Betting on basics was all it took for influencer-turned-entrepreneur Daryl-Ann Denner to launch her clothing line, nuuds.
The Dallas mom is navigating the transition from social media influencer to entrepreneur, using her audience of nearly 3 million followers on Instagram and TikTok to build her own brand, nuuds.
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nuuds has built a following, particularly for its neutral colored body suits meant to give women a sleek and comfortable look. Two years after launch, the company now also makes T-shirts, activewear, pajamas, sweatshirts, sweatpants and jeans.
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The influencer has over 2 million followers on her personal account while nuuds currently sits at 395,000, most of which the couple initially believed came straight from Daryl-Ann Denner's previous audience.
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Denner is Dallas-based social media personality who took to lounge and activewear in 2022 with the creation of nuuds, a clothing brand focused on comfort and versatility.
"I've been recommending all these products for so many years and I thought 'I could do this better, so let's try it," Denner said. "Being naive actually served me well because I didn't go about it the way it's always been done. Most people start with wanting to sell and I started with wanting to meet a need."
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Denner is crossing into a space that is well traveled by social media influencers, such as Kim Kardashian and her body-shaping Skims brand and Mr. Beast with chocolate bars. While influencers are courted by brands for their cache with shoppers, it's still a tricky transition to go from online personality to entrepreneur and manufacturer.
Traditional entrepreneurs and influencer-led businesses have different goals when it comes to targeting their consumers, said Aaron Anglin, associate professor of entrepreneurship in the Neeley Business School at Texas Christian University.
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"With traditional entrepreneurs, they have to identify and locate their market. That guides everything," Anglin said. "Influencers already have a customer base through their personal brands. Then it becomes a matter of 'What do these people who already like me want?' So the traditional entrepreneurial path becomes flipped."
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An influencer's existing audience is pivotal to the success of their brand as it helps them to shortcut building an entire customer base, Anglin said. But a bad product can take an influencers online reputation down with it.
"Once you have this trust from followers," Anglin said. "If you then deliver a bad product, that could damage not only the brand you're trying to create, but your personal brand as an influencer. If an entrepreneur is coming from nothing and they don't already have an established reputation, they essentially have less to lose on that front."
The 33-year-old Denner started blogging about clothing in 2015. As she grew up, Denner started sharing more of her life as both a wife and mother, including how she dressed for the roles. She quickly gained an audience of young women in the same position who looked to her for fashion and lifestyle inspiration.
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"While promoting all these clothes, I heard from my audience over and over again that they wanted something that just fit and flattered real body types," Denner said. "So, I was like, 'You know what? I could do this better.'"
nuuds launched on Oct. 24, 2022 after 18 months of development, with loose t-shirts designed for everyday wear and neutral-toned bodysuits that flatter the frame. While having no previous experience in clothing manufacturing, Denner said being a part of the community that preferred flattering and functional clothing helped her figure out what her consumers wanted in her product.
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"It was really community driven," Denner said. "We wanted all the things that real girls care about. We wanted to fill that gap with clothing where it didn't feel like corners were cut and made women actually feel good about themselves rather than insecure when they put it on."
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Jenna Nicole on Instagram is a mom to a four-year-old boy based in Michigan. The fashion and beauty lover said, after having her son, she struggled with her self-confidence.
"I had a hard time loving my body and finding clothes that made me feel confident without looking frumpy or being uncomfortable," Nicole said in a direct message. "nuuds bodysuits really help you look snatched, but not uncomfortable! Every piece I own (and I own a decent amount) is flattering. You can tell there is so much thought in to every detail on each piece. I can't say enough good things about Daryl-Ann and nuuds!"
Jenee Calabrese, a California digital creator and "tall girl" fashion promoter on Instagram, said she loves being a part of the community that supports Denner.
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"I love that she has created this brand that is designed for women of all body types and ages," Calabrese shared in a direct message. "She makes you feel like you've always got a cheerleader in your corner and she shares the real stuff we all deal with on a daily basis and doesn't paint a picture perfect portrait but instead the idea that life doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful."
When she started, Denner leveraged her connections from prior brand collaborations to find manufacturers. After speaking to previous partners and companies she knew as an influencer, Denner found her first manufacturer, a previous brand contact's friend from college who specialized in clothing manufacturing, who still heads the nuuds design team today. Denner said going from social media to owning her own clothing brand felt natural.
"I've been recommending all these products for so many years and I thought 'I could do this better, so let's try it,'" Denner said. "Being naive actually served me well because I didn't go about it the way it's always been done. Most people start with wanting to sell and I started with wanting to meet a need."
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Denner is heavily involved in the clothing design process and oversees product distribution. Denner's husband and nuuds co-Founder Daniel Denner, as well as her brother, act as nuuds' co-chief operating officers.
nuuds has a staff of 35 people, with headquarters in Dallas and a design and production office in New York. They have over 10 manufacturers, most overseas. Each product is tested with different fabrics at multiple manufacturers before Denner selects the sample.
nuuds normally produces 10 items a season given demand, with products taking anywhere from six months for particular colors to two years for jeans. In the fall, the brand launches roughly five new products every week. The price points vary, with bodysuits typically costing around $48-$58, tees starting at $32, and sweatshirts priced at $78 or more. Because Denner's main priority is how her consumers like her product, she said profit margin came secondary.
"I want nothing to do with being a corporate fashion apparel brand," Denner said. "I want to be responsive and agile to the needs of the community. The more corporate we get, the harder it would be to do that. I've built trust from these women for nine years and I'm not going to blow it with any product."
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While nuuds is not currently in stores, she said taking the company to stores is one of her future goals, with a large retailer being its first placement.
nuuds' revenue has exceeded her expectations from day one, Denner said. nuuds was self-funded by Daryl-Ann Denner and her husband, co-counder and co-chief operating officer, from their personal savings. It has no outside investors.
"It was a priority for me going into it because I didn't want someone to have a say. It wasn't price point first," Daryl-Ann Denner said. "We developed the product to answer the problems I saw in a normal bodysuit. If we did it right, then we'd price it. That's how the business model has always been and I didn't want an investor coming in and telling me to cut corners."
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For nuuds' first launch on Oct. 28, 2022, Daryl-Ann Denner and her team ordered 150,000 T-shirts and bodysuits. Within the first seven minutes of the launch, they sold more than 50,000. By the end of the year, they were completely out of stock.
Since the initial launch, Daniel Denner said the brand has grown year over year, selling six times what they did in 2022 in 2023. The company, he said, is on track to meet all of their goals for 2024.
"We took a massive risk starting the business," said Daniel Denner. "We put half of our personal savings into this and we weren't sure how much further we were gonna go. Knowing what we know now, we would've taken an even bigger risk."
The Denners said their first customers mostly Daryl-Ann Denner's social media followers since the launch, she said the apparel has been getting traction on its own and naturally separating from her.
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"That's always my goal," Denner said. "That people will find nuuds without me."
It was never an option to put her name on a product that was not her own.
"If I'm going to do this, and do it better," Daryl-Ann Denner said. "I'm going to do it myself."
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