A veteran beauty editor is getting into the fashion game.
Dianna Singh, a longtime beauty editor — who is currently Allure’s features director — has found a breezy side hustle in her eponymous line of caftans, which soft-launched on the brand’s website Wednesday. Prices range from $165 to $228.
For Singh, who had always kicked around the idea of starting a fashion brand, liked the universality of the garment and decided to make her own in the self-funded venture, which took about a year of active work and years of ideation prior.
“I’ve been a beauty editor for a decade, but I went to the Fashion Institute of Technology and my first internship was in the fashion closet at Glamour,” she said. “The beauty industry found me, and I loved how celebratory and approachable it was. I’ve always had this question in the back of my mind of whether or not I could make a fashion brand that felt like a beauty brand, fostering connection in the way that beauty does.”
Singh debuted with eight looks, and citing both the wearability of the garment and its size-inclusivity, is sensing an appetite for more.
“I’ve witnessed the drop-style approach with beauty brands, to varying success,” Singh said. “I’m getting a lot of requests for matching children’s caftans, as well as for men’s.”
“I’m also applying the beauty brand model to fashion in terms of crowdsourcing. I was secretly wearing early production samples on my own Instagram, and was noting which colors people liked more. I got more comments on one with bows than one without,” Singh said. “I’ve been inspired by brands like Glossier and Saie — they’re both creating better products because of it and building community at the same time.”
Singh is taking a measured approach to the brand’s future in retail. “I’d love to do trunk shows, I’d love to go on a road show, we’re also looking at beautiful boutique hotels,” she said. “Connecting with people on a personal level is so important. There are preconceived notions of muumuus and caftans as garments for older people, and once you see the motion and how it’s styled, that’s the secret sauce.”