Direct-to-Consumer
How direct-to-consumer brands and retail concepts are reshaping the industry, online and off.
Highlights

Activewear’s Biggest Disruptors

Breaking into the $384 billion sports apparel market is no easy task, but fast-growing start-ups are stealing market share by creating specialised, fashion-forward products around underserved interests.

A Tale of Two DTC Brands: Why Some Soar and Others Crash

This week, activewear label Vuori picked up $400 million from SoftBank, while Scott Sternberg’s basics line Entireworld announced its shuttering. Why did two brands that thrived on pandemic fashion trends face two different outcomes?

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Case Studies & Reports

Case Study

The New Four Ps of DTC Marketing — Download the Case Study

Case Study

Building a DTC Challenger Brand | Download the Case Study

Report

The New Era of Designer Bags: Redefining Leather Goods Report | BoF Insights

Latest News & Analysis

The Debrief | Why So Many Direct-to-Consumer Brands Are for Sale Right Now

As the economy weakens and funding dries up, digital brands may face pressure to sell from investors. To do so, they’ll need to prove they’re more than just another money-losing start-up.

The Next Wave of DTC Acquisitions

As the economy weakens and funding dries up, more digital upstarts will face pressure to sell. They’ll have no trouble finding buyers – if they can prove they’re more than just another money-losing start-up.

Why Warby Parker’s Stock Soared This Week, and Allbirds’ Sank

The diverging paths for the two trailblazing direct-to-consumer brands is the latest indication that investors now value a clear path to profitability over growth.

Why the New Guard of Digital Brands Are Embracing Wholesale

When even Glossier and Allbirds are signing deals with multi-brand retailers, it’s clear the go-it-alone era is over. Here’s how some new brands are building wholesale into their business plan from the get-go.

How In-Store Services Help DTC Brands Win at Brick-and-Mortar

A growing number of direct-to-consumer brands have found a winning retail formula by putting a modern spin on routine services such as piercings and eye exams.

Shein’s New Rival, Explained

Pinduoduo is a giant in China but relatively unknown in America. It’s looking to change that with a new app, Temu, that sells ultra-cheap clothing, with thousands of new items added daily. Sound familiar?

Why Digital Brands Are Lukewarm on Social Commerce

Instagram, fashion’s long-time favourite social media destination, will soon scale back its commerce efforts, leaving merchants that use the platform’s shopping features to reconfigure their social commerce strategies.

BoF LIVE: Building a DTC Challenger Brand

Parade founder Cami Téllez and Ben Clymer, founder of Hodinkee, join BoF retail correspondent Cathaleen Chen to discuss the challenges of building digitally-native, direct-to-consumer brands capable of chipping away at mainstays’ market share as performance marketing costs rise.

Building a DTC Challenger Brand | Download the Case Study

Fashion entrepreneurs need a new playbook to launch, scale and differentiate their companies, as regulations and rising costs mean performance marketing can no longer serve the critical role it once did for DTC brands. Finding the right positioning and capturing market share can mean going back to the brand-building basics, as BoF profiles of Gymshark, Hodinkee and Mejuri show.

Activewear’s Biggest Disruptors

Breaking into the $384 billion sports apparel market is no easy task, but fast-growing start-ups are stealing market share by creating specialised, fashion-forward products around underserved interests.

Why Investors Don’t Care Whether DTC Brands Are Profitable

E-commerce valuations have reached dizzying heights in recent months, dispelling doubts over the fashion start-up boom and its growth-above-profits approach. But will it last?

The DTC Economy Faces Its Biggest Test Yet

This week, everyone will be talking about Rent the Runway’s IPO and Shopify’s growth plans.

The News in Brief

Urban Outfitters to Carry Parade Underwear

The direct-to-consumer intimates brand will be stocked in 25 Urban Outfitters stores and on its website starting Aug. 1, the company announced Monday. It marks Parade’s first partnership with a third-party retailer.

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