The Nine Lives of Proenza Schouler

Thanks to a logistics overhaul executed a year earlier, Proenza Schouler’s spring collection was by March already in stores and paid for. By luck, their collaboration with Birkenstock — for which they topstitched the German sandal-makers’ popular Arizona and Milano styles, glazing them in what have become signature colours like cobalt blue and burg... See more

Ultimately, Proenza’s fortunes unravelled for many of the same reasons so many of its peers are no longer in business: misallocation of funds, disagreements with investors, seismic shifts in the industry at large, and a fashion ecosystem that did a poor job of preparing young designers for the realities of entrepreneurship.

Independent brands — even those with significant backing — were boxed out by luxury’s biggest players, whose heft gave them a major edge in distribution and marketing, where they enjoy greater leverage with multi-brand retailers, mall owners, real estate developers, magazines, influencers and other key players in the fashion ecosystem. In 2019, LVM... See more

The secondary line, rebranded Proenza Schouler White Label, now makes up 30 percent of revenue, while direct retail, including one physical store and e-commerce, accounts for 20 percent of business, up a few percentage points from before the pandemic.

“It was fun winning all the CFDA awards. What evaded was creating a real business.”

Proenza Schouler’s first big business win was the launch of its PS1 bag. Introduced in 2008 on the back of an investment, the schoolboy satchel — often rendered in a matte, worn-in leather — became a foundational piece in the wardrobes of thousands of women. For several years following the launch, the bag accounted for 80 percent of handbag sales, ... See more

Hong, 48, had no experience in luxury. She was, however, a Proenza Schouler customer, and had specific ideas about how to crystallise what the brand stood for.

“Inconsistency made it difficult to build a business.”

“My observation was that there was zig-zagging; an inconsistency,” she said. “Even as an outsider to this industry, I knew that inconsist... See more

A decade later, though, the PS1, while still a top seller, had fallen out of fashion, and the designers had yet to have another blockbuster product or a stable of items that sold reliably year after year.