This week, a look at the lengths brands went to afford a fall 2025 fashion show.
Ahead of her brand Melke’s fall 2025 collection presentation, set for Sunday in Midtown Manhattan, designer Emma Gage presented a pitch deck to her choice sponsor for the show, Hidden Valley Ranch.
“It had a very specific timeline, stating, ‘These are the deliverables we’ll give you,’ with examples of social media posts we would do,” Gage told Glossy this week while prepping for the event.
The idea stemmed from Melke’s interactive fall 2024 presentation, sponsored by “Got Milk?”
“That worked because they wanted to reach a new market and also shared our quirkiness and energy,” she said. “So, I was thinking of other brands that could bridge the gap by being very different [than what we do] but also have a similar joyful, expressive, quirky Midwest energy.”
Gage grew up in Minnesota and called her connection to her roots a differentiator for Melke that she’s working to play up.
A family friend who had toured the Hidden Valley Ranch headquarters in Chicago mentioned to her that the company was looking to reach new customers through new products and other avenues. Gage reached out to the company and eventually connected with the appropriate PR and marketing contacts, who quickly saw a partnership’s potential, Gage said. The Melke fall collection, which includes ranch bottle-inspired prints and knitwear with attached recipes, marks Hidden Valley Ranch’s first fashion partnership. Undetermined collaborative pieces will also be sold on Hidden Valley Ranch’s e-commerce site in the near future.
“To do a show, a sponsorship is crucial — because of the budget, obviously. But also, for a younger business, it helps to have that extra marketing punch they provide,” Gage said. “It’s a surefire way to have another marketing agent working alongside you and providing, maybe, 10 times the outreach an emerging brand could have on its own.” Melke launched in 2020.
Leading up to the show, Melke posted to its Instagram account (15,000 followers) images featuring Hidden Valley Ranch’s mascot, of sorts — a plush doll named Ranchy — at key brand locations across New York. They included the companies that do Melke’s embroidery and cleaning. Hidden Valley Ranch also shared the posts to its 70,000 followers.
Melke’s other sponsors for this season’s show include hair, makeup, shoe and water brands, Gage said.
This New York Fashion Week, Melke is not the only emerging brand leveraging an outside-the-box sponsorship — meaning beyond the usual hair, makeup and accessories partners — to make a go of a show. Even established designers are securing more partners to make the economics of a show work for their business. On top of Revlon, Tresemmé and skin-care brand Borghese, Christian Siriano’s runway show on Wednesday was presented by Toyota and its Crown car model; faucet fixture company Grohe and Hulu show “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
“Fashion week isn’t exactly a budget-friendly endeavor,” said Kate Barton, the designer behind her namesake 3-year-old fashion brand and a 2024 CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund finalist. “From production to models to venues, every element comes with a hefty price tag. A sponsor isn’t just helpful — it’s often essential.”
Barton echoed Gage, noting that, beyond financial support, the right partner can also extend a brand’s reach to new audiences. And it can elevate its storytelling, she said, adding, “It’s not just about making the show happen, but it’s also about making it resonate.”
Barton’s spring 2025 runway was presented by Goldfish crackers. As explained by Barton, the partnership came about after fans began tagging both her brand and Goldfish in their posts featuring her viral “evening bag” — a non-functioning accessory best described as a fake goldfish in a fishbowl on a chain.
“A conversation turned into a collaboration,” she said. In late September, the brands co-released a three-piece collection that included two keychains and a tank top, priced $38-$90. “Bringing our worlds together felt completely natural because we both love a bit of nostalgia and playfulness,” she said.
And, like Hidden Valley Ranch with Melke’s show, the Kate Barton mashup allowed Goldfish to extend its reach.
“As part of our journey to appeal to snackers of all ages, the collaboration with Kate Barton provided us with a timely opportunity to reach new snackers and reinforce our presence as a cultural icon,” Sonali Doshi, director of Goldfish marketing, told Glossy via email.
For her part, for her shows that played out in 2024, Gage didn’t rely on sponsors. But she did in years prior, which allowed her to compare the impact of the two approaches on her business.
“When I did runway shows at Spring Studios — and I had sponsorship for those ones, as well — they came to about $70,000,” she said. “That includes all the benches [for seating], the lighting, the setup for the back of the house, the models, the transportation and the production team.”
But, she said, a show is necessary for the type of brand recognition that earns foot traffic to pop-ups, for example. Most of Melke’s marketing dollars go toward IRL activations.
Barton agreed. “Fashion Week is like the Super Bowl for designers,” she said. ”It’s the moment to show the world who you are and what you’re about, and it gives us a global platform to present our latest work to industry insiders, media and consumers all at once.”
And more than just visibility, it’s about positioning, she said. ”[It allows you to] establish the brand’s identity, strengthen relationships and set the tone for what’s next.”
Sunday’s Hidden Valley Ranch-sponsored Melke presentation will be modeled after a Midwest supper club, Gage said. It will come complete with a three-foot-tall ranch fountain and models at tables and cocktail bars with Jell-O salads, tater-tot hotdishes and board games.
“We’re really honoring that Midwest Minnesota spirit,” she said, noting that she’s already received positive feedback from the show invitees who received a bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing with a Melke label along with their invitation.
Melke’s pieces range in price from $95-$985, and its core customer base is women ages 35-75.
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