37 Fashion Designers Success Stories

August of 2015. A year in which I, Cotilda Makhumula-Nkhoma the designer was concluding a Master’s degree in Future Design and began a 2-year program of business enterprise at Teesside University. Through this program known as FUEL, business mentoring, workshops and funding were made possible in supporting COTILDA a recent graduate to kick start an online clothing business.

One of the very first designs that we worked on with Bryan, the Dashiki Royalty Shirt in White

Hi, My name is Susan Costanza, I am the designer and founder of Sleeves 2 Go Inc.

I started my company with a very small personal investment and chose not to take on any debt or loans. I wanted to build the company slowly and not overextend myself. My company is small but I am happy to say that Sleeves 2 Go has been profitable.

My name is Anthony Mellor, I’m the Founder & Director of Absolute Fitness Apparel. I started AFA at the age of 18, with no business experience, or any degrees/ qualifications in anything business related.

We are an online based fitness-fashion brand that operates out of London, United Kingdom. We’ve successfully launched 5 lines, ranging from cut off tees, all the way to tech jackets.

My name is Steph and I am the founder for OceanZen which is a sustainable swimwear brand that uses a fabric made from recycled plastic bottles and fishing nets from the ocean.

I launched OceanZen in my final year of uni with $5,000, so I started small with only a couple of hundred pieces. Now we manufacture and produce thousands on sustainable bikinis and ship them globally!

Hi guys! My name is Miriam Zelinsky and I’m the founder of Lazyjack Press. I started the company more than five years ago in order to create a better quality prep brand.

Customers will regularly tell me how well my ties physically tie and how they’re better than, not only the other prep brands but the bigger European players in the game, which was shocking to me! I never intended to compete with the big designers – I just wanted to create a fun and better quality brand. It’s not only the monetary success, but the positive feedback and seeing people’s reactions when they learn the name of a tie makes it all extremely worth it!

My name is Jackie Burke and I am the founder of Tini Lux. Tini Lux is the first line of fashion earrings made specifically for people with metal allergies and sensitive ears.

This month, Susan Kelechi Watson, a star of the NBC show This Is Us is was on the COVER of Good Housekeeping magazine wearing a pair of Tini Lux earrings. Seeing that cover photo was a serious pinch-me moment.

My name is Brittany Finkle and I am the founder of Happily Ever Borrowed.

We understand that accessorizing your bridal day look can be an added & unexpected cost. For example, a veil that might only be worn for 30 minutes of your wedding day can be an added expense of $2000! But that doesn’t mean you want a cheaper, poor quality item. We let brides borrow our high-end designer accessories for about 80-90% off the retail price; allowing them to have a luxury item for a fraction of the cost.

My name is Ahyoung Kim Stobar, founder and designer of Joah Love, a children’s lifestyle clothing brand. We make timeless, comfortable casuals for kids - spirited styles that they love to wear, in buttery soft, no-fuss fabrics their parents will love.

We’re proudly made in the USA, knitting most of our fabrics at local textile companies in Los Angeles - and we have made sustainability a priority for our brand, with plans to release limited edition capsule collections using up-cycled fabrics. I’m very excited about this!

We've also been featured on the cover of Glamour (on Anne Hathaway’s wrist), in Refinery29 and Elle, and on an episode of Good Morning America in November 2018. We are featured as one of Oprah’s favorite Valentine’s Day gifts in the February 2019 issue.

I am Tara Mikolay, one of the co-founders of Desires by Mikolay, a brand offering fine and designer jewelry, fashion and gift items, custom design and jewelry repair.

It is a personal motto that we never stop moving. We are constantly accessing how the business functions, if we are serving our customers properly, and what we can do to improve. Currently we are working on offering our customers even MORE ways to shop remotely. We want to make it an easy process for them to celebrate all their special occasions with us.

Hi I’m Jamie Clawson, and I run Jamie Clawson - a small business designing and producing leather products and accessories. I do everything from designing, testing, manufacturing, shipping etc. All operations are done in house.

I started this business with an idea from a friend after I lost my job. A friend of a friend of a friend was working at a shop with a laser cutter and I was able to go in and learn to to use it to make samples. I working out of my girlfriend/now wife’s living room. Things slowly grew and I now own my own laser cutter and work in a really cool shop with other designers/makers.

At the moment, this business is still a side hustle. Between my online store and the in person events I do, revenue averages to about 1.9k per month. Not bad for something that was started on a whim!

My name is Valentin Ozich. I'm the Founder and Creative Director of the men's premium streetwear brand; I Love Ugly.

Despite a few setbacks along the way and despite my lack of skills when I first started out, I believe we are back on the path to hit that goal and are proof that with a bold dream, ambition and hard work anybody has the potential to turn an idea that began out of your bedroom into a multi-million dollar business.

Hey, my name is Lachlan Sonter and I’m the owner, designer and everything guy for the Australian Lux Streetwear brand, Deal with Devil. This business started, in 2017, out of a necessity for my own well-being, and has been working creatively through the brand ever since.

Customers are always so grateful for the service we provide always trying to reach a luxurious standard whilst at an affordable price for many people. And people are always so connected to the story about dealing with our demons and what that impact is on all our lives. Having that feedback from customers is what makes me want to continue this story and push for more collections and reach more audiences, because we all have these negative moments in our lives, and we can all relate to them. I think that’s what makes the brand so special.

Hey guys! My name is Matthew Walters and I’m the founder of CODDI™, a boot company based in Chicago. We launched on Kickstarter in January of this year and raised just over 61K, doubling our goal of 30K. After 4 months of building and shipping the boots to the states, we finally launched our website this June.

This summer we have only utilized free marketing (Instagram/Facebook/Reddit posts). We have not done any paid advertising yet as we are waiting for fall to hit as that is peak purchasing season for boots.

My name is Steve Radke and I’m the Founder and CEO of Short Steve Button Downs.

Hi, guys we are Ryan and Alex Hutchinson from the Fashion Accessories label Mahiya. A husband and wife team from the Gold coast in Australia. Mahiya means ‘My Love’ and we specialize in bohemian leather products including women's purses, handbags, footwear, and clothing.

Hi, I’m Tanya Zhang, co-founder of Nimble Made, a D2C e-commerce menswear brand selling “actually slim” fit dress shirts. We created our own unique, actually-slim sizing for dress shirts with a trimmed shirt length, sleeve length, and back/shoulder measurements. Our sizes are based on a function of height and weight for a better slim fit off-the-rack. Our customers are anyone looking to buy a slim-fitting dress shirt online.

As Asian-American founders, we're changing the dynamic clothing landscape to include men of all body types, starting with a slim fit that actually fits. Watch our interview with MONEY Magazine here.

Hi there, Tramell McInnis here. I am the Owner & Co Designer here at LilKong Brand. I started working on my lifestyle designer fashion brand in late 2017. I got it established mid-2018.

Within 3 years of launch, our expected business evaluation is to be around $300,000.

Hello! My name is Lisa Miller-Mecham. I’m a creative mom of 4 who runs a craft/sewing website called CreativeFashionBlog.com. I started out as an accessory designer, turned award-winning fashion designer, turned DIY blogger… and now a profitable sewing pattern maker.

My best month so far in 2020 has generated slightly over $15,000 while working part-time. I’m actually launching a course next month to show other creative women how to do the same!

My name is Jason and I am the co-owner of SexyModest.com. My wife and I design and manufacture modest women’s clothing that is available online and in Costco.

I’m Susannah Davda and I launched my business The Shoe Consultant in 2015. I help people to start shoe brands that delight their customers.

Before I launched The Shoe Consultant, people who wanted to start shoe companies struggled to gain access to this rather closed industry. Footwear business professionals didn’t see the point of nurturing those with no previous shoe experience. I didn’t think this was fair, so for the past five and a half years, I have helped dozens of entrepreneurs to enter the wonderful world of shoes.

Hello, my name is Lau García and I am the shoemaker, co-founder, and CEO of Zapato FEROZ, a children's footwear company that respects children's feet. I and my partner Héctor, are at the forefront of this brand that seeks to offer the best footwear for babies and children so that their feet are protected, healthy and at the same time enjoying the sensation of going barefoot.

Hi there! My name is Paul, I’m French but am based in Japan. I run a clothing brand called Ishihara Design that I started in early 2018. My main products are tee shirts and sweaters, and I sell to a very specific niche of customers that are really into music/visuals/aesthetics.

As of today, I moved on to other projects and am not at all working on the brand (might change soon though!), however, it is still making around $1,000/month!

Hi, I am Apaar from New Delhi, India and I am the founder of The Design Cart. I am a typical IT engineer + MBA grad and have worked with 2 of the largest Indian startups before starting my venture. The Design Cart is an online B2B sourcing portal for the fashion industry working with fashion designers, studios and apparel brands to help them source their raw material. We are currently operational only in India and help the fashion industry source textiles, fabrics, accessories, and trims, while also reducing their procurement timelines & costs by over 30%.

Currently we work with some of the top fashion & jewelry designers of India along with some Marquee apparel brands. Our monthly turnover just touched $80k+ in Feb’ 2020 till the Covid-19 crises emerged and shut everything down. Over the past 2 years we have serviced over 20,000+ unique designers & brands globally. On the other side our supply network has been expanding at a rapid pace and our technology is now deployed at over 200 large scale manufacturers and traders in India.

My name is Stacey, and I grew my handmade jewelry hobby into a business. Bang-Up Betty is subversive and sweet hand-stamped jewelry and funny, feminist gift items and apparel.

Bang-Up Betty started as a coffee table hobby and has grown into a business that can support me. Its average revenue is about $6,000 per month. Oh, and its named after my cat. His name is Betty and he has his own Instagram account (@bettyisaboy).

Hey … I’m Susie Shaughnessy, owner and designer of Crawford Denim and Vintage Co. The small-batch denim brand is a mix of New + Vintage apparel for Men + Women, rooted in classic Americana style. The new designs are influenced by the vintage collection but made to fit modern silhouettes. Each piece is crafted in California from deadstock or USA made goods.

I’ve been teaming up with some great friends to collaborate on designs in order to increase the reach of the brand. Selling the vintage collection monthly at Long Beach Flea Market has also helped introduce Crawford Denim to a much larger audience. These steps have incrementally increased traffic to the site and sales.

Hi there! My name is Aziza and I am the founder of Aziza Jewelry. Some of my most well-known pieces include my colorful gemstone hoop earrings and Mother-Daughter Earring Sets. My Mother-Daughter Earring Sets have become quite popular lately as a gift that men have been purchasing for the women in their lives as “Push Presents” (gifts for a new mom just after giving birth).

My name is Alex Moore. I’m originally from St. Louis, MO, USA but have lived overseas the last 11 years and am currently living near Queenstown, New Zealand, where I have been for the last 5 ½ years. I have a wife, Paula, and three children, Sophia & Grace (twins, age 5) and Beau (age 3). My main profession (no longer full time) is that I’m a primary school (elementary) PE teacher going on my 15th year.

Currently, between all of my sales at the markets, online, etc, my revenue is on average between $2500-3000 per month. One thing that people find unique about my product is that I personally make every piece of jewelry I sell.

Kashgar has recently closed its retail outlet and gone completely online.

I am Betsy and I run Betsy DeVille at betsydeville.com, an e-commerce business capturing the positive viewpoints of the atheist, humanist, freethinker, lifestyle and expressing them in fashion, accessories, home decor, and gifts.

My income has doubled each year and I estimate I had about $1000 in sales last year. I am also a full time professional in fintech, with a family. I aim to bring two new ornaments to market each year and to expand the brand into another space. This year, it was Instagram and neckties.

My name is James Wolfer, and I am the founder, owner, and operator of Valhalla Wood Forge. We are a veteran and first responder run woodworking company that started in 2017.

As an update, October 2019 was our biggest month yet, grossing $8500, with about a 70% profit. We paid ourselves $5000, and reinvested about $1000 into future product lines and another $600 in running Facebook and Google Ads. As of today, November 14, we're already at over $4,000 gross and have had a pretty good ROAS.

Hey, y’all I’m Cinquanta Cox-Smith I hate putting myself in a box, but If I had to explain what I do: I’m a Multipreneur. (Author, Podcaster, and Entrepreneur) I’ve been helping entrepreneurs start an EASY Print On Demand side hustle from anywhere for about 3 years now. I’m originally from a small town in South Carolina called Georgetown. It’s historic in many ways, especially for the Geechee Gullah culture. I’m an Army Veteran and my Husband (Shawn) is an active-duty soldier. We have 2 kids Kyree (15) and Sharye (12). Let’s not forget about our dog ChuChu. He's most definitely the star of this show.

I’ve always felt like this was just a hobby, or I was just making shirts but Print On Demand is so much more than that. It’s helped me create $7,000 in one month selling POD journals on Amazon KDP, it’s helped me land a Magazine Cover with my T-Shirts for Stars & Stripes (American Military Newspaper). It’s helped me teach over 10,000 people how to create passive & residual income from home with just a computer and some wi-fi. Most importantly it’s allowed me the gift of TIME. Time to spend and travel with my family. Once we get further along into this interview. I’ll tell you about how I accidentally started in the Print On Demand industry 12 years ago.

Wilglory Tanjong is a 25-year-old young entrepreneur who is the founder and designer of Anima Iris. This brand sells bright & colorful, fashionable geometric hand-stitched women's handbags to go with every outfit.

Anima Iris has made over $700,000 in lifetime sales since its launch in February 2020, including $603,819 in 2021 alone.

Wilglory developed this community using innovative content creation techniques and dynamic marketing initiatives. As a result, the company expanded quickly, and Beyoncé promoted one of their collection on her Instagram.

Recently, this business has been bringing in about $100,000 per month in revenue.

This company has been highlighted in Elle, Harper's Bazaar, InStyle, Vogue, and Essence. Additionally, Anima Iris appeared in Season 5 of Issa Rae's hit HBO series "Insecure".

Read the full story on cnbc.com ➜

Bella McFadden (a.k.a. Internet Girl) started iGirl in 2017, while she was a teenager growing up in Canada and building an alt-fashion community from the bottom using only social media, her own selected wardrobe, and Depop, a social e-commerce platform to buy & sell fashion.

Her aesthetic sense, inspired by Y2K emo culture made iGirl the underground internet's hottest commodity.

iGirl has quite a strong social media presence, and she uses this to her advantage to market her products online. The iGirl Instagram account has more than 380K followers and Bella’s YouTube channel Internet Girl has over 138K subscribers.

iGirl quickly went viral & instantly became popular in the goth-loving community once they launched their cult classic original accessories and apparel.

Bella became Depop’s first user to earn over 1 million dollars, is now living her best life in Los Angeles. As of Oct. 1, she's making the leap from app user to launching her own website, igirlworld.com, where she'll move away from resale and focus on selling her original designs under her brand name, iGirl.

Read the full story on thestar.com ➜