On July 31, influencers and brand executives gathered in Los Angeles at the third iteration of Glossy’s Beauty Pop event, which featured its first-ever fashion-focused discussion. In the hotseat was supermodel and former Victoria’s Secret Angel Elsa Hosk, who founded the brand Helsa, sold on Revolve and FWRD, in 2022.
Below are key takeaways from her keynote discussion, where she discussed pivoting from modeling to designing, running and operating a brand, launching the brand with a major partner, and leveraging her Instagram following to grow the business.
Modeling was just a jumping-off point
Hosk always knew fashion was in her future — modeling was just a way to get there, she said. “I was thrown into my modeling career, and that was a detour from what I was meant to do,” she said, noting that she grew up loving fashion and making her own clothes at home. “My mom was a good hobby seamstress, and my grandma was a knitter. So I was really into fashion. From a young age, I was constructing all these crazy things, and I would show up to school in homemade blazers. … Fashion was always my passion, but I never had the confidence to launch anything.”
Modeling, she said, served as a kind of nontraditional education. “I didn’t go to business school and I didn’t go to design school, but, for almost 25 years, I was in the fashion industry soaking everything up and knowing that, one day, I was gonna use that knowledge to launch a brand. Every set I was on, I was looking at: What are the stylists doing? What’s the photographer doing? How does this dress move? What fabrics feel good? I was talking to the CEO. And I think that was crucial to [starting a brand].”
On building a brand with a partner
Hosk said there have been pros and cons to working with Revolve as a partner on Helsa. “I had been approached by Revolve, and I was thinking about it. I’d been working with them a lot. [Thir clothes] are not really my aesthetic, but I did see the value in them as a billion-dollar company — I want my company to be a billion-dollar one day. So I was like, ‘What can I learn from them?'” To start, she made sure the deal was “foolproof,” she said. That meant sitting down with a lawyer and talking to tons of people, and hearing all “about their mistakes and what worked.” Afterward, “I made up my dream scenario, and I presented it to them. I said, ‘I want to own 100% of it, and I want to test it [with you] for three years.’
“A brand partner can be so incredibly valuable, as [they already have] an infrastructure and connections to factories, and they come with funding,” she said. “[You just have to] stay true to yourself and to your aesthetic, and you have to really fight for that.”
She added, “When we first launched, [the line] was very different than what [Revolve] normally would carry, because they’re more known for a party aesthetic. Everything was oversized. Everything had super-long sleeves. So I think everyone was a bit nervous — but then it worked. So I think they are learning from me, just as I’m learning from them. So it’s been a really amazing partnership.”
Leveraging Instagram with entrepreneurship in mind
“We all know our followers. I was constantly analyzing [my 8.6 Instagram followers]. We take little polls, too. [I polled them on] how much they were willing to spend — I’m pretty strategic,” Hosk said. “if you have a following on Instagram, you have a business mind already. [My advice is to] learn about your followers and hone in on what you believe in.”
For Hosk, that meant posting photos beyond bikini photos, despite her reputation as a Victoria’s Secret model. “I’m not gonna post bikini photos and photos of my body every day, because that’s not what I’m into. I thought, ‘If I build a following specific to fashion and if I post like the things that I love, which is fashion, then I could do something with that one day.’ … And then I just kept doing that.”
