The rise of crowdfunding has given funding and ultimately life to many startups and projects that otherwise may not have succeed. With the rise of global crowdfunding powerhouses like Kickstarter and Indiegogo as well as local champions like KissKissBankBank, crowdfunding has grown into a large and active market. Naturally as the market has matured, crowdfunding has expanded to and disrupted new sectors where the creation process has been more closed to consumers / individuals. One of the classic sectors is the fashion sector where the end-consumer hasn’t really figured much at all in the process of bringing new collections to market. Enter Meet My Designer, a recently launched startup aspiring to revolutionize the process of fashion creation.
Founded just 8 months ago by Toulouse-based team Boris Mounet and Fabien Millerand, Meet My Designer (aka MMD) is a crowdfunding platform and marketplace for up-and-coming designers looking to bring their new collections to market. As financing their collections is generally the principal barrier for new designers, MMD gives those who’d ultimately be consumers an ability to fund the new collection and, of course, be amongst the first to get their hands on the collection once it’s launched. In an additional perk, those supporting the designers’ campaigns also have exclusive access to MMD-only discounts and runway show tickets. To get started on the platform, each designer creates their own ‘concept store’ where they can sell items from their existing collection and/or launch a campaign to fund their next one.
With 10 new designers signing up each week, 200 designers of 40 nationalities already on their platform, and more than 6000 women and men’s accessories and ready-to-wear in their e-store, MMD have already show impressive growth since their founding just last year. However, for their founders this is just the beginning. For Mounet and Millerand, the #1 objective is to be the global leader in the space and, as a result, they’re moving quickly to expand upon their already notable global presence. They’ve identified partnerships, particularly with design schools and, ultimately, more established fashion houses, as a key way to bring both new designers, fashionistas and simply the fashion curious onto their platform. The founders know that to become the clear leader in this fast-growing space, they have to move fast and work hard to differentiate MMD as other players such as Wowcracy, Betabrand,and Iamlamode are making names for themselves as well.
In a recent discussion with Mounet, he declared that for them they want MMD to be the premier destination to discover new designers. Given their inventiveness and momentum thus far, perhaps Mounet’s and Millerand’s ambition that the ‘next Marc Jacobs’ come from Meet My Designer may one day become a reality.