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Can Indie Fashion Compete With E-commerce Juggernauts?

Brands struggle to adapt to wholesale partners like Ssense because of their rampant discounting, which some say threatens the entire livelihood of independent fashion. But individual brands and retailers may have their own tricks up their sleeves.
Maiden Name.
Maiden Name is a New York City-based brand that splits its revenue equally between wholesale and direct-to-consumer, which includes its store on Manhattan's Orchard Street. (Maiden Name)
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Ssense, the Canadian fashion e-tailer once valued at north of $4 billion, is perhaps best known for its currently ongoing biannual-ish sale — not only a genuine unmissable event for fashion fans to cop Margiela, Rick Owens and hundreds of other brands at up to 70 percent off but also a cultural phenomenon in its own right that has inspired countless memes.

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About the author
Cathaleen Chen
Cathaleen Chen

Cathaleen Chen is Retail Editor at The Business of Fashion. She is based in New York and drives BoF’s coverage of the retail and direct-to-consumer sectors.

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