How to start a fashion brand in 2025

Introduction to Ossou

It is not an easy time for fashion. Global tariffs, inflation, and geopolitical tensions have even shaken the die-hard consumers, which caused shares to fall and downgraded forecasts for industry leaders. Meanwhile, aspiring brands deal with shrinking support structures in fashion, from the continuing problems of wholesale to fewer exit options.

Launching Ossou

For Nina Khosla, none of it frightened her to bring her second brand, Ossou, into the world. "In a time of uncertainty, it meant to return to a single question: What is really necessary? The world has changed, and thus a new appetite for durability," says Khosla, who founded American fashion label Forne in 2022.

Brand Vision

Ossou debut with a website and presentation in New York Casa Valle and wants to be the basis of a modern wardrobe, says Khosla, who has come into fashion after years of work in technology. Talia Shuvalov, the founder of Fine Jewelry Line Earth and formerly by Alexander Wang and Narciso Rodriguez, is her co-creative director, while the CEO of Forne, Joey Laurenti, will also act as CEO of Ossou. The Ready-to-Wear brand specializes in Japanese Denim, which were manufactured in Los Angeles, with cotton, leather, and silk parts from Italy and in Europe. The prices range from $295 for its T-shirts up to $1,295 for leather.

Focus on Quality Materials

"It all starts with materials," says Shuvalov. "We only choose what has an inner value in both function and in relation to the internal value. The denim is the heart." Khosla added, “So I was always really interested in Denim and how it can be researched as a more first-class luxury material and it is refined in a way that can create the backbone of the closet of a modern woman."

Market Positioning

In Khosla’s perspective and management puzzle, Ossou’s relationship ends with Fforne, since it is not a sister brand, but a completely separate company that deals with different needs of consumers, and at another price – one that enables the brand to reach a wider audience faster, says Laurenti. "While Forne is firmly planted in the designer world, Osou spans the border between the designer and up-and-coming designer, which is a really good place," says Laurenti. The goal is to build something that corresponds to a certain aesthetic and high-quality standard and then create a business plan and a strategy.