The Business Side of Fashion Nobody Teaches You with Niyat Tekeste

In this episode of REVUE by SCOUT, Gabrielle Scout sits down with Niyat Tekeste, Founder of April 47 Brand Management and VP of Sales at BESTSELLER Canada. Niyat has spent more than fifteen years on the vendor side of wholesale across Canada, the US, the EU, and Asia, building brands from the ground up. She is obsessed with the business of fashion. She doesn’t care about the glossy side. She cares about the mechanics of how a product gets from a founder’s garage to a retail shelf. Now she is building in public, sharing the wholesale playbook with the founders who need it most. What unfolds is a salon conversation between two women who met over a voice note and recognized each other instantly. They move between strategy and style, covering the forces reshaping retail, the women who actually run fashion, and the negotiation between the body you have and the aesthetic you love. Topics explored in this episode include: * How a formidable female boss in wholesale showed Niyat what was possible for a woman in a creative industry, and why being intrapreneurial is the most valuable mindset you can bring to any job. * What wholesale actually means, why retailers now buy brands that have already proven themselves, and the pricing rule every founder should follow from day one. * The decline of the department store and the case for bringing Barneys back. * Why luxury shoppers still buy in person, and how platforms like Moda Operandi and Mytheresa became the new magazines, complete with a pay-to-play tier most founders never see coming. * What Vogue could become if it turned its access toward the women running fashion’s operations. * And the personal: favorite brands, the gray streak, and whether you should dress for your body type or your style. This episode is for the founder with a beautiful product and no map to the shelf, and for every woman who is equal parts architect and muse. Follow Niyat:Instagram: @niyattekeste Follow Along:Instagram: @gabriellescoutmaioREVUE Newsletter: Subscribe to REVUE, a weekly Sunday letter for the most interesting woman in the room HEREScout’s Agency: Learn more about Scout’s Agency, a visibility atelier specializing in curated podcast tours and cultural placement for women in positions of authority HERE REVUE: Designed to bring more depth, intention, and cultural luxury into your week. The newsletter for the interesting woman. Get full access to REVUE at revuewoman.substack.com/subscribe