01. The Insider's Guide: Miami Style, Paris Fashion Week & The Industry's Funding Crisis

Where personal style thrives, VC funding fails, and PFW delivers

Hello from Miami! Undoubtedly one of my favorite places on earth, but I may be a little biased having grown up here. I'm writing to you from a terrace overlooking the Design District, Big Face cold brew in hand and an overwhelming amount of Torriden slathered on my face. Absolutely no notes!

This last week has been interesting to say the least. I finally launched RR last Thursday, hopped on a plane Friday, launched Market Edit on Monday and have been trying to keep my sanity intact while living on hotel WiFi and (pardon my french but) an absolutely fucked jet lag sleep schedule. There's something so surreal about watching both of these projects finally exist in the world after living in one too many google docs for so long.

One of the (many) things I love about Miami? The girls can dress. This city does not get enough credit for the looks coming out of here. And if the whole “NYC influencers are boring” discourse is hitting home for you- more on that below, I dare you to tap into Miami fashion girls (Victoria Herran is a good jumping off point) . Personal style? Alive and well. Which is ironic, considering how naked everyone—including me—feels here.

The Miami girl moodboard:

Some of my favorite brands / retailers to have been born here:

1. éliou – Founded by two of the chicest best friends I’ve ever seen (think a Brazilian/Cuban tropical version of Gilda Ambrosio and Giorgia Tordini—iykyk) serving up handcrafted jewelry + hand sewn RTW.
   

2. The Webster – The coolest multi-brand retailer out there and, honestly, the only one with the potential to fill the hole Barneys left behind. And if there’s another Vegas girl reading this—rejoice! A Webster is opening at Fontainebleau to finally give us something new to work with.
   

3. Parke Official – I might lose some of you with this one, but hear me out. As a first-time founder, I’m blown away by Chelsea Kramer. She’s kept her foot on everyone's neck this past year, and I’m fully here for it.

And if there's one thing the girls here will teach you about- its the chunky sandal. Cool enough to juxtapose with any look yet practical enough for walking around all day. My top picks:

1. I've collected all I can of the RHW x Gia Borghini collabs but I always reach for these: [a beaut, truly] They’re a few seasons old but you can find plenty between eBay, the RealReal, Vestiaire and Poshmark.

2. The Maggie sandal by The Bali Tailor: [a staple]
Handcrafted genuine leather and only ~$145 after a stunning AUD > USD conversion rate.

3. Prada Monolith Rubber Sandals: [stick with me on these]
I would’ve never taken a second look at these had I not seen a girl wearing them while I walked out of Glottman. I’m now sold on the vision.

4. The Neoprene and Suede Platform by Wardrobe.NYC: [I want these glued to my feet all summer]
I don’t know how I missed these when they dropped but I’m constantly scouring secondhand to score a size 37 in the two-tone.

5. Tony Bianco Ives: [one of every color, please]
A great (and obv more affordable dupe) of The Row Ginza.

There's honestly so many good choices so linking my Locker here for a range of looks + price ranges.

I could go on and on about my love for Miami but we have so many other things to get into today (should I do a Miami recap/itinerary post? y/n?) à la PFW, the state of fundraising for fashion startups, conversations around our parasocial relationships with creators and the switch from owning luxury to living it.

But first—set the vibe. Light a Cire Trudon Spiritus Sancti, slip into your fav Deiji Studio set, and pour yourself something good—a chilled Pét-nat or an espresso martini, perhaps? Get comfortable. It’s Thursday night, we’re talking fashion, and I’m bringing the good stuff.

Let’s get into it, shall we?

INDUSTRY INTEL:

1. A few major fundraising rounds successfully announced this week, a huge win for the fashion startup girlies!

   1. Pickle has raised $12 million in Series A funding; in total, the startup has now raised $20 million. FirstMark and Craft Ventures co-led this round, with participation from Burst Capital and FJ Labs: [read more here]

   2. Rodeo is joining the a16z Talent x Opportunity Spring 2025 cohort: [read more here]

   3. By Rotation's Eshita Kabra-Davies took an alternative route to fundraising after facing resistance from male-led VC firms. Instead, she secured over £1M from female angel investors, including Amanda Cupples (Airbnb) and Naomi Walkland (Motorway). This speaks to a larger issue: traditional VC still doesn’t get fashion, and women in the industry are increasingly funding each other: [read more here]

   4. Circ closed an oversubscribed $25M round led by Taranis to scale industrial textile recycling. (ICYMI: An oversubscribed funding round means investors pledged more money than the company was originally looking to raise): [read more here]

   5. Epoch Biodesign secured $18.3M in Series A, backed by Inditex. The funds will fuel a commercial-scale plant for textile biorecycling, bringing total investment to $34M: [read more here]

   6. Inditex’s venture arm, Mundi Ventures, backed both Circ and Epoch. Translation? The world’s biggest fast fashion conglomerate is betting big on circularity—not just for PR, but because supply chain longevity depends on it.
      

2. Luxury shakeups continue:

   1. Prada is in talks to buy Versace for up to $1.6B, a move that feels particularly sharp post the failed Capri + Tapestry merger. Given Prada’s successful turnaround of Miu Miu, this could be a defining moment for Versace. Especially with other major fashion groups (ahem, Kering, LVMH, Capri) struggling during this luxury slowdown—rah rah Italy!: [read more here]

   2. Chanel quietly took a 20% stake in Leo France Spa, a Tuscan-based manufacturer of costume jewelry and metal accessories. The move allows Chanel to secure access to crucial supply chains while maintaining the integrity of independent Italian craftsmanship. No seriously, RAH RAH ITALY!: [read more here]

OUI OUI, PARIS!

1. 3 major creative director debuts at PFW all received rave reviews: Haider Ackermann at Tom Ford, Sarah Burton at Givenchy (I am not recovering from this one, and I do mean look 29. I love me some Sarah Burton), and Julian Klausner at Dries. I think the creative director musical chairs of the last 6 months have finally all found a seat: [read more here]

2. Chemena Kamali can do no wrong, as a surprise to absolutely fucking no one, and now the Paddington is trending again. Seriously, what a time to be alive: [read more here]

3. Unfortunately, RTO mandates are sneaking into sets a la Stella McCartney and Balenciaga. Do with that information what you will. I’m choosing to see it as women in power roles: [read more here]

4. Since you asked, my favorite shows were: Rokh (the oversized trench + ballet flat combo hello!), Schiaparelli's double and triple belt moments, I’ll stop talking about Chloe approximately never and for some reason look 18 from Alaia really did it for me.

5. But even more important than the runways for me is always the street style. Some of my favorite looks below:

This felt like a return to form ~

CONVERSATIONS WORTH HAVING:

1. THE EMPTY PROMISE OF PURCHASABLE IDENTITY

The girls are fighting. This week's TikTok discourse about NYC fashion influencers being "boring carbon copies jingling about with their hand chains" revealed something more significant than just style critique. When Grace Brinkly said, "A life that can be emulated by purchasing things should not inspire you," she hit on something fundamental about what we've come to expect from creators (spoiler alert: it isn’t much).

The conversation quickly evolved beyond just identical Revolve hauls. It exposed the tension between what we claim to value in fashion voices (authenticity, creativity, perspective) versus what the algorithm actually rewards (consistency, familiarity, shoppability).

What fascinates me is how "having personal style" has itself become a marketable trend. Even "being different" has standardized aesthetics. The algorithm has essentially commodified individuality. We've reached a point where it’s just another product being sold to us, packaged slightly differently but ultimately designed for the same consumption cycle. It honestly breaks my brain a little bit.

This raises essential questions about the creator economy itself: What defines a "fashion" influencer now—their ability to sell or their ability to inspire? What defines this inspiration? Is connection more valuable than conversion? And most critically: when does following someone cross the line from inspiration into hollow emulation?

The most telling paradox is that even as we criticize these creators for lacking "a sense of self outside of consumerism," we're doing so on platforms explicitly designed to turn identity into a purchasable, trackable commodity. If I keep talking about this I’ll actually go mad.

2. FASHION’S FUNDING BLIND SPOT

In conversations with founders this week, a recurring frustration emerged with striking clarity: the fundamental disconnect between fashion's cultural and economic impact and its treatment in investment circles (my fancy way of saying: funding is v hard right now).

"Men don't fund fashion" isn't just an observation—it's the explanation behind By Rotation's Eshita Kabra-Davies all female angel round noted above. Multiple founders expressed the urgent need for a fashion-tech specific fund led by women who understand that clothing isn't a vertical—it's a universal.

What's particularly revealing is how this financial gatekeeping has created insularity in fashion-tech conversations. The innovations with the potential to reshape industry infrastructure remain trapped in echo chambers of the already-converted, while mainstream consumption patterns continue on.

The paradox is staggering: fashion represents a trillion-dollar industry touching every human on the planet, yet investors consistently treat it as a niche interest rather than essential infrastructure deserving of serious capital. This dismissal isn't just financially short-sighted—it reinforces the dangerous mischaracterization of fashion as frivolous rather than fundamental.

The founders making meaningful progress aren't waiting for validation from traditional channels—they're building regardless, finding alternative capital structures, and betting that the market will eventually recognize what women have always understood: clothing isn't peripheral to culture and commerce—it's central to how we construct both.

3. THE RAGE-INDUCING "HOT ITEM" POP-UP

Much less important, but somehow makes me equally as aggravated as all of the above- let’s discuss what makes me lose my everloving mind. I go to a site, I click on a product I'm genuinely interested in, and immediately a pop-up covers the ENTIRE THING telling me "17 people are viewing this right now!" or "Selling fast!" or my personal favorite, "3 people just bought this!"

First of all, I literally cannot see the product I clicked on because your desperate pop-up is blocking it. Second, I could not possibly care less about who else is looking at or buying this. If anything, it makes me want it less? Third, I’m immediately questioning your entire brand. It’s tired, it’s trite, it’s literally in my fucking way.

I genuinely want to know: has this ever worked on anyone? Has anyone ever thought "Oh thank god Sarah from Minnesota just bought this too, now I MUST have it!" Because all it does for me is close the tab and find the item elsewhere.

Please, PLEASE raise your hand if this actually works on you because I need to understand who these tactics are for. Anyone?

RANT OVER.

We've made it to the end of issue one! I'm calling this a successful experiment in seeing how much I can write while refreshing my hotel WiFi and ignoring emails that definitely need responses.

If anything from this week's roundup resonated—those chunky Miami sandals, the fashion funding paradox, or the collective eye roll at creator uniformity—I want to hear about it. The whole point of building this table is having actual conversations about what's moving this industry forward (or backward, let's be real).

And yes, I'm seriously considering that Miami guide if enough of you slide into my inbox requesting it. My DMs are open and my opinions remain unfiltered.

Same time next week, same inbox, different city.

All my love x,
Carly