Velvet Brigade, a contemporary women’s fashion brand, is greatly inspired by the online fashion community.

Aspiring designers submit their designs to Velvet Brigade to be voted on by members of the website and fashion enthusiasts. The winner of each particular challenge or submission gets to see his or her look brought to life by the Velvet Brigade team, and earns a portion of the profit from sales.

This type of competition allows aspiring designers to have a chance in an otherwise highly competitive industry.

“From our experience working for a large retailer, we realized that it’s very difficult for aspiring designers to make it in the industry. We wanted to tap into that design talent while providing a compelling brand experience for contemporary customers,” said Lindsay McConnon, co-founder and CEO of Velvet Brigade.

The company offers many rewards for participating designers, including recognition, profit from sales, experience and the opportunity to work alongside other aspiring designers and fashion enthusiasts.

“Velvet Brigade is the only online platform for aspiring designers to participate in creating a brand. We provide designers with a tool to promote themselves to their friends and family, and to get well-deserved recognition and support from their community,” McConnon said. She said the website has participants from every country in the world.

The competition for general designs is ongoing, but specific challenges also issued on occasion.

The newest challenge, the Fall Layering Piece Challenge, is going on through Oct. 31. This challenge asks designers to submit pieces specific to fall and that they would consider a must-have fall layering piece.

Designers can create a profile through the website, and then click “enter a challenge.” From here, people already on the site will vote, and designers can encourage friends and family to join the website and vote for their design. The winner will have the honor of helping to create the next Velvet Brigade piece, specific to the season.

The Velvet Brigade team encourages designers to embrace the creativity of the job while also remaining calm and sure that success will soon follow, McConnon said.

“We encourage them (aspiring designers) to pursue their dreams relentlessly and at all costs. They need to have thick skin since it’s a tough, competitive industry,” she said. “If fashion design or working in fashion is their passion, then they will ultimately accomplish their goals through hard work and doing what they love.”