Many industries have already benefited from the power of crowdfunding. Its operation is very simple: anyone can make an investment, of any value, in a project that considers interesting or promising.

But what many people don’t know is that the fashion industry is also taking advantage of the benefits of crowdfunding. More than that: the crowdfunding seems perfectly address a number of critical demands of fashion, making it a great ally. As an example, we can mention the possibility of making this market more democratic, since the clients gain a strong power of decision and participate during the product’s concept stage – which is quite important for them (pretail trend). Another significant aspect is the visibility given to new designers, often ignored due to strong competition in this field. Finally, crowdfunding allows the development of a fair and ethical fashion, since it is produced only what is really demanded, avoiding waste.

A notorious successful example of the usage of crowdfunding in fashion comes from the ex-GAP creative director, Patrick Robinsons, whom grossed over US$ 68.000 for his new venture, Pashko, through the Kickstarter platform (his goal was US$ 50.000). Another interesting and quite recent case is the brand Gnome & Bow, that was seeking funding to create “bags that tell stories“. By developing a strong campaign in social media, this start-up from Singapura surpassed its goal in a record time, getting US$ 37.000 through Pozible platform.

Here are five selected projects of crowdfunding for fashion that worth sharing. We hope they can be an inspiration for a project that you never had the courage to take out of the paper…

Crowdemand

Founded in t April, Crowdemand creates a direct bridge between costumers and designers. While the collections are launched on the website, the users can make a pre-order. If the minimum number of orders is reached, the product goes to production. Another interesting aspect of the webpage is the area “Bring it back” where is possible to “resuscitate” fashion classics.

Betabrand

This fashion company of San Francisco was born as conventional online store, in 2005. In 2013, however, they implanted on their website a crowdfunding platform called Think Tank, where customers have the power to choose and finance upcoming collections of the brand.

Byco

This crowdfunding project for fashion allows anyone to publish the design of a garment. If approved, it’s produced through collective financing and sold on the website (the designer receives 20% of sales, and investors, 10%).

Before the label  

The Operation of Before the Label is quite simple and follows the natural logic of crowdfunding: garments are delivered, financed and produced. What is striking, however, is the possibility of financing garments made to help human or social causes – there is a specified area on the webpage for that type of project.

I am la mode

Perhaps the biggest crowdfunding fashion platform, I am the mode is notable for the number of products being presented that got funded – almost all manage to reach their goals. On the webpage is possible to finance projects but also start a campaign for a personal project.