The parent company of fashion-focused talent agencies and licensing firms plans to launch five product brands this year. The new businesses will be co-founded by well-known industry professionals, mainly the ones represented by its agencies, to tap into a popular strategy of turning behind-the-scenes influencers into founders.

First up is a hairstyling brand co-founded by hairstylist Anthony Turner, represented by Streeters, as well as a sustainability focused accessories label co-founded by stylist Alexandra Carl, also repped by Streeters.

The incubator, led by Jorge Cosano, will act as a co-founder for the front-facing founders, partnering with creative branding services, product developers to help launch the brands. Boutique investment advisor Ohana will support with fundraising. The incubator will focus on the earliest stages of development and will not be involved in day-to-day management once the businesses have launched. The incubator is independent from Great Bowery’s other holdings and not limited to only working with the more than 400 talents represented by its agencies.

Brand accelerators and incubators are increasingly prevalent in fashion and beauty, from the UTA-owned influencer agency Digital Brand Architects to Dover Street Market Paris. But Great Bowery’s unique talent roster, which includes mostly behind-the-scenes artists, gives their model a different spin. But it will require a broad knowledge base to work across different industries and supply chains.

“The most scarce resource is not really money and it’s not really resources — it’s actually the talent, which is the most important asset if you want to build successful brands,” said Cosano, who incubated brands earlier in his career for L’Oreal.

Great Bowery was founded in 2015 by talent agent Matthew Moneypenny with funding by Waddell & Reed, an asset management firm based in Overland Park, Kansas to follow a Hollywood agency model and better leverage for commercial opportunities for the talents it represented and who were no longer strictly behind-the-scenes fashion professionals. Moneypenny exited in 2017, followed by several founding partners, and the company is now led by chief executive Liz Sands. Great Bowery acquired digital media and creative services company Coveteur in 2019.

Editor’s Note: This article was updated on 29 April 2021. A previous version said Matthew Moneypenny exited Great Bowery in 2015. He exited in 2017.