The PS Collective on Fashion, Sustainability, and The Perfect Fit

By Ebube Onwusika

The PS Collective Founders Francesca Donadoni (left) and Colette Johnson (right)

If you’ve ever ordered something online hoping for the perfect fit, only to receive it and be left disappointed, then you might be interested in the mission of Colette Johnson and Francesca Donadoni. Johnson and Donadoni first met through a website called CoFoundersLab and then later met up in person. They are the two fabulous creators behind The PS Collective, an online platform that tailors closets to customer’s specific needs and desires with clothing, from size and fit to style and aesthetics. Johnson and Donadoni shared with me the story of their company, touching on topics like the vision, values, and lessons they have upheld during their new but incredible breakthrough in the fashion and style space.

Back when Johnson was in college, she had many experiences ordering clothing that simply didn't fit, and had a growing pile of these clothes on her dorm floor. She also interned at Nordstrom, where she saw firsthand the effect a great fitting outfit can have on confidence and personality. She knew she wanted to provide a helping hand that aided people in avoiding piles of ill-fitting online purchases - once she established the problem and a possible plan, she began looking for the technical support to put it into action. Before she met Donadoni, she knew she wanted a woman who could relate to this cause, which Donadoni did. Donadoni mentioned always being two sizes too big or a size too small with the clothes she ordered so she shared an interest in a platform with more specific and accurate sizing recommendations. Donadoni was searching

The PS Collective homepage

for a business perspective to go with her engineering background, and most of all someone who also shared an interest in the fashion industry and the hope for a more inclusive and more accurate size and style match. And so in 2019, Johnson and Donadoni used their complementary skill sets to found The PS Collective and begin their work in the fashion space. 

Both ladies accredit their success to their mentors, who helped them avoid setbacks and mistakes that could have slowed their accomplishments. Johnson noted, “with startups, it’s easy to feel like everything’s on fire, and needs to be done at the same time.” The two founders quickly learned that it’s a lot more effective to plan out what needs to be done first and when it needs to be done, and then working from there. Soon after founding The PS Collective, Donadoni moved from the United States  to London, while Johnson remained in New York ⁠— hence a huge part of the company’s work involves scheduling and committing adequate time to the platform. In addition to The PS Collective, both women have day jobs outside their company. Johnson works as a marketing consultant with NBC Universal while Donadoni is involved with a startup firm that uses computer vision, two combinations that create a unique perspective in the fashion industry. They talk everyday or once a week, depending on what is needed for the company, at that time. Donadoni also mentioned the benefit of working from home and being able to gain back three hours of her day she would have spent commuting to and from work. She now dedicates that time to work on The PS Collective. 

While The PS Collective has been running for only three years now, Johnson and Donadoni remarked that they have learned so much, as learning happens everyday while running a startup in the fashion industry. Johnson mentioned the surprise she had over most of the behind the scenes processes still being mostly manual, especially with most of the rest of the world technologically advancing in many ways. Learning more about the industry’s role in creating a more sustainable world has been an everyday lesson, as fashion is the second largest polluter behind oil, and both Donadoni and Johnson believe the industry could be doing so much more to ameliorate the effect it has on our planet. “It’s getting better, but it’s been really, baby, baby, steps,” Johnson said, “there needs to be more done to hold these large companies accountable.” Donandoni added, “I feel like there is so much to do still, and we are barely scratching the surface.”

In terms of growth for The PS Collective, the two women are interested in expanding their corporation, getting more designers and investing in more 1-on-1 interactions with customers. “We’re changing pretty much

every week, if not everyday, and we maintain the same values and I think that was one of the things we learnt from our mentors at the very beginning: to write down those values and keep them somewhere were we won’t lose it, because you get distracted very easily when you’re so small, because there’s opportunities but there’s also dangerous risks, and that’s why we change constantly but we have our pillars of sustainability and inclusivity, and generally making sure women have the choice of what they want to wear without being put in a box,” Donadoni added.

I believe Johnson and Donadoni’s values are truly reflected in the product they have created. When I attempted their online questionnaire on the website before meeting with them, I was able to see these values at work. I think among the many things that impressed me with The PS Collective, it was their transparency, the direct relationship between their goals and the end product on the website. It’s incredibly inspiring seeing two women observing a problem and then working towards alleviating it. Instead of waiting for the change they decided to create the change, and that is inspiration that speaks for itself. 

In closing, Johnson and Donadoni left some advice for the Avenue community, and young people anywhere working on projects they are passionate about. As Donadoni shared, “When you’re doing something new, you do get a lot of scrutiny and negativity that might not necessarily be the biggest voice, but is still what we tend to listen to. However we need to focus on the positives more, and improve what we’re good at instead of trying to fix everything we’re not.” Johnson ended with incredibly powerful advice, saying it is never our fault when clothing doesn’t fit us right, but rather the industry’s for not creating a more open and inclusive sizing structure for the wider community. Donadoni adds, “The whole sizing system is there because in the 40s someone decided that it was much more efficient (…) so don't think because something is one way, it has to stay like that. That's how we’re thinking and I think it’s true for a lot of concepts, but we’re starting with sizing.” 

While the industry at large may not have our best interests at heart, there are special few businesses that make products with you in mind - The PS Collective is at the forefront of this effort towards a more inclusive and considerate fashion world.