Danielle Guizio: The Queen Of Fashion Collaborations

For fashion designer and founder Danielle Guizio, the mantra “collaboration over competition” represents a key part of her vision.

Launching her eponymous brand in 2014 with just $400 (cash she had saved from working a retail job), Guizio ascended to the top of the fashion ranks with grit, authenticity and an innate sense of what Gen Z wants to wear next.

Recognized on Forbes’ “30 Under 30” list in 2019, Guizio has amassed over 10 high-profile collaborations in her decade-long career (so far), along with a loyal celebrity following that includes Kylie and Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber, Ariana Grande, and the cast of Euphoria (Guizio’s designs have appeared on the hit show’s first two seasons).

This ten-year milestone for the brand is shaping up to be monumental, with more upcoming collaborations and the opening of a flagship store in Soho, on Greene — a long way from starting her namesake brand out of her parents’ basement in New Jersey.

It all started with a dream to launch a line of graphic Ts, which sold out instantly.

“When I initially launched my website, I had a little bit of a following on Instagram at the time,” Guizio reminisces. “Witnessing sales pouring in for the first time, and especially doing something that I genuinely love, in my heart and soul… I will never forget that feeling in my life.”

Guizio has found significant success as a fashion empire with a slew of product categories, with the intention of designing pieces that toy with “femininity and sexuality.” Today it boasts more than “a little bit of a following on Instagram”: the brand has 480K Instagram followers while the founder has nearly 160K followers watching her personal feed.

For Guizio, collaborations with iconic apparel, athletic and accessory brands have proven to be profitable: the brand’s first high-profile partnership was with Reebok in 2021, with a womenswear sneaker style (Reebok Club C) that exceeded expectations for both brands. This was followed by the Reebok Hiking Boot in 2023 and Reebok Zig earlier this year. Guizio also created a collab with Spanish footwear brand, Toral.

More partnerships with iconic American brands followed — including Levi’s in 2022 and Champion in 2023. The designer’s signature style also made waves with female-founded and fellow Gen Z beloved brands Frankie’s Bikinis and purveyor of phone cases, Wildflower. Guizio made inroads in several product categories, including Australian eyewear label QUAY, with an ongoing collection of optical glasses.

(Guizio’s innate eye for style also took a “techie” route, with a partnership with Camcorder — a logical choice for her demographic who appreciates the magic of lo-fi content and nostalgic ‘90s vibes.)

Next up? A fresh collaboration with Puma set for the holidays.

But Guizio and her ability to create and deliver successful collaborations started with a less obvious fashion partner: the Fire Department of New York.

Similar to how Guizio hustled her graffiti Ts into the hands of celebrities in the brand’s early era, she found her way to the right contact at the FDNY. Pro tip: sometimes the power of cold emailing and pitching the right person can pay off.

(As a New Jersey native, the collaboration with the FDNY holds a particularly special place in her heart.)

“Whenever we go into a collaboration, even if it’s a huge brand, I genuinely have to love the brand and have a strong authentic connection to it. That’s always first and foremost for me. I never want to put my name on just anything, no matter the paycheck or opportunity. If it’s not something that pulls at my heartstrings, or if it’s not something that I genuinely feel passionate about, I’m not doing it.”

The success of the unlikely FDNY pairing served as proof of concept to future potential brand partners. When she approached Reebok, she was equipped with a portfolio and a solid track record: Guizio showed that she had the skills to design, create and execute a fire collab.

But how does a smaller brand reach out to the bigger names? Guizio is all about setting the goal, reaching for the stars, and persisting by doing some investigative work and online digging.

“My biggest tip is doing everything you can to find the contact at the brand you’re aiming for and don’t give up. Keep researching names on LinkedIn and on Instagram, and try searching and figuring out what the person’s domain e-mail is. That’s how I found collaborations at the start, by searching online and seeing, ‘Who is the person who is handling all the global partnerships’, for example. And then DMing them and really cultivating and creating those relationships.”

It wasn’t all open doors right away for Guizio, who persisted and hustled her way to find the key contact at her dream brands, and before finally getting the greenlight.

“Definitely don’t give up when you feel defeated if either you’ve gotten rejected or you can’t find the right contact that you have to reach out to, because there are thousands of people that work at these companies. So that’s definitely the challenging part.”

Her advice for someone who got the dream collab partner?

“Don’t rush the collaboration process or creative process — make sure that you’re giving it your all. I use every collaboration as though it’s my last opportunity, because you have this small window of people’s attention. And with collaborations, you do expose yourself to way bigger of an audience. And it almost feels like you’re on top of a mountain and you look down and remind yourself, I really have to come correct. I have to pull up and have to make great quality products — products that people want. Try your best and put everything that you can into it. Because you don’t ever want to look back and regret, I wish I put more effort into that. I wish I did this. I wish I did that.”

Also: don’t lose your voice in the process.

“It’s like choosing a business partner and also for me, it’s about building blocks — who can provide me with a brighter, better future for the designs I want to create?”