The founder of UDGN and Entrepreneur of the Year 2025 shares how she is building an ecosystem where underrepresented designers can thrive, beyond the runway
BY FRANCESCA RAPISARDA
When Tare Isaac steps onto a runway, she brings far more than garments. She carries ancestry, memory, and a vision of a fashion industry where underrepresented voices are not just seen but sustained. As the founder of UDGN (United Designers Global Network) and recent winner of Entrepreneur of the Year 2025, Simply Ladies Award, Isaac is reshaping the way we think about fashion, heritage, and the global marketplace.
Founded to “champion global minority design,” UDGN was born out of a frustration with the limits minority and diaspora designers faced once the spotlight dimmed. “Many had the creativity and cultural voice, but not the access to mentorship, global retail systems, or long-term development,” Isaac explains. “UDGN was built to bridge that divide, offering both visibility and infrastructure.”
Fashion as ecosystem
Isaac’s dual identity as both designer and cultural strategist has shaped UDGN into something bigger than a showcase. “As a designer, I understand the emotional labour behind creating from culture. As a strategist, I think about systems: how to position, resource, and scale that creativity sustainably.” The result is a holistic platform that functions as both incubator and launchpad, nurturing talent while connecting it with the global retail ecosystem.
That vision came to life in the recent Cultural Threads SS26 showcase, where sixteen designers from across the world presented collections rooted in heritage and identity. From vibrant African textiles to diasporic reinterpretations of tradition, each piece told a story of belonging. “What connected them was purpose,” Isaac says. “Every designer believed fashion could carry culture forward, whether through fabric, craft, or storytelling.”
The Water Bearer
For Isaac, the personal and professional often intertwine. Her own collection, The Water Bearer, drew from her Ijaw heritage in Nigeria, where water is a symbol of migration and resilience. “To bring that story to an international runway felt like reclaiming space for my ancestors in rooms they were never invited into,” she reflects.
Moments like these remind Isaac why UDGN exists: not to place heritage in a glass case, but to make it live and breathe on the global stage.
Beyond the runway
Unlike many fashion collectives, UDGN doesn’t stop at visibility. The platform provides technical, business, and wellness support to its members, addressing the systemic reasons why so many emerging designers burn out. From product development and digital retail to mentorship and mental health, UDGN’s model is about building longevity. “Talent alone isn’t enough,” Isaac notes. “We’re building longevity, not just moments of visibility.”
Fashion as living archive
To Isaac, fashion is more than seasonal trends; it is a record of identity. “Fashion is one of the most powerful living archives we have,” she says. “It preserves the past, but it also reimagines it for the present.” Through UDGN, she is determined to prove that African and minority fashion is not a niche, but a global language.
Legacy in motion
When asked what the most emotional moment of the SS26 showcase was, Isaac recalls the finale. “When the lights went down and all the designers stood together, some showing in London for the very first time, it hit me how far we’d come. To witness their work being celebrated and photographed on that stage was overwhelming. It was bigger than fashion, it was legacy taking shape, history in the making.”
That sense of history guides Isaac’s work, along with the words of her father: “To go far, you must have a community because you can’t reach on your own.”
For Isaac, UDGN is: “Proof that when creativity meets community, legacy begins.”
