Kimberly Doerfel started her online shop, Zoé Muse, with just €550 euros. 

What began as a project during her fashion management studies in Berlin has now become a full online business, one which Doerfel is hoping to soon scale up. 

At the beginning, “I had no clue how to [run] an online shop”, but she quickly had help from her work colleagues and reached out to other artists, many via Instagram, in Slovenia, the UK, Greece--and, of course, Luxembourg. One of her recent collabs includes a range of tops featuring line art by local illustrator Lynn Cosyn. Doerfel prefers iconic, one-of-a-kind pieces--part of her brand appeal. 

Although there have been a few Zoé Muse popup shops--the first in Esch/Alzette in 2019, more recently over the summer in Luxembourg City--Doerfel is now hoping to grow her business differently, focusing especially on promotional efforts. She also wants to shift much more into clothing but do so sustainably, working with partners such as Fair Wear Foundation. She says she can vouch for every part of her clothing production cycle and will shift away from jewellery since “I can’t control it as much”. 

Inspiration also came from a shopping experience in Greece, where a local shop didn’t have her size, but the shopowner told her the artist was living across the street. Doerfel hopes to work more with local artists in various cities--her dream would be for her site to include a map where her brand is sold in unique, local settings, alongside the work of other local artists.

Trend tips

Here are three trend tips Kimberly Doerfel of Zoé Muse sees on the horizon for the upcoming season.