Create & Empower is London’s leading fashion business consultancy for premium and luxury brands. We help purpose-driven product businesses accelerate their growth by providing specialist knowledge, bespoke strategy and 1:1 support. We complement our tailored, integrated expertise with bold thinking and a passion for independent brands to deliver better, faster and more enduring outcomes.
Our Founder
I’m Trisha Sakhlecha. I founded Create & Empower to allow independent fashion brands to access the same level of expertise that retail giants have at their fingertips.
In my 15 years working in fashion, from design to styling and sourcing to sales, I’ve worked in pretty much every major function within the global fashion industry.
I’ve been a trend forecaster at WGSN & Trendstop and worked as a senior designer for clients such as ASOS, River Island, Topshop, Next, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, Pimkie, Macy’s & Bloomingdales. I’ve designed, sourced and launched bestselling brands. I’ve travelled the world on trend research & inspiration trips. I’ve worked as a business development manager responsible for generating sales. Worked as a sourcing lead liaising directly with factories, fabric & trim suppliers and focusing on sustainable and socially responsible fashion. Taught trend forecasting & styling at Oxford University & NIFT, India. And I’ve worked as a stylist and creative director, with my work featured in magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.
One of the highlights of my career has been single-handedly designing, sourcing and launching a bestselling womenswear brand from scratch, which averaged 4-week cover on ASOS on the slow moving styles. The bestsellers regularly sold out within 2 weeks. The brand saw 70% season-on-season growth and went from zero to six figures within a year.
Independent brands are the future.
I believe that independent brands are the future and I’ve built Create & Empower with a specific goal in mind: to make industry expertise and knowledge more accessible to young entrepreneurs and brand owners so they can replicate the success of large brands without the investment needed to hire a board of retail experts.
For me, mentoring is about more than just making money. It’s about using my insider access and experience to change the landscape of the industry. And that’s how my favourite clients feel too— they’re building and running fashion brands not just because they need a livelihood, but because they’re here to make an impact.
I’ve worked with…
You can read a blow-by-blow account of my career on my LinkedIn profile but really, this is what you need to know: With a career that has seen me working in nearly every part in the fashion industry for over 15 years, I know the fashion design, sourcing, sales and marketing process inside out so when you work with me, you know you’re in safe hands.
I have a track record for leveraging my experience in trend forecasting and sourcing to drive sales and increase margins. My clients often refer to me as the ‘bestseller creator’ because of my knack for consistently delivering the kind of bestselling styles that propel a brand to cult status.
I founded Create and Empower so I could use my experience in branding, trend forecasting, design, sourcing & business development to help designers and brand owners run bestselling fashion brands in an increasingly competitive market.
To be honest, I do wear a lot of hats and that’s what makes me unique. I bring to the table 360-degrees knowledge of the fashion industry, pure grit, unstoppable enthusiasm and sometimes, cake.
I’m also a published author of psychological thrillers. My debut novel, Your Truth or Mine? was published by Pan Macmillan in 2019 and quickly rocked up to the #1 spot on the UK Heatseekers Chart. My second novel, Can You See Me Now? was published in February 2021.
And I’m also a diplomat. I am the Director-Designate of the Tagore Centre, which functions as the Indian Embassy’s cultural wing in Berlin and is the premier institution engaged in India’s cultural interface with Germany. The Centre serves as a platform for Indian culture in the broadest sense, focusing on the role played by European and Indian artists, writers, designers & scholars in promoting greater cultural understanding.
Like I said, lots of hats.
Which brings me to YOU
Whether you’re starting or growing your fashion brand or looking to make a big change in your career, Create & Empower’s mentoring and consulting services are designed to show you the exact strategies you need to succeed in the fashion industry.
Here’s the brutal truth about the fashion industry:
Simply trying harder doesn’t work. Neither does pursuing your passion. Not when that’s what every designer, brand owner and graduate in the industry is doing.
But there ARE tools and techniques that will help:
For example, you’ll learn the exact system I used to brainstorm and build a solid market and consumer led foundation for a new brand, which allowed me to design, source, launch and market a brand that became an instant bestseller and went from zero to six-figures in less than a year. I’ll share the exact scripts I used to approach factories, negotiate prices and approach buyers. We’ll also take you through a step-by-step framework for building a compelling brand identity and using social media to build an audience for your brand so you can launch with confidence to a market that is waiting to buy your product.
That’s what we offer at Create & Empower. Tested, step-by-step systems that work in the real world and allow you to build a purpose-driven brand on your own terms.
Working with Create & Empower is like having a board of fashion industry experts, business strategists and mindset coaches all rolled into one. We’ll motivate you, help you brainstorm ideas, give you the exact tools and techniques I’ve relied on for years and keep you accountable.
