A program dedicated to supporting fashion startup businesses and to help transform them into future industry leaders. Our 12 month program will provide these emerging designers access to resources, business mentoring and systems to help them successfully grow and sustain their brand with McMullen and across the broader fashion industry.
Are you a designer looking to apply? Click here to submit your application for our inaugural class.
Founded by Sherri McMullen
Sherri McMullen started her namesake store on the premise of wanting more representation and creating a platform for young talent to showcase their incredible work from all over the world. Beyond that, she’s seen firsthand the hard lessons of being an entrepreneur trying to grow a small business. She’s committed to supporting and nurturing emerging designers by giving them direct mentorship and access to help scale their brand and equip them for long-term growth.
Beyond M Featured in WWD
“It’s about empowering the next generation of young designers and making sure they are going to be around. Many times, young brands get a little funding from other programs, and they are trying to figure out how to use the funds, or they’ve already used the funds, and they are trying to figure out production and distributing their goods. So it’s a program to meet them wherever they are in their career and teach them beyond designing how to be sustainable business leaders.”
Read the full article here.
"Our mission is to discover and introduce brands, invest in their growth potential and mentor them into industry changemakers. We are at a crossroads in the fashion industry and at the core of it lies the intersection of inclusivity and sustainability."
Benefits for Beyond M Members
We will meet you at whatever level your business is at and help you meet your goals. Selected designers in the Beyond M program will receive:
Professional Development
Advice and guidance from a personalized mentorship panel that spans every facet of the industry from strategy to financial advice
Operations Support
McMullen distribution center to support fulfillment for both McMullen and other global retailers
Brand Exposure
Access to marketing through McMullen’s expansive global audience that spans art, beauty, culture, design and lifestyle
Dedicated Workspace
Space at McMullen’s Oakland headquarters to help showcase an environment that fosters productivity and collaboration
Program Phases
Every program is tailored for Beyond M members, depending on their unique needs. Each bespoke program will move through the following phases.
VOGUE
"Sherri McMullen’s eye for design is legendary. She started her career in fashion as a buyer for Neiman Marcus, before launching her eponymous boutique in Oakland in 2007. [Sherri is] a champion of Black designers: she was the first retailer to buy Christopher John Rogers, who went on to win the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund in 2019 and now has a collaboration with Target."
Read More
WWD
"Influential Oakland retailer Sherri McMullen, who has made it part of her ethos to support designers of color at her inclusive luxury specialty store, is in expansion mode, with plans to boost her growing e-commerce channel and launch a young designer incubator at a new 10,000-square-foot warehouse space."
Read More
CFDA
"Equity means POC owning our own businesses, making decisions and thus creating opportunities for people who look like us. It’s about creating a pathway for people who have been marginalized and haven’t been given the tools to navigate through this industry."
Read MoreStay up-to-date by following Beyond M on Instagram: @BeyondMbyMcMullen