Aura BarabasiCoaching & advisory
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Advisory · for brands, their suppliers and their investors

Before you sign, ask what it has to prove.

Independent judgement on product, process and technology decisions in fashion, from someone who has made the product on both sides of the factory line and has no software to sell. Four situations bring people to me, and in each of them somebody has to sign.

A proposal or a pilot needs a decision

The deck promises personalisation, forecasting or a digital thread. The pilot report counts messages sent, not sales against a comparison. Somebody has to expand it, fix it or stop paying for it, and nobody in the room can say what the evidence shows.

The passport is coming and the record is in four places

The EU textile product passport is expected in 2027. The care instruction is written in development and tested at the repair bench, and today it lives in the tech pack, the PLM, the supplier’s file and the website, and they do not agree.

A system is about to be pushed out to the factories

A PLM, a supplier portal or a sampling mandate is being rolled out to the people who make the product. The cost lands on them and appears on no business case, and nobody has asked whether they are ready.

A fund is looking at a fashion brand

The management deck claims a digital thread, a 3D sampling rate and a traceable supply chain. The diligence team has an accountant and a lawyer, and nobody who has worked in product development or run a factory.

In every case there is one person who has to sign, and who is not sure the evidence says what everyone claims.

Sign on weak evidence and you own a rollout nobody uses, a record that fails the passport, a supply chain that cannot deliver what the deck promised, or a budget you cannot get back.

I do not build and I do not sell software. This is not for developing a collection or running a programme; for those you need a hands-on partner. When the decision is to build, I stay on your side of the table.

What I do

Four ways to work with me, each before you sign.

The same method in each: the work mapped with the people who do it, every claim read on the evidence ladder, and a written recommendation with an owner, a measure and a stop rule. Any of them can end in advice not to proceed.

Before you sign

Decide

A vendor proposal, an AI pilot, a build-or-buy question. The Decision Review: one decision, four weeks, the work mapped with your team, the options compared across process, the tools you already have and AI, and a recommendation you can defend.

  • What the proposal would and would not prove, rung by rung
  • The simpler change it never compared itself with
  • Who owns it, how it is measured and when you would stop, agreed before anything starts
  • When the decision is to build: the brief, the choice of builder, and a check of what arrives against what was promised
Timing
Four weeks
Fee
Fixed, on request
Discuss a decision

Before the passport

Record

Where your product record is made and where it breaks between development, the factory, e-commerce and aftercare. What the textile passport will ask for, which of it you already hold, which suppliers can supply the rest, and which vendor claims hold up.

  • One record traced for a handful of styles, from yarn to care label
  • The gaps against what the passport is expected to require
  • What to fix in the process before buying anything to hold it
  • A read of the vendor shortlist on the ladder
Timing
Three to four weeks
Fee
Fixed, on request
Discuss the record

Before the rollout

Make

Between the brand and the factory. What a new system or mandate will cost the people who make the product, whether that cost is on the business case, and whether the suppliers are ready before it is pushed down the chain. For the brand before a rollout, or through a trade body or programme for its suppliers.

  • The rollout as it will land at the factory, in hours, software and delay
  • Which suppliers can meet it, which cannot, and what each needs
  • What the brand should ask for, and what it should stop asking for
Timing
Two to four weeks
Fee
Fixed, on request
Discuss a rollout

Before the deal

For investors

Product, supply chain and technology diligence on a fashion brand, from someone who has made the product and run the factory. What the management deck claims, what the floor shows, what the supply chain will cost to make passport-ready, and a verdict you can take into the investment committee.

  • The product record, the development process and the factory base, as they are
  • Each technology claim in the deck read on the ladder
  • The cost and the time to fix what is found, for the first hundred days
Timing
Two to three weeks, inside the deal’s timetable
Fee
Fixed, on request
Discuss a deal

To start

The Report Read. Have one document and a week? Send me one pilot report or vendor proposal and two pages come back: what it proves at each rung, what it does not, the simpler change it never compared itself with, and the one question to ask before you sign. Most conversations start here.

Send a report

To keep

Fractional product and technology lead. For a brand without a chief product or technology officer: a set number of days a month, a seat in the leadership meeting and first call on every proposal that lands. Three months at a time, offered after a first engagement, priced on request.

Ask about a fractional role
For
Fashion, footwear, accessories and performance brands from roughly €50 million to €2 billion in revenue; the companies that make for them; and the funds and family offices that buy them
Scope
One decision, one product record, one rollout or one deal. Never a programme
Timing
Two to four weeks, and six to ten hours of your team’s time across the people who do the work
Fee
Fixed, on request, agreed in writing before work starts

  1. Map

    We map the real steps, inputs and handovers with the people who do the work, and confirm what the decision is actually about.

  2. Assess

    I compare the options across process, the tools you already have and AI. Each is read on the evidence ladder and against the simpler alternative.

  3. Recommend

    We agree the change to make first. Where a pilot fits, I define it with an owner, a comparison, a measure and a stop rule.

What you receive

  • A map of the work as it really runs
  • What the proposal, the record or the deck would and would not prove
  • Options across process, existing tools and AI, with reasons to pursue or reject each
  • A recommendation and a next-step brief: who owns the change, how it is measured, and when you would stop
  • A written document of ten to fifteen pages, as PDF and editable file, and a sixty-minute walk-through with the owner of the change

What your team provides

  • The proposal, pilot report, data room or workflow documents in front of you
  • Short sessions with the people who do the work
  • The person who owns the decision, and someone with time to carry out the change

  1. First call

    What is being decided, who has to sign, and who will carry out the change.

  2. Proposal

    A written scope: the decision, outputs, timing, your team’s time and the fee.

  3. Review

    Map, assess and recommend, with the people who do the work. Mapping sessions on site where the brand or factory is in Europe, travel at cost; the rest remotely.

  4. Handover

    The recommendation and brief, walked through with the person who owns the change.

What I promise

  • No fee, commission or referral from any vendor, stated in writing in the proposal
  • I do not build and I do not sell software, so nothing rides on the answer
  • The answer may be not to proceed. You are paying for a judgement, not for approval
  • A fixed fee agreed before work starts, and an NDA before any detail is exchanged

What changes

  • Before: the report, the record or the deck is treated as proof, and whoever signs carries the risk
  • After: it is read rung by rung and signed or declined for a stated reason, with a stop rule agreed in advance
  • You go into the budget round, the rollout or the investment committee with a recommendation you can defend

I advise. Your team, or a partner you appoint, carries out the change. When the decision is to build, I write the brief, help you choose who builds it, and check what arrives against what was promised. I can introduce engineering partners I have worked with; I take nothing from them.

Start with a conversation

Two made-up decisions worked through in full, one for a luxury house and one for a manufacturer, so you can see what each engagement gives you before you send anything.

See the cases and the worked example

Questions

Before we start.

Is coaching confidential from my employer?
Yes. What is said in a session stays between us, whoever pays. If your employer funds the programme, they receive the outline and the invoice and nothing else, and we agree that in writing at the start.
Which coaching programme is mine?
If you are working towards a senior role, the first. If you hold one and the decisions are yours, the second. If you are not sure, the first conversation settles it, and it costs nothing.
Do you take referral fees from vendors?
No. I have no partnership, commission or referral arrangement with any technology provider, and the proposal says so in writing.
Do you work outside luxury?
Yes. Fashion, footwear, accessories and performance brands, the factories and mills that make for them, and the investors who buy them. Luxury is where I learned the standard and it is what my notes are about, not a condition of working together.
What does an investor receive?
A written report on the brand’s product record, development process, factory base and each technology claim in the deck, with a verdict and the cost and time to fix what was found. Where the deal needs it, I visit the factories. Confidentiality and conflicts are agreed in writing before any document is shared.
Is AI always part of the recommendation?
No. AI is one option alongside process changes and better use of the tools you already have. Sometimes the right answer is a change in who does what, or to stop paying for something.
Do you implement tools, or develop collections?
Neither. I advise on where tools and AI fit, compare the options and scope a pilot. Building, integrating and developing are done by your team or a partner you appoint. When the decision is to build, I stay on your side: I write the brief, help you choose who builds it, and check what arrives against what was promised. I can introduce engineering partners I have worked with and take nothing from them.
How long does an engagement take, and what does it cost?
A Report Read takes five working days. Decide, Record and Make take two to four weeks; diligence fits the deal’s timetable, usually two to three weeks. Every fee is fixed, quoted on request after a first conversation, and agreed in writing before any work starts.
Can we keep our products, suppliers and vendors confidential?
Yes. Start with a non-sensitive summary. I sign an NDA before we discuss collections, suppliers or vendors in detail, and I name clients only with their permission.
Where do I start?
With the document, if you have one: the Report Read reads it and tells you what it proves and the question to ask. With the decision, the record, the rollout or the deal, if you have one of those and a date. The first conversation settles which, and it costs nothing.
What happens after the review?
The next-step brief names who owns the change, what it is measured on and when to stop, so your team can run the change without me. If you want the results read against the stop rule at the end of a pilot, that is a short, separate piece of work.

Wherever you are, start with a conversation.

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