The brand
Cotton Canary is a brand featuring limited edition, easy-care collections that celebrate femininity while creating a polished look. Think: dressed up, not buttoned up, day-to-date wear, with a price point you can afford. Plus, it’s made in the USA and is designed with and for women, to encourage women, and to support women.
Make each day a little more inspired, a little easier, and much more emboldened.
The vision
When I launched Cotton Canary, I had two goals in mind: to design clothing that dresses the every-day woman as the modern superwoman that she is, and gives women more of a say in fashion.
While the world has changed to bring more equality and empowerment to women, fashion in the workplace is still very stifled. We default to suits or been-there, done-that pants with button-down shirts.
I say it’s time to celebrate femininity while maintaining the girl boss edge and have a polished look that transitions seamlessly from boardroom to bar.
It’s also time to bring the woman’s voice into the design process. Let’s make the evolution of our personal style a bit more, well…evolved. You should participate in how collections are put together and weigh in on the fit, color, and style you need and want.
This concept is virtually non-existent in the fashion industry, and yet it offers so many advantages. By selling directly to you and sidestepping the retailers, we are able to balance quality with affordability and offer collections at a below-market price. A $100 dress purchased through Cotton Canary would cost you almost double at a retail shop, because we have cut out the middle man.
We have also cut out the waste. Not carrying an inventory means we relieve the pressure of producing as cheaply as possible and the practice of trying to offload products that don't sell. Our model is demand-driven, and it allows us to focus more on the quality of each piece to bring you a limited edition design.
All of these ambitions come to life in Cotton Canary. I have bootstrapped the development of this clothing line with my own savings and business background until now. But like any ambitious undertaking, the brand needs more resources.
It typically takes at least two seasons to build a following strong enough to give a fashion brand its wings. I have set a goal of $46,500 to help fuel Cotton Canary to launch and maintain sustainability. With your support, we will reach and surpass that goal so that we can continue to ramp up operations and deliver more of the clothes you’ll love.
Breakdown of how the money will be spent
You work hard for your money, and it’s important you know exactly how your donation will be used:
- 100% of your donation will be used to fuel the brand and operations.
- Zero percent of your gift will be used to pay a salary for me.
More specifically:
- You--Front and Center (Creating a Platform To Hear All Your Ideas For Design): $6,000
- The Fun Part (Garment Design, Pattern Making, Perfecting the Fit): $12,500
- No Emperor’s New Clothes Here (Fabric Sourcing and Perfecting the Fit): $5,000
- Seeing is Believing (Photo Shoot, plus Web Design, UX Testing): $8,500
- How You’ll Hear About Us (Marketing): $10,000
- Bow On Top (Packaging): $4,500
Whatever you can give is appreciated and so very helpful.
You and Cotton Canary
You care about this because…
- …fashion, like other industries, needs to be more democratic, and more fine-tuned to what women, like you, need. Cotton Canary wants to give the choice of fashion back into rightful hands -- yours.
- …you refuse to struggle with the office wear dilemma: professional but stiff and unfeminine; quality but at an unaffordable price; inexpensively made and barely lasts a season; not cute enough for post-work play; and the list goes on!
- …you’d rather not spend a fortune on dry cleaning.
- …we want to make our collections with you. Your voice is the most important element – let’s design together.
…And we have ambitions outside of ourselves as well. From day one, Cotton Canary will provide a portion of its proceeds to provide financial assistance to families seeking to adopt kids and to help break women and children out of human trafficking.
Timeline and the fun stuff
BRAND
With your support, we are excited to celebrate these milestones together:
- September 15: Our fundraising goes live and you good folks donate!
- October 6: We close our fundraising shop and shift gears to...
- October 10: The inaugural collection launch (yay!).
PERKS
We are impatient to give you perks for your good deed of the day. Once the fundraising has ended, we will contact you to claim your prize! Stay tuned for updates towards the end of the campaign and continue passing on the word about Cotton Canary.
THANK YOU!
THANK YOU for your support, your encouragement, and your participation. It really does mean the world to us. We are grateful to have you join our movement.
Once you have donated, share your new donor title (see more in Perks) on social media and inspire others to join your ranks. (If only being Beyonce can be this easy!)
Sharing is caring! If you can’t donate, share this page, chat with us on Instagram, shout out on Twitter or follow on Facebook.
With endless appreciation,
Jen
