After returning from a trip to South Africa, The Folklore’s Amira Rasool was often stopped on the streets of New York and asked where she purchased her clothing, which she scored while abroad. “I knew that African and Black-owned brands were the future because people were getting bored of the same old [stuff],” said Rasool, founder and CEO of The Folklore, on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. “These brands have a cultural and heritage point-of-view that shines through in their products.” With research, Rasool discovered that most African brands did not have direct-to-consumer e-commerce platforms of their own and were not stocked in retail stores outside of their home country. Rasool launched The Folklore in 2016 as the first B2B wholesale e-commerce platform exclusively focused on Black-owned and African brands.  “Combining my interest and knowledge of Black history and uplifting Black people in our socio-economic condition with my love for styling and telling stories, I created The Folklore,” said Rasool. “We built this product with African and Black-owned brands at the forefront and not as an afterthought." The company’s designers are based in South Africa and Nigeria, but The Folklore is also developing relationships with brands in Ghana and Morocco. In addition, by September, the company is working to launch Folklore Connect, a B2B wholesale e-commerce platform that empowers global retailers to discover and shop for African and Black-owned fashion and lifestyle brands. The company’s current focus is on apparel, accessories, home and beauty, but will soon expand to new product categories and price points. “With our curation, we still have the potential [to on-board] thousands of brands to the platform,” said Rasool. “We haven't even scratched the surface.”

After launching and selling her namesake maternity wear brand, Liz Lange began to long for her entrepreneurial days. To that end, she bought New York-based women's luxury label Figue, acquiring the 10-year-old brand in 2021 from founder Stephanie Von Watzdorf. Lange is currently CEO. "I wanted to be the entrepreneur. I didn't want to be the advisor or the investor," said Lange on the latest episode of the Glossy Podcast. Lange learned Figue was available for sale after spending years wearing and admiring the brand's clothes. "I knew [Figue] had 10 years of reputation-building [under its belt], which is very hard to accomplish. So I thought, 'Aha, maybe this is my next meant-to-be moment'," she said.  Along with its direct-to-consumer e-commerce site, the brand now sells in over 50 retail locations, including at Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. Lange classifies the brand as accessible and affordable luxury — its prices range from $73-$1,572. "I knew the brand was much more than a summer and vacation brand, and that we could get there by doing more than dresses," said Lange. She said that Figue plans to grow sales by expanding to product categories including swim, shoes and accessories.