Invest in your favourite fashion designer with Catwalk Genius

Catwalk Genius is a fantastic idea for lots of reasons, but for us it has to be about the support that it gives Britain’s most inspiring new fashion designers.

What's Catwalk Genius all about?

Firstly, Catwalk Genius offers a marketing service where designers can sell their collections directly to the public off the site. Designers can also seek investment from their supporters to fund their next collection in the ‘Back a designer’ scheme, which is a god send for most designers starting out in the big, wide, sometimes scary world of fashion.

Here's is our recent interview with Lynsey.

What inspired you to first get into fashion?

I have always loved fashion, but I have to be honest and say that I didn’t wake up one morning and decide that fashion was the world for me! My 2 co-founders and I knew we wanted to set up a business. Our research showed us that fashion is the industry with the greatest opportunity to try out the kind of new consumer interaction experiments that were exciting to us. And here we are!

How did the inspiration for Catwalk Genius first come about?

Well, we knew we wanted to involve consumers in our business and after doing yet more research, we decided it would be good to combine this with a way to help up and coming fashion designers. So, the ‘Back a designer’ scheme was born.

We also understood that for a designer selling wholesale, their profit margins are pretty tight. We decided to offer a marketing service where designers can advertise their collections and take a much larger slice of the profits.

What’s a typical day in the life of Lynsey?

I’m based in Dublin so it can often involve getting up at ridiculous hours of the morning to catch early flights to London! However assuming no travel involved, I usually get up around 9am, grab a quick brekkie and check some e-mails. Then I’ll head to the gym for a while. I’m not a huge gym fan, but I do find myself mentally compiling my ‘to do’ list for the day while I’m running on the treadmill! Then it’s back to the apartment, more e-mails and then try and get through some tasks on my ‘to do’ list. Things currently on the list are: Get feedback on latest designer submissions, plan focus group, update blog, research various ideas, send out newsletters... You get the idea! Throw in a bit of Twittering and stalking people on Facebook and there you have it. It’s very exciting and no 2 days are ever the same. I love it!

How do you go about finding designers with raw talent?

We’re very lucky to have an excellent fashion PR and a great Consultant as part of the Catwalk Genius team. Their help has been invaluable in guiding us and putting us in touch with a lot of the designers you see on the site today. We are also building up contacts in a lot of the design colleges and sourcing talent from there. A high proportion of new designers have heard about us, and actually come to us first, before we’ve had a chance to get to them.

What is the process for a designer wishing to join CatwalkGenius.com?

It’s very easy. First they need to head along to the site and create an account. Once they have an account, they should submit their designs to us via the site, and then within 48 hours our panel will provide them with some feedback. Once their designs are approved they immediately go live on the site. Designers can also choose to opt in or out of our ‘Back a designer’ scheme once they have an account with us.

What’s the hottest item in your wardrobe at the moment?

Has to be my Kurt Geiger platform sandals! They come slightly up the leg, into a shoe-boot style and are embellished with gold studs. I may never take them off!

Fashion design is a truly competitive market, have you any top tips you can share with all the up and coming designers out there for ensuring success?

My one top tip has to be, get yourself a good business partner. Most of the design courses out there concentrate their efforts on making you a good designer, not making you a good business person. If you want to be successful in this game you have to have a practical, business side to balance out your creativity. It’s tough out there and very few designers achieve success. The one’s that do are the ones that concentrate on creating a viable and sustainable business, that produces beautiful collections year after year.

Have you any really hot tips in terms of buying shares in the designers you are currently showcasing?

Ooh, well if you check out the funding progress, you’ll see that so far Georgie W Couture and Samantha Cole are in the top spots. Accessories designer, Fred Butler does come a close third though. Fred has been successful for a second year running in gaining New Generation sponsorship for September’s London Fashion Week. She’s on the map and I do see great things for her in the future. I’ll let you make your own minds up though!

If you could hold shares in any 1 designer (past and present) who would it be and why?

Jimmy Choo. For the simple reason that I love his shoes and maybe I could bag some freebies!