

Most designers finish the collection, then start to promote it.

But by that point, it’s already too late. Press timelines are gone. Buyers are booked. Momentum has vanished.

Instead, we map out your promotional runway at the same time you build your product runway.

That means:

• Scheduling press outreach and media drops in sync with sampling

• Designing social content while you're still in development

• Planning influencer or buyer touchpoints weeks before your reveal

Momentum isn’t magic. It’s mapped.

This Isn’t About Losing Creative Control — It’s About Owning It.

Structure doesn’t stifle creativity.
Structure protects it.
It makes space for your ideas to actually reach the people they’re meant for — without the burnout, the budget panic, or the last-minute scrambles.

The Truth?

The designers you admire aren’t just creative.
They’re structured.
They’re strategic.
They’re leading the entire brand. not just the part with sketches and fittings.

They didn’t get lucky.
They built the framework that made their creativity unmissable.

And If You Don’t?

If you keep clinging to the idea that you’re “not a business person”…
you’ll keep waiting.

Waiting for someone to “handle the business side.”
To fix the mess.
To explain the vision.
To rescue the brand.

But if the business fails, so does the design.
Because without structure, creativity can’t scale.

So Let Me Ask You:

Are you still waiting for someone else to lead?

Or are you ready to run the whole brand — your way?

If it’s the second, I’ve put together a Fashion Week Kick-Off Checklist,  a tool to help you bring structure to your next launch so your vision gets seen and sells.

👉 CLICK HERE to get the checklist & workbook.

Because real power isn’t just creative.
It’s creative with structure.

— Jane