Another viable option for emerging designers is crowdsourcing, which has been used successfully for other endeavors, such as start-up/completion funds for books or film. The best studied internet site for the crowdsourcing phenomena is Threadless, which creates t-shirts based on submitted designs from which the creator can earn funds as well. Newer sites have evolved which strictly solicit funds from its members for various projects, such as Kickstarter. Kickstarter doesn't cater to fashion specifically, but designers have been able to obtain funding through posting well-defined projects (“help me put together my fall collection” vs. general funds for business growth). FashionStake, which will launch in the US this fall, intends to harness crowdsourcing specifically for fashion designers, with a “monetary incentive” that includes clothing and cash — however, it remains to be seen how a crowdsourcing system could be set up to allow for the purchase of shares, which is what the big investors depend upon. WWD had a well-written article about the nascent use of crowdsourcing in the fashion industry (not sure if this article is free or subscriber only — Lauren, if it is subscriber, perhaps you'd like to do a part II on how to get funds as a new designer?):<http://www.wwd.com/markets-news/crowdsourcing-c...>

Good one! I definitely will. There is a new site called Fashinvest http://www.fashinvest.com/pages.php?page=62 that has a similar goal. Stay tuned, and thanks, Foochy!

Adam Lippes worked for Oscar de la Renta.