Behind the scenes of a Sale

When I first started this business, I approached it solely from the perspective of a fashion designer. I went to fashion school to learn how to make clothing that I felt was missing from the marketplace. Fast forward to today, and I feel like I’ve experienced a crash course in running a business. The easy part is designing the clothing; the challenging part is not only keeping the business afloat but growing it as well.

The basic premise—and perfect scenario—of running a clothing business is to design a collection, manufacture it, launch it, and have people buy it. Then, if you want to grow your revenue, you grow your production, right? Not exactly. As I look back at this past year, I knew that when we moved into a Showroom setting, my main focus would be e-commerce. This was because one of the most important things I learned through the pandemic was to have different channels supporting your business in order to grow.

To support this growth, I would need to increase production, but that would mean a higher investment for hard goods like fabric and the cost of cut and sew (a.k.a. manufacturing). It was easy to grow at the beginning of the year, with profits from Black Friday and the holiday season. This revenue allowed me to increase my purchases, add new styles and fabrics, and essentially grow the business. It was slow, gradual growth, but it was still growth.

However, in fashion, we create four seasonal collections a year, so I quickly realized that I would need another influx of funds in the middle of the year to sustain this growth. That’s where our Mid-Year Sale comes in. We created the Mid-Year Sale not only because it’s an opportunity for us to increase our production but also because it’s a great chance for more customers to shop our clothing at a lower price.

Throughout the years of running this business, I’ve slowly improved the quality of goods by forging relationships with new vendors. We’ve recently been able to source higher-quality fabrics, like our Rayon Jersey, Cotton Modal, Soft Ponte, and Double Knit fabrics. But as the CEO, I want to keep my retail prices within a reasonable price range. However, this has proven to be difficult at times. Fabric prices and the cost to manufacture have been increasing on average 5%–10% every year since 2019, but as a brand, we have tried to limit an increase in our markup.

I believe that the clothing we create makes women feel great about themselves. I also believe that everyone deserves to feel this good in their body, and I want to offer it to as many people as possible. I walk a fine line between profitability and accessibility, but I believe it will all balance out in the end.

With that being said, we knew we could make our brand more accessible through our Mid-Year Sale. Allowing more women to purchase higher-quality goods at a lower price is a goal of ours with this sale. It’s a win-win for both the customer and brand; it helps our company move inventory that’s sitting in our stockroom into an investment in our future. An investment towards growing our production, growing our revenue, and hopefully growing our reach, with the ultimate goal of better serving you, our amazing customers!

My bigger goal for this brand is to expand into other cities and states and offer our elevated basics and "confidence-building clothing" to more women throughout the USA. I want to take this time to thank you for being on this journey with me, for your continued support, and for your belief in me and my crazy dream. You are the foundation that allows me to dream big and reach for the stars. Thank you so very much, and I hope you are able to add something new to your closet during our sale!

- Allison