How Stitch Fix’s BIPOC Grant Program Is Empowering Emerging Shoe Designer Marcus Alexander
Last year, Stitch Fix began accepting applications for Elevate, its first grant and mentorship program designed to support Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) entrepreneurs in fashion at an early stage of business growth. And today, the six recipients dropped their collections on the online shopping site , including rising shoe designer Marcus Alexander. As one of the winners of the grant, CEO and founder of Marcus Alexander, Marcus Thomas, received $25,000 to support business expenses, ongoing support from Stitch Fix’s algorithms and buying teams to leverage data insights to understand and improve the product-market fit of his designs with potential clients as well as one-on-one call with Stitch Fix Founder Katrina Lake. “She told me to follow my gut, and not to limit myself,” Thomas told FN. The designer first’s foray in footwear started in 2012 at the London Fashion of College. He then worked as the f ootwear design director for Levi’s and Bass, until launching his own