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...

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...

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...

A once-in-a-lifetime RADICAL shift in the fashion landscape is leading the way to create exciting possibilities for Fashion Designers to build successful brands from their OWN HOMES.

Consumers now actually WANT to buy authentic products from small artisanal designers and social media is providing low cost or free ways for designers to promote their designs on a much more even playing field.

This will result in a NEW AGE for designers to work in a more ethical, sustainable way around their lifestyles and many designers have already adapted to this SHIFT building successful brands from their KITCHEN TABLE or spare BEDROOM.

Over the last 3 decades big fast fashion companies made it impossible for independent designers to compete with their large marketing budgets and exploitative low manufacturing costs. 

So, while these big companies were polluting the planet, overproducing and undervaluing staff ambitious designers had to give up dreams of running their own fashion busin...

Why you DON'T want to be the most OUTSTANDING, conceptual fashion designer!

Most fashion designers think it's becoming really great at DESIGN that leads to fame and success but that is the most DELUSIONAL idea thats actually likely to keep you broke.

If you keep thinking success comes from putting 100% of your attention into being an outstanding designer you could actually just be working yourself into burn out with no sales or profit to show for your efforts.

If this is you your audience probably don’t even appreciate the quality and craftsmanship of your products so you are undercharging...

... and now you are running out of money,  wondering how to pay for your next collection and you’re tired of posting on social media every day when nothings selling!

If it was true that every conceptual, innovative design sold then EVERY  conceptual designer who JUST focused on design would be successful and we all know that is NOT what happens!! …

 ….   On the other hand w...

If you’re a fashion designer who’s been burning yourself out working 14 hour days, falling asleep on the sewing machine to produce your fashion collection but you’re now wondering why nothing is selling.

If you’re feeling a bit defeated, wondering why no-one is buying and losing your motivation to continue with your dream business…

… then I bet you are doing one or more of these three things:

1️⃣You are designing a large collection that offers too much choice so you burn out your health and finances in the process and your customers are confused by the choice so end up choosing nothing.

2️⃣You didn’t edit your collection strategically in such a way that would increase sales yet reduce resources.

3️⃣You didn’t consider what your audience actually want and will be willing to pay for when editing your collection……. Or didn’t edit at all!

If you are doing one or more of these three things then you don’t want to miss my free workshop when I’ll show you the essential strategies every fashion desig...

The biggest mistake I see most fashion designers making is thinking they can build a successful fashion business without learning some contemporary business skills or a launch formula and this is the worst assumption they could make.

But it’s not actually the designers fault.  Traditional fashion education wrongly lead them to believe that conceptual artistic skills is all you need to be a famous fashion designer!   So its understandable that’s what all designers think.

And if it was possible then all designers who launched a business without business skills would be a raving success and we all know that’s not the case.   Many graduate designers who thought the didn’t need any business skills are left penniless with a failing business after just a year or two.

In fact if you continue to think you don’t need any contemporary business skills you will just be investing in an expensive hobby with no strategy for growth and how many years can you keep doing that? 

So how can...