The Fashion Brand Clinic Podcast

About The Fashion Brand Clinic Podcast

The Fashion Brand Clinic is a podcast for fashion founders who are ready to scale beyond six figures and build brands that actually last. Hosted by me, Elizabeth Stiles, this show takes you behind the scenes of real fashion businesses through honest conversations with founders, industry experts and practical solo episodes. From pricing and product strategy to marketing operations and scaling challenges each episode is designed to help you make smarter decisions and grow with confidence. Follow me on Instagram & TikTok @elizabethstilesuk

Publisher

elizabeth stiles

Category

arts · arts

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 Mar 2019

Latest episode

29 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

1 of 180 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   29 Oct 2026

   From £25 To A Million, With No Ad Budget | Maisie Crompton

   In the middle of lockdown, Maisie Crompton's gran gave her £25. She spent it on a sewing needle, some thread and ten tote bags off Amazon. Today Totes For You has sold over half a million pounds' worth of just one bag, and has done it with pretty much no ad budget. This is one of my all-time favourite founder stories, and Maisie tells it with zero gloss. She documented every single day of starting the business on TikTok, back when it was a dancing app. Her first drop of ten bags sold out in about two minutes. Then the bit nobody posts about: the burnout, the moment she nearly quit, and the conversation with her partner Charlie that brought the brand back. What we cover: £25, ten bags and 600,000 views a video. How documenting the journey became the whole marketing plan. "I'm just gonna quit." Why Maisie nearly walked away, and how handing Charlie "the boring bits" (the money and the admin) saved the brand. The supplier mistake. She skipped a £100 sample and 70% of the batch was faulty. Plus kissing a few frogs, and why a supplier who'll start small and grow with you is gold. The Liberty tote. It started at 100 pieces per colour. Now the orders are 3,000. Two suppliers, very deliberately. Best-sellers come by train or truck; seasonal pieces come by sea and can take four months. What people say vs what they actually buy. Listen to your DMs, but your sales are the truth. Why selling out isn't the flex you think it is, and the raffia tote that kept selling out. £10 a customer on ads, or free with a good video. The 40-foot shipping container that turned up outside her house, and why she'd still choose her own warehouse over a fulfilment centre. Growing in profit. Why Maisie would rather have stability than a couple of million more in sales with no more profit. The bit to screenshot: Maisie's actual formula for a video that pops off. Best line of the episode: "Everyone else has to pay to market, and, like, technically it's free 'cause it's coming from me." Your homework: pick one idea from this episode and actually do it this week. Podcast queue as long as your arm? Me too. Find Maisie Totes For You: wearetfy.com Instagram and TikTok: @totesforyouu (two Us on the end) Maisie's own channels (the family stuff, the outfits and the weekend vlogs): TikTok and Instagram @maisie_crompton · YouTube @Maisie_crompton Mentioned in this episode Depop and Vinted Canton Fair (China's biggest trade show) Aimee Smale's Substack Grace Beverley's podcast Come to Fashion Marketing Live 2027 Want to be in a room full of founders like Maisie? Fashion Marketing Live is back on Monday 15 March 2027. The first one sold out in 24 hours and the waitlist is going bananas → elizabethstiles.co.uk/2027-fashion-marketing-event More from Elizabeth Free resources → elizabethstiles.co.uk/freebies The Fashion Feed: my free weekly newsletter and Facebook group The Scaling Project: six months of 1:1 mentoring for established, VAT-registered brands → elizabethstiles.co.uk/level-up This episode is sponsored by Katie Farrell If you're running a growing fashion brand, there's a good chance you already have Klaviyo. But is it actually getting you repeat orders? Katie Farrell and her team specialise in Klaviyo for Shopify brands: automated flows, campaigns, newsletters, and a strategy that turns your email into your biggest revenue channel. If you're ghosting your list between launches, or email is the Friday-night job you dread, that's where Katie and her team come in → katiefarrell-econsultant.com/podcast Instagram: @itskatiefarrell

2. 

   15 Oct 2026

   Why We're Obsessed With The '90s (It's Not Nostalgia) | Mary Portas

   "Take care of the collection, and push the brand." Mary Portas on the only two levers a fashion brand needs, what really happens when the money men take over, and the Barbie window that nearly cost her her job. I have been sitting on this one for months. This is the closing conversation from Fashion Marketing Live, and my guest was Mary Portas. Yes, that Mary Portas. Mary Queen of Shops. The woman who walked into a loss-making Harvey Nichols at 28 and helped turn it into the most talked-about shop in London. Her agent asked me to send the questions in advance, so I printed them onto gorgeous little cards. Then, just before we walked on stage, Mary waved her hand and said, "Forget everything you've prepared." So this is less an interview and more Mary going wherever the energy takes her. There's swearing, there are very strong opinions, and I loved every second. What we cover: Why everyone's suddenly obsessed with the '90s, and why Mary says it isn't nostalgia. It's longing for connection, community and tribes. The three things that have changed how people buy since COVID, and why your brand needs trust and desire in the same mix. "Everything you do is a risk." The advice Mary gave a reader of her newsletter, and why her biggest mistakes came when logic or the finance guys took over. Giving free shows to McQueen and Philip Treacy at Harvey Nichols, and the catwalk that had to lose three inches overnight. What happens when the money men take over, and Mary's take on what really killed Topshop. As a former Miss Selfridge girly, I had feelings. The bit to screenshot: you can never push high enough when it comes to branding. Nobody wants to feel "accessible". The two levers. Take care of the collection, then push the brand. Your customers will never, ever tell you how far to go. The Barbie window: thousands of dolls nailed to the back wall, protests outside, and a phone call from Anita Roddick. From the audience Q&A: her hardest Mary Queen of Shops moment, why every founder needs mentors, and the three words Nigella gave her for when the press comes after you. Find Mary Portas (her agency): weareportas.com Newsletter: The Portas POV. Sign up on the weareportas.com homepage. Instagram: @maryportasofficial · Portas: @weareportas Her book: I Shop, Therefore I Am: The '90s, Harvey Nicks – and Me (Canongate). I'm a big fan of the audiobook. Mentioned in this episode Work Like a Woman by Mary Portas Barbara Kruger's I Shop Therefore I Am Rebel: 30 Years of London Fashion at the Design Museum Tony's Chocolonely and B Corp Acne Studios and Acne Paper Come to Fashion Marketing Live 2027 Wish you'd been in the room? Fashion Marketing Live is back on Monday 15 March 2027. The first one sold out in 24 hours, so get on the waitlist → elizabethstiles.co.uk/2027-fashion-marketing-event More from Elizabeth Free resources → elizabethstiles.co.uk/freebies The Fashion Feed: my free weekly newsletter and Facebook group The Scaling Project: six months of 1:1 mentoring for established, VAT-registered brands → elizabethstiles.co.uk/level-up This episode is sponsored by Katie Farrell Did you know email should be bringing in at least 30% of your total turnover? Katie Farrell E-Consultant plans, writes, designs and sends Klaviyo campaigns for Shopify fashion brands, and keeps improving the flows that make you money in the background. Book an audit or enquire about working with Katie and her team → katiefarrell-econsultant.com/podcast Instagram: @itskatiefarrell

3. 

   8 Oct 2026

   The Shopping Forecast Podcast - 'Special Listen In' Episode

   I just wanted to let you have a quick listen to my other podcast. Retail consultant Catherine Erdly (host of The Resilient Retail Game Plan and I teamed up to launch "The Shopping Forecast" which is a podcast that proves shopping is about so much more than what's in your basket. Each episode we bring the receipts on current consumer trends and the cultural shifts shaping the way we shop, unpacking the psychology behind our purchases and the brands redefining consumer culture. Whether you love spotting trends before they hit the mainstream or are simply fascinated by why people buy what they buy, The Shopping Forecast is your weekly guide to the sociology of shopping.

Who has been a guest on The Fashion Brand Clinic Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• 17 fashion founders
• Fisayo Longe
• Rokeya Khanum
• Emma
• Sian Whitefoot

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

9,927

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

49 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 77 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

84

Social presence

97

YouTube

74

Engagement

51

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Questions about The Fashion Brand Clinic Podcast