Rainbowwave

Brands and buyers are turning to digital platforms to sell upcoming collections. But success will require a blend of new and old-fashioned strategies.

E-commerce players are leaning heavily on exclusive collections from buzzy brands in the fight for customers — but the cost for emerging labels to play the game can be high.

Lucia Restelli, international sales director for designer brands and beauty at Rainbowwave, says that if you treat your client's business as your own, the task to promote and grow their brand "will not feel like a pressure, but an exciting goal."

Maria Lemos, star-making showroom director whose current client roster includes Lucas Nascimento, Ostwald Helgason, Peter Pilotto and Rachel Comey, talks to BoF about nurturing fashion talent and how to turn a young designer into a commercially viable brand.