After 24 years in business, designer Mara Hoffman announced in an Instagram post and coinciding Vogue interview on Sunday, May 19, that her Spring 2024 collection would be her final one. Hoffman had strived to operate sustainably, but the costs of balancing slow, mindful production with scaling an independently owned brand were too incompatible. "[T]he reality is that the demands that are on a small company financially make it almost impossible to be privately held and run after a certain point," she told Vogue.
Within minutes of reading the news, I texted a close friend the link to Hoffman's post and two words: "I'm devastated."
