Fashion Founders Deserve a Better Blueprint

Jaclyn Brautigam didn’t start Fordham Fashion to chase runway fame. She started it to fix a problem she’d seen over and over again—emerging designers getting lost in the noise without real support.

“I’ve worked in every part of the fashion industry,” she says. “Big companies, small studios, sales agencies—I kept seeing the same gap. No one was helping designers with the full picture.”

So she built it herself.

Fordham Fashion launched less than a year ago, but the roots go much deeper. As a teenager, Jaclyn took courses at FIT and Parsons. She landed early roles at brands like Steve Madden and Reebok, where she learned the wholesale process, retail coordination, and the behind-the-scenes sales reporting that drives mass-market fashion.

But her most formative experience came not from corporate offices—but from a small fashion studio that shut down during the pandemic.

“I loved that job,” she says. “When it ended, I started teaching sewing classes and workshops on the side. I didn’t want to stop being creative.”

That side hustle became her anchor. She kept freelancing, ran pop-ups with art studios, and maintained strong ties to her network. All of it—design, education, sales, and support—eventually converged in one big idea: designers need more than marketing. They need a partner who understands both the business and the craft.

Fordham Fashion does exactly that.

Jaclyn works with designers to get clear on their goals, develop brand activations, and build real visibility. One client is a swimwear brand breaking into boutique hotels. Another is a healthcare-inspired jewelry brand focused on med spas and doctor’s offices.

The projects are wildly different. But the approach is the same: practical, personal, and built around what the designer actually wants to create.

“I’m not a pushy sales agent,” Jaclyn says. “I’m the one asking: what do you want from your brand? Let’s figure that out first—and then build everything around it.”

What sets her apart is range. She knows how to pitch retailers. She knows how to navigate trade shows. But she also knows how to sew. She teaches beginners. She runs workshops. She understands the emotional work behind every design decision because she’s done it herself.

That dual fluency—business and creative—is rare. And it’s a big reason clients keep coming back.

But like most early-stage founders, the first year wasn’t glamorous.

Jaclyn still takes freelance gigs to stay cash-flow positive. She still works the occasional trade show, teaches classes, and leans hard on her industry network. She learned backend tools like HoneyBook and Asana on the fly. Built her own website. Juggled multiple time zones. Spent late nights Googling how to fix whatever broke that day.

“You just figure it out,” she says. “This isn’t forever—but it’s how you build.”

She credits a lot of her momentum to staying close to people who get it—other founders navigating similar terrain. “If you’re not building something, you don’t always understand the mindset,” she says. “So I’ve found my people—people I can bounce ideas off of, even if I don’t always take their advice.”

She’s also staying close to the ground. Tariffs and production delays have rocked the industry. Supply chains are shifting. But Jaclyn’s response isn’t to panic—it’s to adapt.

She’s developing new offers that help designers think creatively about sales and production without giving up on their goals. And she’s excited about what’s next—not because she has it all mapped out, but because she’s clear on the mission.

“I just want to be helpful,” she says. “Fashion is a tight industry. People don’t always want to share their process. I’m trying to change that.”

The vision for Fordham Fashion isn’t about building the biggest agency. It’s about building trust. And that trust comes from showing up—not just as a consultant, but as someone who understands both the business and the dream.

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