We Finally Know What 'Your Friends in New York' Is About

While they didn't provide more details, the fashion world get a sneak peek at the types of designers the platform would work with in the months to come. The program notes for Theophilio and Head of State's NYFW shows, for instance, mentioned that the shows were made possible by "Your Friends in New York." (Jean-Raymond was also front row at each of their shows this season.)

Now, in an interview with the New York Times, Jean-Raymond revealed more details about the project. YFINY chose eight designers to help with financing, production and planning as part of an incubator-type program: Edvin Thompson of Theophilio, Anifa Mvuemba of Hanifa, Head of State's Taofeek Abijako and Raul Lopez of Luar. Ssense, Beats by Dr. Dre and Meta’s We the Culture are some of the early sponsors.

“If I can get all these brands to 30K a month in direct-to-consumer revenue, and then 60K and then 100K, then they are $1 million businesses, and that’s proof of concept and self-sustaining,” he told the outlet.

For now, the plan is to nurture the current crop of designers into 2022 (and see how they evolve) with the possibility of adding new names to the group. “Fashion has become such a big part of the American lexicon that the question of who can buy into a brand with ready-to-wear is going to be less important than who can support a brand,” Jean-Raymond continued. “The way things are shifting, it’s going to be about audience, it’s going to be about entertainment. It’s not going to always look like product.”

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