Turning an Authentic Brand into a Global Business

It happened gradually and, in fact, very naturally. For the past eight years, through Vogue, I have been working at the intersection of creativity, media and business, and during that time I have met an enormous number of designers. Vogue gives you an incredible opportunity to discover talent, introduce it to the world and connect it with people it might otherwise never reach.

But over time, I realised that even enormous media attention is not enough on its own. You can have a beautiful editorial, you can be on the cover, everyone can be talking about you… and you still may not have a functioning global business.

I think I am a connector by nature. When I see someone good, I immediately start thinking: Who should they meet? Where can we take them? Who can open the next door for them?

Jan Société is a great example. I was visiting him in his studio and almost spontaneously asked, “Are you looking for an investor?” A week later, he came back with a business plan. And I invested.

Not because I wanted to tell him what to design. Quite the opposite. The creativity has to remain his. But I saw a strong identity and talent, and I thought: What happens if we help build an even stronger business around that?

Jan is already a successful and established designer. His work has always attracted significant attention, and the collection he created for the Czech Olympic team reached international media and was recognised as one of the most distinctive. He is both talented and incredibly hardworking.

Just look at our first designers. Every one of them is completely different, and each is at a very different stage of their business. That is exactly what I find so exciting.

Lorena Saravia is already a fantastic example of a designer who has built a real brand. Her journey is remarkable: she started in Mexico, built a retail presence, created her own community and developed a very clear identity, eventually leading to a global collaboration with H&M.

This is not someone who needs us to explain how to start a brand. With Lorena, the question is: how do we help something that is already demonstrably working grow even further? How do we connect her with new markets, capital, distribution and the people who can accelerate the next phase?

Then there is Dustin Glickman. At just twenty-two, this self-taught designer already has a very strong, almost instantly recognisable aesthetic: sharp tailoring, leather, rock — a kind of dark cowboy sensibility. He has already made an impact in Stockholm, but his story is only just beginning.

When I first saw his work, I had exactly that feeling that there was something there. So our role with him is completely different from our role with Lorena. We can be there much earlier in the journey. We can help him think about how a powerful creative talent becomes an international brand without losing what makes it so distinctive in the first place.

And the third designer is another story altogether: a different customer, a different stage of business and a different kind of potential. That, to me, is the essence of the Studio. We do not have one formula that we apply to everyone.

First, we have to understand what that person has already built, where they want to be in five years and what, specifically, they are missing in order to get there. Of course, I first have to fall in love with what they do. But very quickly, I start looking at the person as well. I want to see energy, ambition and character. Do they genuinely want to build something, or do they simply want to make a beautiful collection and be visible for a while? And then, of course, I look at the business.

It is not enough to be cool for one season. You can have one viral moment, one celebrity client, one great show – but building a brand is an entirely different discipline.

You need creativity, but you also need finance. You need a great product, but you also need distribution. You need a story, but you also need a customer who comes back and actually buys.

That is why I love that at the Studio we bring together worlds that, in fashion, are too often kept separate: designers, media, investors, family offices, retail, technology and strategic partners. Because creativity without business can remain nothing more than a beautiful idea, while business without creativity gives people nothing to care about.

I do not want our success to be measured one day by how many fashion shows we have produced. A show is a moment. We are interested in what comes after it.

On September 15, at Grand Central in New York, we showed for the first time what can happen when you bring creative talent, media, technology, capital, business and a genuinely powerful network together in one place. Designers from different countries, with different customers and at different stages of their businesses, shared one runway. To me, that is highly symbolic.

We are not trying to turn them into one big brand. We want to understand what makes each of them distinctive and give each one what they need for the next stage of their journey. If, five or ten years from now, we look back and see that some of the brands we met at the beginning of their journey have become global businesses, then we will know the model worked.

Other brands can already come to us as well – including those with established million-dollar businesses and entirely different needs. They may want to professionalise their finances, supply chain, e-commerce, PR or distribution and prepare for the next stage of growth.

That is why Global Studio is not a traditional accelerator. It is a platform that can enter at different points in a brand’s life and offer something different at each one.

And ultimately, I think our greatest strength is people. Over years spent working across different worlds, you and I have both built powerful networks of relationships. Behind us is a professional team with expertise in investment, business operations and development, PR, strategic partnerships and capital raising.

Then there is our wider network: family offices, investors, retail partners, media and people across luxury, technology and entertainment. All of these can play a decisive role in a brand’s growth.

Vanderbilt & Seewald Global Studio is a global platform co-founded by Consuelo Vanderbilt Costin and Michaela Seewald to discover and support exceptional fashion talent and help designers transform creative vision into internationally relevant, commercially sustainable brands. Combining strategic guidance, global visibility and access to media, investors and industry networks, the Studio creates opportunities that extend far beyond the runway. The Studio made its first major U.S. presentation in September 2026 at New York’s iconic Grand Central Terminal, introducing a selected group of international designers to an audience of industry leaders, media, investors and cultural figures.