For up-and-coming fashion designers, the path to growth often feels like a trap. You need money, exposure, and talent to scale up - but you need a bigger business to attract those resources in the first place. Now, a new venture from Consuelo Vanderbilt Costin and Michaela Seewald aims to break that cycle. Their company, Vanderbilt & Seewald Global Studio, blends the roles of accelerator and commerce platform, targeting designers with annual sales between $2 million and $10 million. It offers them connections, operational support, and eventual investment.
The duo will debut their concept with a New York Fashion Week show at Grand Central Terminal's Vanderbilt Hall - a nod to the Vanderbilt family's railroad legacy. The runway event will feature three early partners: Dustin Glickman's Stockholm-based DSTN, known for its dark cowboy aesthetic; Mexican contemporary designer Lorena Saravia; and Nabil Hayari's made-to-measure Parisian house. The show will include AI-powered click-to-buy and livestream shopping, built on SohoMuse's creator social network, which Vanderbilt Costin co-founded. It's both a showcase and a proof of concept for the platform they're building.
Seewald says many smaller designers lack "guidance and access to a different world," especially in regions like Central and Eastern Europe, where creative talent abounds but scalable businesses rarely emerge. V&S aims to fill that gap with services from PR to manufacturing, taking payment for premium offerings and equity in some cases. The company has raised $1 million so far, with plans to secure another $10 million and eventually a $100 million round. Vanderbilt Costin emphasizes a holistic approach: "We're being very smart about involving athletes, entertainers, musicians - touch points on every angle." The goal is to give rising brands the infrastructure they need to finally reach the next level.
Originally reported by WWD