The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company for 2025 paints a pretty clear picture of the challenges and opportunities ahead for small, independent and artisanal designers like you. 

With so much uncertainty I thought it’d be helpful to break down the key takeaways and how they might impact your work moving into 2025.

A Shift in Consumer Behaviour
First off, the market is still pretty tough. Consumers are still feeling the pinch and are more price-conscious than ever but this shift is NOT just about discount shopping—there’s more demand for value, which includes embracing things like resale, off-price, and, believe it or not, even dupes!!

As an independent designer, this could mean reconsidering your pricing strategy but much more importantly, and what I tell the designers in Fashion Entrepreneurs Academy, it’s about how you communicate the value of your work.

Regional Shifts

If you are an indie fashion designer wondering how long your business can keep going before you throw in the towel, then this is for you:

Lack of funds is understood to be the #1 reason for fashion businesses failing but that is part of a wider core reason.

We all have a specific threshold where if something gets too close to success, too expensive or too uncomfortable where we give up.

So, it’s not actually the lack of funds that is the REAL cause of the business failure. It is actually the business owners’ mindset.

It’s their fear of success, fear of not being able to get the funding to continue, their fear of having to struggle through or their unwillingness to make sacrifices and/or compromises to continue despite the lack of funds.

Successful business owners are tenacious and believe in themselves and their business idea longer than most people do.

It is the 1% who are willing to do what 99% of people won’t who get the success most people don’t.

Successful fashion designers hold on to t...

Every week I talk to fashion startups who want to get their designs in front of the RIGHT people who will actually buy.  You want to show at fashion week, get stocked in Harrods or Neiman Marcus and have consistent sales on your website!

The problem is you are stuck in designer jail creating products for the WRONG audience who won’t pay what you are charging.

You hoped that posting on instagram 3 times a week would build an audience but you just get 5 likes, 1 spam comment and zero engagement.

So how DO you target the RIGHT audience?

• You can use social media;
• Participate in makers markets or pop-ups;
• Join a fashion launch accelerator with collective fashion week showcase.
• Or pay £10k to £300k for your own fashion show.

But for social media to generate sales you need to nurture thousands of followers and how can they value your products over fast fashion when they can’t touch & feel the quality and, since you are just one of 2 billion users on instagram, how will people trus...

SHOWCASE YOUR COLLECTION DURING FASHION WEEK
Even if you are just starting out!

Have you always dreamt of showing your fashion collection at fashion week….

Well…. Some of the designers in Fashion Entrepreneurs Academy experienced the esteemed opportunity of showcasing their collections during Fashion Week in February after just a few months in the programme.

Most were starting from scratch and some hadn’t even gone to fashion school but this is what they achieved.

Lotte said she loved being part of the showrooom and that it was an “amazing unreal experience”…..

Natasha said she "felt lucky to be mentored by [yours truly] in Fashion Entrepreneurs Academy" …

Tiffany said "it was a great experience". She "loved talking to press and buyers", who all loved her collection, and she finally "felt like a fashion designer" and entrepreneur!

Our spotlight designer even received celebrity treatment from a barrage of fashion press.

In less than 6 months you too could experience this when you become a mem...

Relying on social media marketing to grow your fashion brand is DEAD!☠️

Huhhh. 🫣……

OK…..   I am being a little dramatic!!!  🤣 

BUT the reality is that you can no longer rely SOLELY on social media marketing if you want to avoid an empty order book!

According to McKinsey & Company BRAND MARKETING is back!!   

They said in their annual State of Fashion report that [in 2024] 71 percent of executives plan to spend more on brand marketing than in 2023.

So what does this mean for you as an independent fashion designer….

It means that brand marketing is more relevant in 2024 and you cannot be AS dependent on Instagram!!   

You need both social media AND brand marketing!  

In 2024 your Instagram, other social media marketing and Facebook (Meta) ads demand more raw authenticity than ever….  and your content needs to be turbocharged to create an emotional connection if you want to drive people to eventually become a customer.

A HUGE mistake I see hundreds of ...

If you are sitting at the same desk surrounded by the same people, doing the same boring job 8 hours a day 5 days a week and basically feeling soooo creatively repressed ….  

...but you’ve always dreamt of becoming a fashion designer….  Then isn’t it time you took charge of your life before it’s too late?

Most of us are indoctrinated to believe that getting a well paid secure professional 9 to 5 job with a big pay check is the right thing to do if you want happiness, self fulfilment and stability ….. and sometimes it’s just to please your family!

But is it worth denying what you really want?

When you are young you just do what you are told so it is natural to follow the path that your family want for you….   

...and when you are young you don’t yet have the life experience to realise that a big pay check can never make you happy.   So it is normal for us to unwittingly follow that path.

But if a 9 to 5 with a big pay check was enough to make you happy then the...

Most of the designers I meet are working 14 hour days designing and doing photoshoots but struggle to get any more than 300 views and 5 likes on Instagram.   They think social media is the only solution but it is not…  

So, take off your Gucci sunglasses and watch closely because I am about to show you how to FINALLY get your brand noticed:

STEP ONE

Firstly here’s how to turn your audience into loyal customers.  Most  fashion startups burn themselves out designing amazing collections for an audience who don’t actually want to buy them. 

So they invest more time and money designing more and more products but it doesn’t matter how many products you design if people don’t resonate with your brand they won’t buy. 

Instead what you want to do is define the vibe of your brand.  This is an attitude or feeling  that will inform your designs,  photography, videography, and merchandising so that all your designs and communication of them are consistent and aligned with what your audie...

Most fashion designers, when pricing their garments and products, will follow a percentage mark-up method which should ideally leave them with a workable profit margin.

However it’s never that simple because some customers don’t care what your make price is,  the pricing method used or even how much profit you made.  They just want the BEST!   ….  

Some want the cheapest but some customers want the BEST;   the most durable; lowest cost per wear; the most timeless or some want the best fit.

Of course it’s understandable that you use the percentage mark up method because it’s what you’ve been taught to do and it is the simplest way to approach pricing…..

But I don’t need to tell you that when your garments are priced like this you STILL get people telling you the price is too high! … and thousands of designers all over the planet use this method and STILL can’t sell enough to make a profit.

The popcorn you buy at the movies has a mark-up of around 1,000%.     You happ...

If all independent Fashion Designers get behind a new concept we could create a paradigm shift in the fashion industry, making it much easier for small creative fashion designers to thrive alongside the big brands.

I call this concept LUXIE.    Luxie is a hybrid concept where big LUXURY brands collaborate with small INDIE designers.

When I started my business in the 90’s consumers wanted big brand labels so it was a struggle and that’s why I want to make it easier for independent designers to thrive in a much more even playing field without the struggles we experienced.

For the first time in at least 40 years more consumers now actually do want to buy from small independents and at long last realise that it is cool to buy more authentic, unique products produced in small quantities and to have a real connection with the designer.

I think the large luxury brands could risk becoming dinosaurs if they don’t adapt and the most obvious solution is for them to work with, spon...

Wanting To Sell More Is Not Going To Help You Sell More!

Don’t worry.  I understand why you want that.   Every independent fashion designer wants to sell more and you might have been trying for at least three months to sell but can’t find enough people who will actually pay for your fashion products or garments.

But I’m going to ask you a question:

If you were an accessory designer selling £50 purses to gen Z direct to consumer and a futurist said to you “I’ve looked into your future and you are going to get one new sale in the next 90 days” would you be jumping up and down in excitement that you had made….  Erm, lets see 🤔 £3.33 a week.

But, if you were the designer of exclusive designer pieces selling wholesale at £1,000 to high end retailers such as Neiman Marcus who has 36 locations and would  probably buy a significant number of each piece and that soothsayer or futurist said the same thing ….  “I’ve looked into your future and you will get one new sale in the next...