Warby Parker, Everlane and other brands are partnering with small, but buzzy fashion labels as an inexpensive way to find new customers, and regain some status with shoppers who have moved on.

Founder Michael Preysman and his investors are back in growth mode after implementing cost cuts and changes to the product mix last year. Whether Everlane can find a new leader to make it the sales juggernaut it's always dreamt of being will be a test case for whether late-stage start-ups can escape the direct-to-consumer curse.

The cost to advertise on Meta — once digital brands’ primary marketing channel — has finally come down. But start-ups will continue to decrease their reliance on social media, including investing more in offline advertising and in targeting customers on Google, where the intent to buy is higher.

With the direct-to-consumer funding heyday now over, DTC brands need to turn a profit. Unlike their revenue-obsessed counterparts, DTC pioneers Marine Layer, Meundies and Trinny London offer a blueprint for achieving both top- and bottom-line growth.

As digital marketing becomes less effective and more costly, brands will embrace creative campaigns and channels such as retail media networks and the metaverse to achieve greater returns on investment and deepen community-led customer engagement.

Trunk shows, niche newsletters and old fashioned word of mouth are creative ways to reach your target audience without relying on traditional advertising.

In a saturated market where customer acquisition costs are on the rise, fashion and beauty start-ups are exploring ways to boost repeat business.

Apple’s new privacy settings weren’t the first move to limit data companies have access to and won’t be the last, meaning brands can’t rely on their old playbooks to target new shoppers.