Ultimately, Proenza’s fortunes unravelled for many of the same reasons so many of its peers are no longer in business: misallocation of funds, disagreements with investors, seismic shifts in the industry at large, and a fashion ecosystem that did a poor job of preparing young designers for the realities of entrepreneurship.

Fashion runs on these really strange net 60, net 30, net whatever, store pay payment terms. We didn't understand all of this at first. When we first started PD, we asked for a deposit when someone placed an order, that helped at the beginning. But over time, stores overturned those rules. No one really pays on the dot. The reason a lot of brands do... See more