The Rag Trade

In my early twenties, (2003-2008) my sister (a talented fashion designer) and I (enthusiastic about business) founded a fashion startup. We wanted to make the world a better place. These days we’d recognise it as a social enterprise, back then it was sometimes dismissed as idealism.

The impact of this time continues to ripple through my life, and reflecting on the experience has formed a valuable foundation, on which I’ve built my commercial acumen. Subsequent ventures have been far more successful, but this early failure was a gold mine.

With the benefit of years, I saw that we failed because we iterated too much. Instead of leaning into, and scaling, our successful designs, we celebrated and moved on, to the next work of art. This eventually exhausted our resources and we ran out of steam. When the GFC hit in 2008, we closed the doors. 

For fun, In 2023 I dug out my sewing machine and made myself a heavily sequinned kaftan for a party. Responding to demand, I’ve now made around 50 custom, joyous kaftans under the handle Kaftan Fan. 

Kaftan Fan is the opposite of our first adventure in the rag trade. It is tiny and unambitious for anything other than dressing people in joyous, sometimes transformative, garments that celebrate life. Back in the day, I made every design my sister drew, now I make only one. 

But like the first, the new project is also a gold mine of insight and learning. It is a microcosm, through which to reflect on the macrocosm of business. Supply chain, customer experience, pricing, CapEx, and OpEx are all there. 

In my CV I’ve provided examples of business achievements much more relevant, and impressive. Fashion takes up just two lines in my career history. But it’s a significant part of my story.