Starting any business isn’t easy, especially one in fashion. From landing on an idea to seeing it through, most entrepreneurs will tell you the journey is a long one that involves much trial and error.
In 2020, many brands came to fruition via direct-to-consumer as traditional retail suffered. At the time, digitally-native companies were be able to be more agile thus capturing sales and customer attention, which resulted in an influx of Covid-born companies. Now, competition is more fierce than ever as the market continues to be saturated.
Here, the founders of emerging brands Courser, Amanu and Larroudé offer advice on how to start a shoe brand and how to stand out.
Have a strong foundation and find purpose
When celebrity stylist Anita Patrickson launched Amanu in April 2018, the goal was to create human connection and to celebrate an ancient craft of sandal-making. Five years later, the brand has expanded exponentially. She has since opened a flagship studio in Los Angeles, along with outposts at the Esperanza Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and at Singita lodges in Africa, in addition to Amanu’s own direct-to-consumer site. Now, she’s entered wholesale with partnerships at Moda Operandi, Saks, Nordstrom and Net-a-porter.
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Patrickson credits the authenticity of her brand for its success so far.
“The internet obviously leveled the playing field for everybody. But it also just created so much noise that, more than ever, it’s about finding that point of differentiation, what makes you really unique, because you have to cut through so much noise,” she told FN.
Knowing what the brand stands for and staying true to that ethos is also of upmost importance, Patrickson explained.
“When you start losing that, it just becomes another brand, another thing, another item, another piece of clothing that’s going to get chucked into your closet and worn or not worn. It’s creating that connection to what you buy,” she said.
For Courser, a made-in-Italy, luxury performance sneaker brand, creating a company that was personal has helped weather challenges that arise.
“Have a strong enough idea that is personal to you. You’re gonna spend all your time on this, so make sure it’s something that you really want to do,” said Courser’s founder and creative director, Johnny Kraljevich.
Ask for Help
In Patrickson’s case, though she’s had a long career in fashion, she entered the shoe industry with no experience, so asking for help has been crucial to her success, she said.
“No one’s good at everything. If there’s an area I don’t know much about, I want to learn so that I still feel in control, but I do need the advice of people who are better than me in whatever area it is,” she said. To that end, Patrickson recently brought in Catherine Leavitt as president of Amanu.
Get experience first
“My honest advice to anyone is to get your experience someplace else first,” Marina Larroudé said.
From editorial to retail, the former Style.com editor and Barneys fashion director took all of her knowledge from the industry and launched her own lifestyle brand, Larroudé, in 2020, after years in the business. “It’s extremely important, no matter if it is footwear or anything else. It’s like having a child. It’s 24/7. There’s not a time that you’re not thinking about it and you’re not working on it. I think you’re going to make fewer mistakes financially if you already know what to do,” she explained.
Ditch the ego
When it comes to a leading a startup and serving a consumer, experts agree that you must check your ego at the door.
“There is no vanity. There is no ego in that sense,” Larroudé said about developing the designs for her women’s shoe brand. “I didn’t get into the business with my idea on how I want women to dress. I came into it thinking, ‘Who is this woman? Where’s she going? What is everyone’s lives like?’ And then how can you make that daily life a little bit better.”
Courser managing director Tyler Fairchild said that its also important to by humble on the business side and keep a steady hand.
“Nobody is going to be well versed in everything coming into a scrappy opportunity like this,” he said. “You’re going to make a ton of mistakes. You just have to make sure that those mistakes are manageable and you learn from them — and that you don’t replicate them. You’re never going to be a perfect brand, but from all the challenges that you face, you just get better and smarter.”
Focus on an omnichannel approach
In just three years, Larroudé has become one of the fastest-growing shoe businesses, with accounts at Nordstrom, Saks, Revolve, ShopBop, Bloomingdale’s and more. The company started with four employees and now has 70. Part of the growth comes from the brand’s sales strategy that includes wholesale as well as direct-to-consumer.
“If you’re starting from scratch, you need to understand margins. I would do something that could be hybrid [in terms of distribution] because then you can pivot. If you start one way or the other, I think you’re already narrowing your options,” she said.
For many brands, starting direct-to-consumer is the easiest, most cost-effective way to launch. Although, the execs at Courser (a digitally-native brand) said the days of building a billion-dollar DTC brand with one channel are long gone.
“We want to try to remain [in control] as much as we can, but we need support. We need some other digital channels,” said Fairchild. “Our focus is digital and the digital component of some of these other large luxury department stores. If you’ve been embraced by some of these more premium stores, you have [credibility]. You know the brand has been vetted by a merchandise team over there. But you’ll never find us everywhere; we’re still going to be highly selective.”
Don’t wait for funding
There are many pros and cons for both self-funding and finding investment to start a business. And while Courser has raised significant funding to date, they don’t think it should be a necessity to launch.
“If we would have waited for money, we wouldn’t be here,” added Kraljevich. “You can start small — we started small. We were able to build something that we could project to people. What I’ve learned is people are a little more receptive to joining your idea if you’ve already done the work on it — whether it be tangible or down the line where you can see a form to it. I wouldn’t let funding stop you from starting, but you do have to manage your expectations.”
