Because the fashion economy is organized around events and shows, there are opportunities to get a new style seen and appreciated for a moment. But these showcases and high-profile events favor already-established brands. New and indie designers have difficulty accessing the fashion pipeline, and even if they get a brief showcase, the systems for sustained visibility aren’t present. 

The leaders at luxury event platform Haute Gala believe that the issue isn’t talent; it’s infrastructure. That’s why Haute Gala is bringing designers a showcase and a platform for building their brand’s visibility over time.

A System, Not a Show

Curated luxury events are the most well-known entry point in the fashion industry, but Haute Gala stresses that these are just one entry point. Redefining what it means to “make it” in fashion, Haute Gala strives to create visibility for new designers across multiple sectors. It uses cross-industry partnerships (across wellness, aesthetics, and media) to build opportunities beyond the showcase for designers to be seen and appreciated.

Haute Gala prioritizes and heavily endorses women-owned designers, minority designers, and sustainable fashion, offering these individuals a high-end platform that ensures sustained visibility. The platform blends high-end models, top influencers, and rising new faces, ensuring diversity in the voices and faces that define the luxury fashion space.

One key initiative has been to tap into entertainment journalism with a channel dedicated to providing influencer-hosted coverage of major fashion events and exclusive interviews with fashion designers. At the beginning of May, Haute Gala launched SPARK: on (the seen) as a storytelling channel for influencers and events, platforming new voices to help shape the narrative around emerging movements in luxury fashion.

Because of their large audiences and sway in popular culture, celebrity influencers offer opportunities for brands to be seen between showcases and shape the evolving story of what is changing in fashion. Between events, entertainment media channels, and partnerships across other industries, Haute Gala hopes to create a layered ecosystem for promoting new and indie fashion.

Visibility for the Underserved

Moving beyond just the show can especially benefit marginalized and underrepresented designers. Haute Gala has seen successes in supporting sustainable, women-owned luxury fashion. Their platform offers luxury production without legacy gatekeeping, offering only one-time visibility but ongoing mentorship and brand positioning. The company’s commitment to collaborative PR and media featuring influencer models can turn a “moment” into momentum.

Core to Haute Gala’s philosophy is the idea that representation and quality can – and should – coexist. The project is to create access without dilution; in the words of their leadership, “luxury can be redefined without being devalued.” With rigorous curation and a commitment to supporting ecologically sustainable brands, Haute Gala hopes to elevate those who have traditionally been locked out of the fashion industry.

What Lies Ahead

Having launched and curated designer showcases with luxury-level production and reach, and having just launched SPARK: on (the seen), Haute Gala hopes to build on these early successes and grow into a globally recognized taste-making platform. They aspire to host satellite events in major cities around the globe, including New York, Paris, London, and Dubai, and to launch a mentorship arm for young designers. 

In their own words, Haute Gala isn’t here to “enter the conversation” but to construct the future of the conversation, because the future of fashion doesn’t need new trends. It needs new frameworks so that the designs that matter can be surfaced and seen.

Written in partnership with Tom White