Starting a new business is intimidating for any new entrepreneur, let alone a new fashion designer. Colabination’s founder Scott Latham’s passion for fashion has allowed him to be close to the problem that new designers are facing today. He noted that, “the relationship between designers and customers is underutilized in so many ways.” These experiences helped him to create Colabination, a two-sided e-commerce marketplace that helps designers become more successful through a more personal customer relationship.
According to its website, the company is providing an unparalleled change to the world of fashion. In Latham’s opinion, “collaboration is the future highway for all businesses. It doesn’t matter what you do, the collaborative process is key to success. Colabination gathers people with the same goal in mind, empowering one another.” Its team has a strong vision about changing the fashion industry and helping more designers grow their business and achieve any goal.
Colabination aims to support the new designers first by providing an organic discovery experience and an online showroom. The team also offers a combination of resources for designers, focusing on the business and marketing of fashion. These resources allow the designers to feel comfortable and confident starting a new business, because the first step of obtaining distribution is always difficult.
Colabination aims to be that first step to help new designers get on the way to being successful brands. Every designer on the Colabination platform goes through a step-by-step process. Colabination helps designers showcase their story in order to project a strong brand identity and build a fan base, because as Latham believes, “people buy stories, not products”
“Colabination cares for the consumers’ shopping experience. The platform also gives the consumers a really friendly and pleasant user experience that they can trust and enjoy” Scott said. By focusing on smaller, new designers rather than large retailers, Colabination provides the ideal space for customers to discover the next big brand. This keeps consumers intrigued and makes this company a platform to keep an eye on.
Currently, Colabination is still deepening its relationship with the Westphal College of Media Arts and Design at Drexel University. For students enrolled in the fashion design program, Colabination can act as a valuable resource. Student designers are free to join Colabination’s designer newsletter, which provides tips and news on the fashion design industry. For recently graduated fashion designers, Colabination is a great first step to start getting their name out. Scott encourages future graduates to take this first step and get themselves out there. In short: to be comfortable and believe in themselves.
Concluding the interview, Scott expressed that “Colabination will continue to build a great team, continue to build the brand, and continue to build great relationships with both designers and shoppers; “Our mission is to help new designers in as many ways as possible.”