The Online Fashion Marketplace Bringing You The Best Of Microenterprises

Established in 2019 By founder Nina Briance, Cult Mia has made a name for itself for being one of the fastest growing UK-based online fashion marketplace, bringing shoppers the best of creative designs by microenterprises from all around the world.

Fashion enthusiasts and regulars will often scout the site for new and note-worthy international designers and their creative pieces — let it be hand crafted earrings from Mexico, beaded clutch from Lebanon, party dresses from North Macedonia or mohair coat from Georgia — Cult Mia has gradually but firmly become the go-to destination for values-drivenunique and fun-inspiring fashion that also champions sustainability.

People talk about serendipity when referring to something written in the stars. For Briance, it was a series of these events, and posts she held during her studies at Stanford University and the London Business School, that paved the way.

Working at the Women & Trade team at the United Nations gave Briance an understanding of female entrepreneurship in the least developed countries, which inspired and empowered her to start her own business. With the financial skills acquired at private banking departments at Goldman Sachs and UBS, business knowledge advanced during her MBA program, as well as first-hand insight into the digital fashion industry gained through her various roles at Moda Operandi, Briance’s own love for one-of-a-kind fashion helped joining all the dots that ultimately led to the formation and launch of Cult Mia.

“It became very clear to me that the model for online luxury fashion that had been so successful in the 2000s and 2010s was starting to lose steam. Growth was stagnating and customers just didn’t seem as satisfied with the traditional curation. More than that, the value systems of shoppers weren’t being supported — and with that big platforms lost the real reason why customers wanted to shop with them to begin with.” Expanding on her journey, Briance says.

The founder also has the emerging designers in mind, as she seeks a platform where they can access without being deterred by complicated inventory requirements, working capital challenges or unsustainable marketing spends.“The more I spoke with designers, the more I realised that many brands that were on the cusp of rapid growth were looking for space that can really tell their story, with proper global visibility.” Briance further adds: “Whenever anyone asked me about what I was wearing, it was never about my high street boots. It was always about my handmade enamel earrings from Mexico. I used to have to disappoint and say that you needed to travel to Oaxaca to get them. Now, I can point you to Cult Mia.”

Whilst acknowledging many business lessons can be better learned in real life, Briance credits her MBA program at LBS for providing her the time and safe space to test different business ideas. “If I was to pick the greatest value add from the MBA to Cult Mia, it was figuring out whether the business was actually viable. Through my MBA I had an introduction to every single skill that I needed to know about starting a business and I was surrounded by people who I could ask questions and who could critique and challenge my business.”

“I also looked at over 200 businesses in case studies, and I took little bits from every single one and have since applied them to Cult Mia.”

Taking pride in being different from other competitors, Cult Mia vets new brands from both quality and value perspective. “Our sustainable sourcing strategy developed with Positive Luxury sets us apart from the competition and gives customers the reassurance that the products they buy on Cult Mia align with the values that they care about, while meeting the luxury level standards.” Briance explains, “We’re currently the only platform in our space that has developed a rewards system to incentivize our brand partners to make improvements in their sustainable and ethical scores across our core four value pillars that are established at the time of onboarding.” Cult Mia’s dedicated Brand Review Committee — with an original “point of view” as put by Briance — is key to ensure all brands selected meet the criteria. “Most platforms focus on listing hype designers, whereas we create the hype.”

Highlighting the exclusive nature of Cult Mia’s listings, Briance points out that 62% products onsite list exclusively (whether being a capsule collection designed with the brand, the first platform brands work with or entering new markets for the brands), most likely thanks to the site being the best in delivering items located in different parts of the world accurately and cost effectively.

With 95% brand retention rate and a growing success rate in onboarding (currently sitting at 80%), Cult Mia ensures efforts are being continuously made to keep not just consumers, but also brands, happy.

“A key factor is due to our seamless onboarding process, with a focus on automation to ensure we can operate efficiently at scale. E-commerce onboarding and listing is down to less than 1 day of work, with the brands not required to do any of the work.”

Working via a model that caters to emerging designers’ needs and also aligns with its sustainability objectives, Cult Mia’s platform supports emerging designers that offer made-to-order, made-to-measure options without sacrificing customer benefits, with 90% of those orders fulfilled within 2 weeks.

As Cult Mia’s team expands, Briance’s day to day tasks have evolved and she now fills a more typical CEO role that is focused on key stakeholder management, along with setting and ensuring the team are following the brand’s long term vision. Speaking of her biggest challenge learned during this process, Briance doesn’t hesitate. “I’m a sole founder, and my biggest lesson learned builds on this challenge of being a sole founder: I’ve seen that the success of a business does not rely on the founder or the multiple co-founders, but instead on the team that you build. How you inspire your team, how you gel your team together, how you motivate your team to ride the highs and lows with you — this is the real game changer to drive lasting growth and change. Whenever anyone asks me what I am most proud of when it comes to Cult Mia, the answer is always my team!”

Having recently closed rounds of seed investment (Briance promises more detailed updates in Q1 2023), what’s next for Cult Mia? “We believe that we are just getting started! We’ve only scratched the surface on both the brand and shopper fronts.” Briance says. “We are excited to supercharge our growth. We remain focused on scaling both sides of the platform (brands and customers), but ensuring we do so by investing in tech-powered automations that will support high growth and the increasing demand. We know that key to scaling Cult Mia is ensuring our independent brand partners are equipped to grow with us. We’re launching an Incubator that will offer a range of B2B services, ranging from digital marketing to data analytics to enable the brands that we work with to have the knowledge and resources to scale effectively and sustainably alongside Cult Mia.”

You can now shop all Cult Mia’s curated fashion items at www.cultmia.com. Some of Briance’s personal favorites include: bespoke hand-beaded clutches by Lebanese social enterprise, Sarah’s Bag; handknitted electric mohair and embroidered knitwear by Lalo Cardigans; rebellious London-based party dresses with statement silhouettes and high gloves by Miscreants; unique tailoring and elevated cuts with exceptional craftsmanship by Others; handcrafted, expressive, bold animal-led jewellery by Hidden x Lako; and finally made-to-order retro and futuristic disco by Janashia.