HAUTE, Community Startup
Role: Co-Founder and CTO
Duration: 2 years
Skills: Pitch Ideation, Community Co-Design, Brand Development, Web and UX Design
What is HAUTE?
HAUTE is a community-based fashion collective that's reshaping the industry by empowering emerging Philadelphia designers. Our platform champions inclusivity, allowing designers from underrepresented backgrounds to showcase their cultural heritage, sustainability initiatives, size-inclusive designs, and more—all in an effort to re-shape the future of fashion. We provide a vital platform-building resources for up-and-coming designers, amplifying their voices, building their portfolios, and facilitating connections within the dynamic Philly fashion community.
Founded by Kayla Baquiran, Eleanor Alix, and myself in the spring of 2021, Haute was born from the question, “What does it truly take to succeed as a fashion designer?” Recognizing the industry's inequities, we set out to create a collective that dismantles traditional power dynamics and champions the voices of designers. Our mission is simple—to celebrate the creators behind our clothing with the same passion as those who wear them.
Backed by investors James Kinsella and Robert McNeal through Haverford College’s Innovation Incubator Fellowship in the summer of 2021, Haute hit the ground running and continues to integrate into the Philadelphia fashion community. In May of 2023, the project was passed down to a handful of younger ambitious Haverford students.
Photographs by @atinzzz
What does HAUTE do?
Haute collaborates directly with up-and-coming designers from historically underrepresented backgrounds who face limited opportunities in the fashion industry. Through interviews with numerous aspiring fashion design students and young industry professionals, we discovered a common challenge — the lack of affordable avenues to showcase their work and develop their portfolios. This perpetuates systemic inequity, even within design institutions, where students from more traditional and financially stable backgrounds often receive greater opportunities than their counterparts.
While HAUTE's services have evolved over our journey, we currently offer a personalized approach to supporting emerging designers by:
1) Assisting in the creation of professional-level portfolio content and branding to effectively represent and market designers’ work.
2) Facilitating networking opportunities among designer cohorts and industry professionals.
3) Organizing events such as fashion shows and marketplaces to enhance their visibility.
HAUTE @ Underground Art’s 2023 Baroque Romance Fashion Show, with a few of our wonderful designers Jaclyn Leila, Kasiah Harrison, and Bingchen.
What did HAUTE accomplish in it’s first two years?
In the two+ years I had the opportunity to work on HAUTE, our collective:
Raised $3000+ in SEED funding within our first month of development.
Was sponsored by Haverford College as an independent study.
Interviewed or directly worked with 75+ designers
Hosted 2 fashion shows with 20 models and over 200+ guests in attendance.
Professionally shot 5 designers portfolio collections.
Additionally, HAUTE earned us and our designers professional opportunities to be a part of Philadelphia fashion week, have dinner with fashion icon Stuart Weitzman, and multiple press opportunities from our college. The articles written on HAUTE below highlight not only the impact our work has had, but also how our collective has dramatically transformed over the years.
HAUTE co-founders, Eleanor, Kayla, and myself, at our 2022 winter fashion show!
Video clips from HAUTE’s 2022 fashion show
More about my role at HAUTE
In addition to operating as a co-founder of HAUTE, my responsibilities primarily revolved around spearheading the development of our flagship site (www.shop-haute.com), crafting our collective's brand identity, and overseeing copywriting efforts.
HAUTE marked not only my inaugural foray into personal entrepreneurship but also my initial experience in developing and managing a full-stack webpage. Over time, this webpage underwent multiple redesigns to align with our evolving branding and mission. Working on this project provided an invaluable professional growth opportunity, showcasing my progression in UX design, product management, brand development, and network leveraging. Below are a few screenshots illustrating the evolution of the website over a two-year period.
Version 1.0 (Summer of 2021)
Version 2.0 (Winter of 2021)
Version 3.0 (Fall 2022)