Develop the Collection. Build the Business.
A 4-Month Fashion Collection & Business Development Programme
The UDGN Fashion Incubator is a four-month programme for emerging designers and independent fashion brands ready to take an existing collection concept into physical product development while strengthening the business behind their brand.
Across four months, designers work on their own collections through toiling, sampling, fit, fabrication and refinement, supported by Product Development guidance and professional feedback.
Alongside collection development, designers take part in Fashion Business Masterclasses covering the practical commercial areas required to position, market, sell, protect and grow an independent fashion brand.
One-to-one mentorship provides additional individual support, helping designers apply the programme directly to the needs and ambitions of their own business.
At the heart of the Incubator are the three pillars that shape UDGN's approach across its programmes:
Responsible Design. Cultural Identity. Storytelling.
4 Months | Product Development | Fashion Business Masterclasses | 1:1 Mentorship
What You Will Develop
Develop the Product and the Business Together
The Fashion Incubator recognises that building a fashion brand requires more than creating a strong collection.
Throughout the four months, designers develop the physical collection and the commercial foundations behind it alongside one another.
Collection & Product Development
You will work on:
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Moving your collection from design into physical development
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Toile and sample development
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Fabric and material selection
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Silhouette and proportion
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Fit and sizing
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Construction considerations
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Product refinement
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Identifying and resolving development issues
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Maintaining cohesion across the collection
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Responsible material and production decisions
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Preparing the collection for its next stage of production
Fashion Business Development
You will strengthen your understanding of:
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Range planning
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Pricing
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Brand positioning
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Branding and storytelling
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Marketing
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E-commerce marketing
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Fashion PR
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Retail and wholesale
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Scaling a cultural brand
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IP and legal considerations
Individual Brand Development
Through one-to-one mentorship, you will have dedicated support to consider how the programme applies to your own brand, collection, challenges and next-stage ambitions.
The UDGN Approach
Responsible Design. Cultural Identity. Storytelling.
Every UDGN programme is grounded in three interconnected pillars.
Rather than sitting separately from the curriculum, these principles influence how designers are encouraged to think, design, make, develop and communicate their work.
RESPONSIBLE DESIGN
Create With Greater Consideration
Responsible Design is about making more considered decisions around what we create, how we create it and the resources we use in the process.
Throughout the Incubator, designers are encouraged to consider how they can reduce unnecessary waste and adopt more responsible and sustainable approaches wherever realistically possible for their practice and business.
This can include:
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Reducing fabric and material waste
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Making more considered material choices
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Reusing or repurposing materials where appropriate
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Reducing unnecessary sampling
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Avoiding unnecessary overproduction
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Considering production quantities more carefully
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Exploring local sourcing and production where practical
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Considering durability, quality and product longevity
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Identifying more sustainable alternatives where accessible
Responsible Design does not assume that an emerging designer can achieve perfect sustainability from the outset.
Instead, designers are encouraged to understand the impact of their choices, reduce unnecessary waste and continually make more responsible decisions as their practice develops.
Cultural Identity
Heritage, Craft and Contemporary Design
Cultural Identity goes beyond using heritage as visual inspiration or simply telling a cultural story.
UDGN encourages designers to explore how heritage, lived experience, traditional knowledge, local craftsmanship, textiles and methods of making can contribute to their contemporary design identity.
Culture can influence both what a collection communicates and how the products themselves are made.
This might include working with culturally rooted textile and craft practices such as:
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Traditional dyeing techniques
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Weaving
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Embroidery
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Beadwork
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Printing and textile development
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Locally produced textiles
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Artisan and handcraft techniques
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Practices such as Nigerian tie-dye and Aṣọ Òkè weaving
Designers are encouraged to understand the origin, context, craftsmanship and meaning behind the references and techniques they use and to consider how they can be interpreted thoughtfully within contemporary fashion.
For culturally rooted brands, this also means considering how cultural identity can remain a recognisable and meaningful part of the brand as it grows, reaches wider audiences and enters new markets.
Storytelling
Build the World Behind the Brand
Storytelling gives context and meaning to a designer's work.
Throughout the Incubator, designers are encouraged to understand what their collection represents, what they want it to communicate and how that story connects to the wider brand.
Storytelling can be expressed through:
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Collection concepts
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Design details
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Fabric and material choices
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Traditional craft and making techniques
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Cultural references
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Brand identity
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Styling and imagery
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Marketing
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Fashion PR
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Digital communication
The aim is not to create a story around a collection after it has been designed.
It is to build a coherent creative world where the collection, brand identity and communication strengthen one another.
How The Incubator Works
Four Months of Creative & Commercial Development
The Fashion Incubator combines three areas of support throughout the four-month programme.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Take Your Collection Into Physical Development
Product Development supports designers as they translate their collection designs into physical garments.
Throughout the programme, designers bring their developing work into structured Product Development sessions for professional feedback and direction.
As the collection progresses, designers can work through:
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Collection and design review
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Toile development
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Fabric and material decisions
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Sample development
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Silhouette and proportion
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Fit and sizing
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Construction considerations
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Design feasibility
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Sample review
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Resolving development challenges
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Refining individual garments
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Maintaining cohesion across the collection
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Responsible design and production considerations
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Preparing products for further production
Designers continue developing their garments between sessions, applying feedback and returning with their progress.
Develop → Test → Review → Refine
The purpose is to give designers the structure, professional feedback and direction required to make stronger product-development decisions as their collection moves from design into physical form.
Fashion Business Masterclasses
Build the Business Behind the Collection
Running alongside Product Development are Fashion Business Masterclasses covering the practical commercial knowledge required to build and grow an independent fashion brand.
Range Planning
Understand how to structure a considered range, balance products across a collection and connect creative decisions with commercial considerations.
Pricing
Develop an understanding of costing, margins and how to create a pricing structure that supports the sustainability of the business.
Brand Positioning
Understand where your brand sits within the market, what differentiates it and how to position it for the customers and opportunities you want to reach.
Branding & Storytelling
Strengthen the identity behind the brand and learn how to communicate its purpose, values, creative world and story consistently.
Marketing
Develop a clearer approach to communicating your brand and collections, reaching the right audience and building visibility.
E-Commerce Marketing
Understand how to position and market fashion products online and how digital channels can support customer engagement and sales.
Fashion PR
Understand the role of PR within fashion, how collections and brands are communicated to media and how to strengthen your positioning for relevant press and industry visibility.
Retail & Wholesale
Understand different routes to market, retailer and buyer expectations, wholesale readiness and the commercial considerations involved in selling through external retail channels.
Scaling a Cultural Brand
Explore how culturally rooted brands can grow and reach wider markets while retaining the identity, craftsmanship, values and stories that make them distinctive.
IP & Legal
Build awareness of the intellectual-property and legal considerations relevant to independent fashion businesses, including protecting creative work and brand assets and recognising when specialist professional advice may be required.
One-To-One Mentorship
Support Specific to Your Brand
Every designer enters the Incubator at a different stage and with different business needs.
Alongside Product Development and Fashion Business Masterclasses, one-to-one mentorship creates dedicated space for designers to apply the programme directly to their own brand.
Mentorship can support you to:
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Work through individual business challenges
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Apply masterclass learning to your own business
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Review brand and commercial decisions
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Identify gaps and opportunities
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Set priorities
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Review progress
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Explore routes to market
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Consider growth decisions
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Establish practical next steps
The purpose of one-to-one mentorship is to ensure that the programme does not remain theoretical. Designers are supported to translate what they are learning into decisions and actions relevant to their own business.
What You Leave With
A Stronger Collection. A Stronger Business. A Clearer Direction.
By the end of the Fashion Incubator, designers should have progressed both creatively and commercially.
You will leave with:
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A collection progressed through physical product development
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Greater understanding of toiling, sampling, fit and refinement
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More considered fabric, material and production decisions
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Greater awareness of responsible design practices
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A stronger and more recognisable design identity
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Greater understanding of how cultural identity, traditional craft and methods of making can inform contemporary fashion
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Stronger collection and brand storytelling
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Greater understanding of range planning and pricing
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Clearer brand positioning
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Stronger marketing and e-commerce knowledge
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Greater understanding of Fashion PR
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Greater understanding of retail and wholesale
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Awareness of key IP and legal considerations
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A clearer commercial direction for the next stage of your brand
The exact physical stage reached by each collection will depend on the designer's starting point and the development and production work undertaken throughout the programme.
Who is the Fashion Incubator For?
A Stronger Collection. A Stronger Business. A Clearer Direction.
The Fashion Incubator is designed for emerging designers and independent fashion brands that already have a collection concept and designs ready for development.
It is particularly suited to:
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Designers ready to move from sketches into physical product development
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Independent fashion founders developing a collection
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Designers working through toiles, samples and garment refinement
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Designers seeking professional Product Development guidance
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Designers who need stronger commercial knowledge
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Fashion founders seeking greater clarity around pricing, positioning, marketing and routes to market
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Culturally rooted brands looking to grow while retaining their identity
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Designers interested in incorporating traditional textiles, craftsmanship or methods of making into contemporary fashion
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Designers seeking to develop more responsible approaches to design and production
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Designers who would benefit from structured mentorship and professional guidance
Do I Need to Complete the Design Lab First?
No.
UDGN Academy programmes are separate entry points designed for different stages of a designer's development.
The UDGN Design Lab focuses on the fundamentals of collection design and supports designers to develop a cohesive six-piece collection in design/sketch form.
The Fashion Incubator is for designers who already have a developed collection concept and designs ready to progress into physical product development and deeper business development.
Designers who are already at this stage can apply directly to the Fashion Incubator.
Your Investment
Programme Fee: £2,500
The programme fee includes the full four-month Fashion Incubator, including:
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Product Development support
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Fashion Business Masterclasses
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One-to-one mentorship
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Programme learning and development resources
Physical collection production and associated external production costs are not included in the programme fee.
The Fashion Incubator is delivered in a focused cohort environment to allow for meaningful participation, feedback and individual development.
Ready to develop your collection and build the business behind it?
Curriculum & Monthly Timeline
Curriculum Overview
Programme Duration:
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Cultural Threads 1: June – September
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Cultural Threads 2 : November – February
Format: Hybrid (virtual-first with 1:1 mentorship and live expert sessions)
Cohort Size: 6–12 designers per programme
Location: Online, UK-based with international access available
Programme Structure: The UDGN Academy is designed to guide designers from concept to runway through a four-month process that combines creative development, business mastery, and industry exposure.
Each month blends two key learning tracks:
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Creative Development Sessions (monthly collection focused product development support+ mentorship)
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Fashion Business Masterclasses (bi-weekly classes with industry experts)
Month 1: Concept & Collection Framework:
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1:1 Brand and Storytelling Session with Tare Isaac
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Collection concept, inspiration, and design direction
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Product Development Session 1: Concept critique and framework review
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Fashion Business Masterclasses:
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Branding & Storytelling
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Range Planning & Pricing
Month 2: Design Development & Toile Creation:
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Product Development Session 2: Toile making, fit analysis, and mentor feedback
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Fabric sourcing guidance and construction notes
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Fashion Business Masterclasses:
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Fashion Finance & Costing
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E-Commerce and Digital Strategy
Month 3: Sampling & Refinement:
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Product Development Session 3: Sample construction and adjustments
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Line sheet preparation and PR visuals planning
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Fashion Business Masterclasses:
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Wholesale & Retail Strategy
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Marketing and Audience Growth
Month 4: Presentation & Launch:
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Product Development Session 4: Final presentation review and showcase preparation
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Press kit completion and lookbook editing
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Wellness Check-In with certified counsellor
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Showcase at London Fashion Week (February or September edition)
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Post-show strategic planning session
Important Programme Information
The UDGN Fashion Incubator is a collection and product development, fashion business and mentorship programme.
Participants are responsible for undertaking and funding the physical development and production of their own garments. This may include fabrics, trims, pattern cutting, toile development, sampling, manufacturing and external supplier costs.
Unless specifically stated within a cohort offer, the programme fee does not include photography, campaign production, models, hair and makeup, travel, accommodation or runway/show production.
The Fashion Incubator does not include a London Fashion Week showcase.
Places are offered following application and suitability review. Programme cohorts are subject to minimum enrolment requirements.
Participation in the Fashion Incubator does not guarantee sales, press coverage, retail or wholesale placement, investment or other external commercial outcomes.
