26 Successful Clothing Brands & Entrepreneurs To Inspire You

My name is Ray Li and I’m the founder of Sene. We combine classic styles with radical comfort, and custom-make each piece to fit. Every order is covered by our 60 Day Guarantee - free alterations, remakes, exchanges and returns.

Our collection for men and women currently spans custom shirts, custom pants and bottoms, custom outerwear, custom suits.

Hey there! My name is Kyle Bergman, and I am the Founder and Chief Swoverall Officer of The Great Fantastic. My brand’s mission is to create the world’s comfiest apparel products made from sustainable materials, and ethical manufacturing practices.

Our hero product, Swoveralls, is the combination of sweatpants and overalls into one glorious masterpiece. I sold my first pair about 18 months ago, and have done over $300k to date all while not only having a variety of full and part-time jobs, but also going to business school, and playing lacrosse for the Israeli Men’s National Team.

The backstory to the creation of Choast came from a long time of smoking weed with friends and being around people you can be yourself with. This is a very important aspect to us because being able to be yourself and not have the stress of being judged by your peers or friends really allows that person to be who they truly are.

Choast has become one of the most well known upcoming brands within the Toronto community and also within the cannabis niche suiting stoners all around. Having products ranging from hoodies to stickers, Choast has made an impact on the stereotype surrounding cannabis with the younger generation, creating a new way of thinking around cannabis. Choast is making $5,000 per month.

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!

My name is Johanna and I own and run the Clever Travel Companion together with my husband. We are originally from Sweden. Nowadays, we live an entirely location independent/nomadic or whatchamacallit lifestyle together with our eight year old son. It has taken a number of years to get to this point, but the goal when starting our company was always to be able to live off of an online based business so we would never be tied down to any one place or work location. Starting and being successful with our company has enabled us to live the life we want. That said it was not always easy and it has taken a lot of work to get here.

We started the company in a niche we know well - travel. Having been pickpocketed ourselves on our travels we decided to design products that would prevent other travelers from meeting the same fate or from simply misplacing or dropping their money or passports somewhere off the beaten path. Our products include underwear, t-shirts, leggings, hoodies, dresses and scarves, all with secret, zippered pockets to hide a travelers’ valuables. We have all seen the Amazing Race and how almost every season a team misplaces their passports, and went on to lose the race, right? If they had only had one of our products that would not have happened. After all, no one misplaces the clothing (especially not their underwear) on their body! Our best seller these days is our circle scarf with two secret pockets that hide passports, cell phones, cash and credit cards. No pickpocket can get to the traveler’s valuables when zipped and hidden in any of our travel products with secret zippered pockets.

Hi! My name is Ellen Hamilton and I’m a Founder and CEO of Chemo Cozy; a company that makes fashionable and functional apparel designed to provide warmth and comfort to patients during infusion treatments.

We now have customers in all 50 states and internationally and have three online stores- our website chemocozy.com, an Etsy shop, and now a store on Amazon.

My name is Connor Curran, and I’m one of the co-owners of Local Laundry. We’re Canadian-made garments for social good. We’re determined to make the most socially conscious and most comfortable garments possible. We make garments that make you look good and feel good.

Hello everyone, my name is Jesse James and I am the visionary of Yoke Apparel Manufacturing which is located in Vietnam. Yoke is a fully comprehensive clothing manufacturing service specializing in low minimum order quantities.

Covid19 interruptions and restrictions have prevented us from increasing our capacity which has been hard to watch as a business owner. However, we are excited to open up the floodgates as customer demand is strong and we could expect to grow 2-3x sustainably per annum.

My name is Julian O’hayon and I am the co-founder of Blvck Paris, a company selling the highest quality and minimalistic, black-themed products to enhance your lifestyle.

From the very start, Blvck Paris grew very quickly. The company was founded towards the end of 2017 and in just two years, we grew a cult following online with over 640,000 followers on our Instagram account @black. We have also exclusively collaborated with renowned brands such as Hugo Boss on premium office accessories in 2018.

My name is Fran Dunaway and I am CEO and Co-Founder of TomboyX. We make underwear, swim, and loungewear that isn’t for everybody but is for anybody.

That’s right, a gender-neutral company that is focused on fit and quality. We are all inclusive so offer every style in sizes XS to 4X. We’ve gone from zero employees 2 years ago to 15 today and have consistently increased our revenue over 100% each year.

Hippy Feet is a Minneapolis-based sock and apparel company dedicated to supporting the homeless community. Each product sold allows Hippy Feet to provide transitional employment to young people ages 16-24 who are experiencing homelessness.

Hey Dreamers! Welcome to the journey! My name is Katlyn and I am the owner of Blue Skies & Ko Boutique. Blue Skies & Ko offers hand-stamped pieces of jewelry, simplistic and trendy pieced jewelry, and now clothing!

Just before I jumped into my dream here with Blue Skies & Ko I was just your average server at a tavern making roughly 25K a year… This leap easily doubled my income within just a few short months.

Former Macy's employee Natalie Gomez started selling dresses on Poshmark and soon made $10,000 in one month.

• Natalie Gomez left her job at Macy’s as a merchandise planner and in a few months, started her side hustle as an online retailer on Poshmark.
• In Feb 2016, she started her journey. She would buy clothing items at cheap rates from local thrift stores and sell them for a higher price at her Poshmark store.
• Her business soon took flight and she achieved a sale of $10,000 in just one month.
• This gave her the boost and motivation to continue this as a full-time career.

Read the full story on cnbc.com →

• Michael Preysman is the founder of this direct-to-consumer clothing brand named Everlane.
• Their story began in 2010 when a 25-year-old American thought of creating a brand that would stand out from the competition.
• Their current mission is to help people put their best fashion foot forward while having minimal effect on the environment.
• Michael’s vision for success came true when he witnessed his company’s value increase from $0 to $100M+ in just 6 years.

Read the full story on pixelphant.com ➜

• Marcus Harvey is the founder & owner of the Portland Gear.

• He started a page on Instagram by the name of @portland page in 2013 out of his love for Portland. Marcus slowly managed to build a community of Portlanders and thought of leveraging this audience base.

• He had a background in garment design & branding and decided to launch his brand Portland Gear on Black Friday of 2014.

• The brand has now been established as a retail clothing store offering quality menswear items & accessories.

• Marcus wants to create products and experiences that people actually want to use and share in order to foster a sense of community in this amazing city of Portland.

Read the full story on upflip.com ➜

• Voonik was founded by Navaneetha Krishnan and Sujayath Ali to customize the shopping experience for both men and women.
• This is one of the fastest-growing fashion shopping apps for women in India, where you can purchase clothing that complements your physique, personality, lifestyle, and preferred spending limits.
• Their app has received over 1M downloads and completes more than a million transactions each month.
• This brand's first desktop website, Voonik.com, launched in March 2013.

Read the full story on startupnewsxp.blogspot.com ➜

• Founders Tom Montgomery, Preston Rutherford, Hency, and Ranier Castillo started this menswear brand called Chubbies in 2011.
• They offer various items, including swimsuits, bathing suits, swim shorts, casual wear, and accessories for men.
• The fact that the brand's founders were skilled at producing and marketing clothing played a crucial part in the brand's success.
• Since Chubbies was founded, it has grown its net sales from $2.4 million in 2012 to $44.1 million in 2020.

Read the full story on medium.com ➜

• Ashley Merrill is the dynamic founder and CEO of the upscale sleepwear company named Lunya.
• The brand offers stylish sleepwear and rest wear for both men & women that spell out comfort in bold letters.
• In 2012, she started working on her concept for a business based on upscale materials like cashmere and alpaca, never forgetting the comfort and strongly emphasizing body-flattering cuts.
• Since its official launch, the company has grown YoY by 500%.

Listen to the full podcast on storybehindthebrand.libsyn.com ➜

• Paige Lauren, a former architectural designer, established PaigeLauren, a luxury baby clothing company, in 2009.
• PaigeLauren baby clothes are simple, made with incredibly soft & organic fabrics, and have a luxurious look & feel. -The idea came from her quest to find simple & classic baby clothes for her friends.
• The premium organic baby clothing brand makes clothes for babies & toddlers in Los Angeles and is available in stores across the USA.
• This brand has made a huge name in the cute & comfy baby clothing market, and its current monthly revenue is around $650,000.
• They promote their brand on Instagram and have a modest 16K plus followers.

Read the full story on entrepreneur.com ➜

• Stephanie, a successful businesswoman & inventor, along with her husband, Brett Parker, founded Sleeping Baby, a baby product line.
• The couple turned a common parenting issue into a multi-million dollar invention thanks to their keen sense for problem-solving and love of all things parenting.
• Sleeping Baby was established in 2013 with just $500 for a website and $200 for materials.
• Their signature product, a baby swaddle line named Zipadee-Zip is their best-seller item and is loved by new parents.
• Stephanie and her husband Brett even appeared on the well-known ABC reality TV program Shark Tank, asking for $200,000 in exchange for a 10% stake.

Read the full story on dfwchild.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 ➜

Tommy John is a vertically integrated consumer brand in the underwear market that Erin Fujimoto and Tom Patterson founded.

In 2008, Tommy John made its debut with the first patented undershirt in the world with a stay-tucked guarantee. Since then, the company has grown to include underwear, socks, casual wear, and activewear.

Other than operating online, they are currently focused on opening their brick-and-mortar stores and have recently expanded to offer direct-to-consumer women's clothing.

In 2012 they focused more on building a direct-to-consumer relationship to offer better products and improve customer experience. Since 2014 the company's revenue has seen a five times growth, and recently, they sold their 5 millionth pair of underwear.

The brand has been highlighted in the Wall Street Journal, Esquire, GQ, and Golf Digest, among other publications. Additionally, you can currently find Tommy John's products in over 1000 retail locations across the USA.

Listen to the full podcast on podcasts.apple.com ➜

MeUndies is a brand of men's and women’s underwear that was started by Jonathan Shokrian in 2011.

Jonathan was fed up with the unpleasant buying experience while shopping for underwear and collected $400,000 primarily from family & friends to start a millennial-friendly online store for underwear.

In 2014, MeUndies made headlines after Facebook blocked some of its ads because some photos of scantily-clad models in the company’s underwear were in breach of Facebook’s advertising guidelines.

This eventually brought them a significant amount of media attention which resulted in sales growth.

In recent years, the popularity of MeUndies has grown a lot since younger generations started turning away these big traditional brands like Hanes or Victoria’s Secret.

MeUndies has more than 500k+ Facebook fans and 340+ Instagram followers thanks to endorsements from stars like Kylie Jenner and the Hadid sisters.

Read the full story on cnbc.com ➜

Justis Pitt-Goodson is the founder, creative director, and CEO of the Newark, NJ-based BrownMill clothing company.

• Pitt-Goodson and two friends(Taha Shimou and Kwaku Agyemang) built the idea for the streetwear brand. He dropped out of college after two years to pursue his business full-time.

• BrownMill company attracts NBA players as customers and brought in $327,000 in revenue in 2021.

• Justis Pitt-Goodson studied business management at Rutgers University-Newark.

• Pitt-Goodson took internships with stylists and fashion brands in New York while juggling classes.

About BrownMill Clothing Company

The BrownMill Company idea started in 2009 when Justin and his friends decided to create an innovative streetwear brand of luxury clothing touted as a combination of bespoke tailoring and lifestyle.

BrownMill’s clothes are produced using recycled textile material from clothing waste.

How grew BrownMill into a household name

When Justis Pitt-Goodson looks back on his first bow ties, he says he can’t believe he could sell the crooked-seamed designs. But the experience gave him the strength to pursue his dream of streetwear clothes.

After two years, Pitt-Goodson dropped out. He figured since he already knew he wanted to grow his clothing line, his time would be better spent doing exactly that.

Justin and his partners Taha Shimou and Kwaku Agyemang, grew the brand by promoting its online store at local pop-up events until March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic.

Began shutting down in-person gatherings. Pushing to open a brick-and-mortar location, the co-founders raised money through crowdsourcing, subscription packages, and outdoor, socially distanced pop-ups.

BrownMill Subscription Model

The subscription model was a product of the co-founders’ audience analysis and their need to generate income. He says he noticed returning customers buying about 12 items across the site every year, so BrownMill responded by offering tiers of bundled clothing ranging from $200 to $1,000 per year in cost.

Customers still spend roughly the same amount in total, a subscription gives people monthly credits to spend on the site, but BrownMill gets the money upfront and uses it on new machinery to help scale the company, Pitt-Goodson explains.

The brand brought in $86,000 in 2020, enabling the founders to put down a $7,000 deposit on a Newark storefront that opened in June 2021. They chose the location due to Newark’s distinct shopping culture, which Pitt-Goodson discovered while working at a nearby sneaker store in college.

Increase Business Sales & Future Plans

In 2023, Pitt-Goodson hopes to reach $2 million in annual revenue by getting BrownMill into traditional retail stores, as per Pitt-Goodson’s thoughts.

Over the next five years, he wants to open two more storefronts in “growing Black communities” like Atlanta, Los Angeles, or Accra, Ghana. He’s cautious about over-expanding.

We don’t want to grow to be too big because then we lose quality control or coolness.

Locally, BrownMill sponsors community basketball games and an urban garden in Newark, and Pitt-Goodson says he wants to be seen as an example of entrepreneurial success in his neighborhood.