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love Find out tonight if we have been voted THE SMARTEST business at the Smarta 100 awards - 19th May, London

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Founder name(s):
Helen Brown
Company:
Catwalk Genius
Website:
http://www.catwalkgenius.com
Proposition:
Gives ordinary people access to the fashion industry, allowing them to buy direct from a designer, invest in their next collection and get perks in return for your support.

Catwalk Genius



We've seen crowdsourced funding work with such websites as MyFootBallClub and SellaBand, but now Catwalk Genius is taking the idea of ordinary people buying a mini-share of a company and applying it to the fashion industry, enabling struggling designers to showcase their collections. Shares of a collection cost £10, and once 5,000 shares have been bought, the designers are given funding and asked to create a collection in six months. Users then get a share of the collection's profits based on how many shares they bought. The users are taking a gamble, but the business has caught the fashion world's imagination.

  • Crowdsourced funding applies a unique business model to the fashion industry
  • Low prices allow ordinary people to become involved in the industry