Take A Look Back with the 2019 - 2020 Annual Report!
Executive Summary
Our 2019 results demonstrate the strength of the Fashion Zone model which focuses on offering services that our community needs to move forward in a highly competitive market. The Fashion Zone is adiverse community of female, BIPOC, LGTBQ creators, makers, founders and advisors. Our community of current start-ups and graduates generated over $65M in sales with $1M in equity investments. Collectively these ventures created employment opportunities for nearly 350 Ontarians. 32% of our start-ups view their business through a social lens, pushing the limits of sustainability and building a better world.
We strive to accelerate diversity and inclusion through programming, advisory services, events and experiences. Last year, we ran 55 events including fashion industry panels and specialized PR, sustainability and online marketing strategy workshops. Our industry-focused events attracted over 3824 student participants, a growth rate of 280% in comparison to 2018. To better support our more advanced start-ups, we introduced an Entrepreneur in Residence program offering services in operations and growth marketing. In addition, we launched the Fashion Zone Experiential Production Program, which supports start-ups with on-site and virtual event services to facilitate launch parties or events at the Creative Innovation Studio.
Intending to create more original content, we pivoted from exclusively sharing Fashion Zone company content to creating our own. Fashion Zone editorials feature products and designs from Fashion Zone start-ups. Here, selected brands receive professional photography and content, an asset many fashion start-ups struggle to maintain. In total, we facilitated five editorial shoots and published 23 blog posts that drove nearly 18,000 people to our website.
2019-2020 in Numbers
$62,727,769.00
Total Revenue generated by Fashion Zone Companies
+280%
Total Percentage of Growth
$952,000.00
Equity Investments Raised by Fashion Zone Companies
41,540
Total Website Page Views from 11,186 Visitors
82
Current Fashion Zone Members with 59 Female Founders
17,147
Blog Page Views for 23 Original Blog Posts
781,664
Social Media Followers from Fashion Zone Companies
5,790
Social Media Followers from 3 Platforms
Event Highlights
Marketing Highlights: Fashion Zone Editorials
With a goal to create more original content, we kicked off the year with the launch of the Fashion Zone Creative Editorials project, a series of photo and video campaigns that feature products and designs from the Fashion Zone family of companies. As one of the Zones in the creative sector, we seek to showcase the innovation of our start-up members and demonstrate the creative capacity of our community at Ryerson University.
Industry Collaborations
Photography: Freya de Tonnancour (external link)
Make-Up Artists: Sarah Lam (external link) and Emma Rafizadeh (external link)
Hair Stylist: Ryan McGovern (external link)
Collaborations: B&M Models (external link) , Elite Models (external link) , Spot 6 Models (external link) , Fairmont Royal York (external link)