Catwalk Genius - FAQs - Adopting Designers
How adopting a designer works
The adoption programme raises 70,000 Euros for your favourite designers to use in creating a new collection. When items from that collection sell, the profits are shared between you, the designer and us.
To adopt a designer, you purchase one or more 'elements' worth 14 Euros each. When 5,000 elements are sold, the designer gets to work on the new collection and the funding is used to produce and distribute it. At that point, supporters will also receive a limited edition piece created for exclusively for them by the designer.
About 6 months later, when the new collection's on sale, all the sales profits are shared three ways equally. You can also sign up to our affiliate programme and earn 10% of the profits of any items that are sold through adverts on your personal web pages.
Back to the topFrequently Asked Questions about adopting a designer
- How much does it cost?
- What's in it for me?
- Can I buy more than one 'element' in the same designer?
- Can I buy elements in more than one designer?
- What happens if I change my mind?
- What happens if the designer doesn't reach their adoption target?
- What do you do with the funds supporters have contributed?
- What happens when the designer reaches their adoption target?
- How will I get my share of my adopted designer's profits?
- How do I make more profit by selling the designer's work on other internet sites?
How much does it cost?
It costs 15 Euros, of which 14 gets invested (the extra 1 Euro covers our processing costs).
What's in it for me?
Mostly, it's about the satisfaction of owning a stake in your own fashion house - since there are no guarantees that your favourite designer will hit the adoption target.
However - if they do, you get an exclusive limited edition piece, created for you by the designer. Then once their new collection goes on sale you get a share of the profits, proportionate to your share of the adoption funding.
Can I buy more than one 'element' in the same designer?
You can buy as many as you like, up until all 5,000 are sold. The more you buy, the greater your share of profits will be once the adoption collection starts to sell.
Can I buy elements in more than one designer?
Yes, as many as you want.
What happens if I change my mind?
Right up until your designer reaches the adoption target, you can switch your elements to another designer's adoption (go to 'Move Elements' in My Account / Adopted Designers).
Otherwise you can click 'refund' on the same page and ask us to return your cash, which we'll do within 2 weeks of that date. We charge 1 Euro to process refunds, so you'll get 13 Euros back for each element you withdraw.
Once the designer hits the target though, your elements are locked in and you won't be able to move or withdraw them.
What happens if the designer doesn't reach their adoption target?
Nothing - the funding stays where it is indefinitely.
This only changes if the designer withdraws from the programme or their account with us becomes inactive. When this happens, we'll contact all their supporter to ask if they'd like to switch or withdraw their elements.
What do you do with the funds supporters have contributed?
They stay in a deposit account right up until the designer reaches their adoption target.
We earn interest on the balance, but we don't touch the funding itself.
What happens when the designer reaches their adoption target?
The funding becomes locked in; no-one else can buy an element and supporters can't touch the elements they've purchased.
The designer has 6 months to design and commission production of a new collection. They have full creative control of designing 4-7 items - but they must stick to the 70,000 budget.
They must also produce enough stock to hit a retail target that would more than pay back their supporters when sold.
When the new collection starts to sell, the profits are shared equally between the designer, their supporters and us.
There'll also be an affiliate scheme, where people who advertise the collection's goods on their personal web spaces may earn 10% commission on the profits.
As such, the profit split will take the form of one of the two models below, depending on how the goods are sold:
How will I get my share of my adopted designer's profits?
Each month after the collection begins to sell, we will issue each supporter with a statement that shows the value of sales so far and how much of the profits are owed to you.
All of your profits will be listed in your Account's balance. You can request a withdrawal at any point and we will pay you the requested amount within 2 weeks.
How do I make more profit by selling the designer's work on other Internet sites?
If you sign up to our affiliate programme, you can earn extra cash by placing an advert on your personal web pages and social networking spaces.
For each sale that generates from a click-through on one of your adverts, you'll earn 10% of the profits.
Back to the top