It’s been exactly one year since we launched The Business of Fashion, and what an adventure it has been. From our first ever post on The Gap to the most recent one on Martin Churba, we have seen our little experimental side project grow into something much bigger than we had ever imagined.

We were pleasantly surprised when, late last year, Shiny Media ranked The Business of Fashion amongst the world’s Top 100 Fashion & Lifestyle blogs:

17. The Business of Fashion: Doing exactly what it says on the tin, this is the blog to go to for a slightly more professional look at the industry, with really good business advice and insider info. Too big to truly be an underdog but too much of a trade secret to be considered a big player, this is one to watch if you want to work in fashion

In addition to advising fashion companies and designers, the blog has become an important part of how we engage with the industry, share our ideas and build new expertise. It has enabled us to take our ideas into academia, publish articles in The Financial Times, Style.com and JC Report, and provide commentary to respected media outlets like The South China Morning Post in Hong Kong and Fashion Television.

For all of this, we have to thank our readers, who make the BoF a place for healthy and constructive debate and inspire us to push on – especially Dahlia of Dualité Montréal (for her regular pithy comments), Anjo, Autre/Marko and La Genevoise (for taking some time off from On the Runway to hang out at the BoF), Carrying Contraption, Randall,Camilla Skovgaard (in particular for her input on manufacturing) and so many others who come by to share their thoughts. Shout-outs also go to Anina for inspiring and helping us to set this whole thing up, to Julie Fredrickson for pushing us hard early on to deliver distinctive content, and to Jason Campbell  and Diane Pernet for their support.

The year ahead is looking to be very exciting for the Business of Fashion, with some interesting collaborations and projects in the works. As ever, we are interested in what you have to say, so drop us a line and stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

The photo in the banner above shows the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean this morning in beautiful Punta del Este, where we rang in the New Year with 1000 super-stylish Brazilians, all dressed in white, pictured below.