Ready-to-wear label Cushnie is shutting down

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Oct 29, 2020

Cushnie, the Black-owned luxury ready-to-wear women's label led by designer Carly Cushnie, is shutting down after 12 years. 

The designer said her brand was dealt a fatal financial blow by the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on business. 

“Like any small business we had our challenges, but it was really the pandemic that grinded everything to a halt,” Cushnie told Vogue. “There were seasons canceled and orders canceled and it was super, super tough.

"I’d gotten to a point where I was obviously concerned and thought we couldn’t make it, but then the Black Lives Matter movement started to surge. After that, there was a lot more interest in my brand, which was great, but it would have been [better] if it [had] come a bit earlier. And that’s, of course, not any sort of opportunistic wishing that the movement would have come earlier, but rather, a recognition that while added support during this time has been nice, it would have been better had there been more support for female designers and women of color in the industry before everyone started to support Black-owned brands so visibly over the last few months," Cushnie continued.

She also told the publication that her brand had been in the process of raising new funds, but that the boost didn't come in fast enough. Unlike what some other brands have done during the pandemic, Cushnie also said her line of vibrant going-out pieces was not ready to make a switch to more pandemic-friendly apparel, like loungewear. 

"There has been nothing more rewarding than making women feel confident, sexy and empowered through my collections," Cushnie wrote in a message posted to her brand's Instagram. 

"I have had the honor of dressing the most inspiring women, from Michelle Obama to Beyoncé. I was appointed to the board of directors of the CFDA and participated in the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund. I became one of the first Black female designers to launch a successful collaboration with Target."

"I close this chapter of my journey certain that it will not be the last, and I look forward to embarking on what's to come."