Unlocking FashionTech: Your Guide to Building, Funding, and Scaling the Future of Fashion
Welcome to The Pattern Maker, the fashion industry report building the founder playbook and investment thesis for FashionTech.
How Did We Get Here?
When I was 20, I decided I wanted to dedicate my career to “pushing innovation and sustainability in fashion” after watching The True Cost (shoutout to Livia Firth for my career awakening).
At the time, sustainability was still a niche topic (circularity wasn’t even really the term yet), business innovation was seemingly not a priority for fashion, and very few founders were building FashionTech companies.
So, I started by learning the ropes in consulting and tech. Then, I tried “pushing” from the inside, working in business innovation for luxury fashion, and later from the outside as a FashionTech founder.
Since 2015, there’s been soooo much progress: more founders than ever are building in this category, more “early-adopter” brands are regularly partnering with startups, and more funding is coming to the category than ever before.
But I’ve seen firsthand—as an industry insider, outsider, and founder—that there are still key challenges we need to overcome to unlock this category’s real potential:
The industry is (famously) gate kept, hyper-competitive — which ironically is often the excuse for why it’s resistant to new tech — and is often not consulted on what tech the industry actually needs.
Founders—especially those who are not from the industry—struggle to get in front of brands and secure funding as a result.
And investors—without access to the industry—struggle to understand the opportunity of this category and know how best to fund it.
So, I focused my goal to answering one guiding question:
"How do we better build and fund FashionTech to unlock innovation and circularity for the fashion industry?"
That’s why I’m starting The Pattern Maker—to chip away at this question and provide the resources and intel that can help scale faster progress in our industry for all stakeholders.
What’s the Vision?
This report will share the process of building the founder playbook and investment thesis for FashionTech publicly. It’s a space to explore big questions, share insights, and connect the dots between fashion and technology.
Each (fashion) season, I’ll tackle 5 key questions to chip away at the central question: How do we better build and fund FashionTech to unlock innovation and circularity for fashion?
To answer these questions, I’ll be:
Interviewing founders, investors, and industry leaders.
Sharing market research, case studies, and startup spotlights.
Providing resource roundups and funding news.
Sharing my evolving investment thesis and founder playbook for FashionTech.
At the end of each season, I’ll summarize my findings, pulling from everything I’ve learned through research and conversations, with the goal of creating resources that:
For founders: Give you the insights and inspiration you need to build your startup.
For investors: Help you define the potential of this category and connect you with the startups that are pushing the industry forward.
For Fashion industry leaders: Introduce you to new partners that can unlock innovation at your company and will drive innovation in our industry.
For the FashionTech lovers: Open your eyes to the innovations and people who are are shaping the future of fashion.
What’s Next?
Coming up, I’ll be sharing the 5 questions I’ll explore this season and kicking off interviews, market research, and more. But I want to ensure this is high-value for you. So, tell me:
What are your burning questions as a founder, investor, etc.?
Who do you want to hear from—which founders, investors, or brands?
And as posts come out, let me know what’s helpful and resonating (or not).
Your feedback will shape the direction of this Substack, so don’t be shy!
Final Thoughts
FashionTech isn’t just a niche—it’s the future of an industry that desperately needs innovation, sustainability, and fresh thinking. But unlocking its potential will take all of us: founders building groundbreaking solutions, investors backing bold ideas, brands embracing change, and a community that’s willing to ask hard questions and challenge the status quo.
That’s what The Pattern Maker is all about. Together, we can answer the question: How do we better build and fund FashionTech to unlock innovation and circularity for fashion?
Thank you for being here. I’m excited to have you as part of this journey.
Let’s get started.