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Over the course of the pandemic so far, many Gen Zs have evolved from conspicuous consumers into sustainably-minded, small business owners. In a follow-up to last week’s story on their ambitions to help evolve a new fashion system, Vogue Business explores the challenges and obstacles these new entrepreneurs face as they develop their brands.
Gen Zs are emerging from lockdown as business owners and bosses, intent on maintaining their values of authenticity, community and sustainability while building their brands.
Scaling up without compromising values
Although social media followings for these new brands may be loyal and engaged, a super-fast emergence into the spotlight can be challenging for entrepreneurs still learning the basics of business. Liverpool designer Steven Stokey-Daley’s brand S S Daley attracted global fans almost overnight when Harry Styles wore one of his upcycled vintage tablecloth shirts in a music video, forcing him to learn fast. Similarly, vintage jewellery dealer Sorcha Mondon’s business The Phat Cherub boomed when secondhand became popular in lockdown: “At times, my business has grown quicker than I’ve understood or could control,” she acknowledges
“The biggest challenge is maintaining a steady stream of vintage goods in such a booming and competitive industry,” says US-based Depop top seller Sarah Quierolo. It’s a challenge also faced by Natalia Spotts,who took on a New York retail unit last year to house her vintage brand Funny Pretty Nice and will open a second store in March. “I’ve tried commissioning people across the US to source from estate sales and wholesalers on my behalf, but that hasn’t worked out yet,” Spotts says. “I’m trying to find talented buyers on Depop and Instagram too. For now, I just hop on the train every weekend with suitcases and go to estate sales.”
There are also limits to how many vintage items can be sold online. The process for uploading one-of-one items is so much more labour and time intensive, says Spotts. “Selling vintage online is also a challenge because sizing differs over time and people like to try vintage on,” she adds.
Learning about production has been a challenge for Isabella Weatherby, founder and creative director of Instagram favourite Peachy Den. A recent pop-up shop in London’s Soho drove demand for her signature velvet jumpsuits, but created plenty of issues. “It’s been hard to find suppliers that will work on quick turnarounds, especially if we don’t meet their minimum order quantities,” she says. “We’ve had to juggle that with increasing consumer demand. When the Kernel jumpsuit became popular last year, we were sold out for about four months, so we’re trying a pre-order model for our next drop.”
The mentorship gap
It’s tough to grow a new business without formal support, says Maddie Sellers, who sells 50 to 60 items per month under the moniker Senja by Maddie, split between upcycled jackets and made-to-order knitwear. She recently joined Mentoring Matters to tap into practical business advice. “One day it just became a business,” she says of her company. “There was no blueprint.”
Olivia Blakeman, who makes upcycled jewellery and clothing collaborations through her brand Planet B, says she has found a community of peers to lean on, but more experienced mentors are in short supply. Josephine Philips, founder of Sojo, which has been described as the Deliveroo for clothing alterations, found mentorship in the UK through serial beauty tech entrepreneur Sharmadean Reid’s latest venture, The Stack World. Philips says the community-led media platform, which shares actionable insights for women in business, has allowed her to learn from other founders. “The workshops mean I don’t need ten years’ experience. I can just listen to someone with ten years’ experience,” she says. Reid herself suggests new entrepreneurs form an advisory board of people with three to five years’ more experience.
As Gen Z businesses mature, infrastructure is popping up to support them. Launched in 2020 after a pilot programme involving Covid-era fashion graduates, the XYZ Exchange is a cloud-based sustainable supply chain tool and end-to-end inventory management platform designed to help independent businesses. “The route to market has been half democratised by Instagram but the supply has not,” says co-founder and CEO David Leigh. “In the past, the only option was the deep end, but now the whole pool is available and it’s possible to be successful with slower, smaller businesses.”
Meanwhile, Depop publishes educational content on its blog, invites regular sellers to its six-week Level Up course, and top sellers to a private community of advisors and peers. The platform has also attempted to bridge the gap between Gen Z and the mainstream fashion industry, match-making upcyclers with global brands such as Vans, Adidas and Ganni, and inviting vintage dealers to curate collections linked to popular TV shows including HBO’s Gossip Girl.
On TikTok, support is focused on demystifying shopping tools. The app has developed a small business hub, ads manager and Shopify partnership in a bid to nurture young brands. Entrepreneurs also form their own communities through hashtags including #SmallBusinessCheck and #SustainableFashion, which each have billions of views, says Holly Harrison, TikTok’s luxury, fashion and retail brand partnerships manager.
More visibility means more risks
Success in business can also bring with it unwanted attention. Natalia Spotts says she has noticed suspicious shoppers coming into Funny Pretty Nice in recent months, but she struggles to discern so-called phantom shoppers for fast fashion brands from movie producers and genuine customers. “They take photos of the stitching and how a garment is cut, the pricing and things that genuine customers wouldn’t photograph,” she says. “They also often drop over $1,000 at a time, don’t try anything on, and leave within ten minutes.”
She has noted similar designs stocked by fast fashion retailers soon after. As a vintage dealer and small business owner with minimal margins, she is not well resourced to take legal action. “Because the designs are vintage, it’s not my intellectual property, so I don’t know if I’m allowed to be angry,” she says. “On the flip side, as a small business owner, I need the money. I guess it’s cool to be shaping trends, but I don’t love that it feeds into unsustainable fast fashion businesses.”
Bigger brands producing dupes has also been an issue for Susamusa, whose floral vintage mesh two-piece was quickly copied after model Bella Hadid was photographed wearing it. “These companies work so much faster than us,” says founder Asal Tehrani. “Before I even spotted it, there were 40 girls outraged on my social media.” Unequipped to take legal action, Tehrani decided to channel her energy into new products instead, but the experience left a bitter taste.
Some Gen Z business owners fear that they may lean too much on marketing via social media. Macey Hall, creative producer for Instagram’s @shop account, says Gen Zs use Instagram to build appetite for their products. Many use shoppable Reels to show behind-the-scenes content, try-on videos and thrift hauls, moving over to Stories to show collection countdowns and e-commerce or Depop link stickers.
Despite this heavy reliance on social media, many Gen Zs are painfully aware of its precarity. As a backup, vintage dealer Isabella Vrana is focusing on building her mailing list. Sellers is redirecting Instagram followers to her website despite in-app purchases being simpler for the consumer. “There’s always the worry that my page or the app could be deleted,” says influencer and Nima Store founder Mira Al-Momani. “I want my business to exist outside of social media.”
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