When the viral moment fades, will the sparkle stay?

Kelsey Campion knows the exact day her business changed: June 30, 2021. That morning, Campion posted a short video on the TikTok account for her business, Fringe + Co, a New Orleans apparel maker that specializes in clothes with bright colors, sequins and tinsel. At first, it seemed like any other video she’d posted for the business.

“Funny enough, I was heading into therapy, and before I went into therapy, I checked my phone and was like, ‘Oh, things are happening,” Campion said. “And by the time I had gotten out of therapy an hour later, I was like, ‘Oh, wow, something is really happening on the internet.’ There were thousands of comments. I mean, it was just coming in droves.”

The video would go on to have several million views and supercharged demand for one of her signature items: sequined caftans.

“I was flying back and forth to Los Angeles, ordering tons of fabric. Five [product] drops of our sequined caftans all sold out within 10 minutes of us putting them online,” Campion said. “For a solid 14 months, I felt like the business ran us.”

Now, Campion is dealing with a very different issue: a slowdown.

“Two years ago, it felt like we could do absolutely no wrong,” she said. “I mean, our stuff was selling out within minutes. Now it feels like we’re working really hard for every single sale.”

But Campion is still feeling optimistic. She’s looked closer at where she can make her business more efficient, and she’s not counting on virality.

“I know that this is something that we can come out of,” Campion said. “And that, similar to going viral, this slowdown is also a moment in time that in two years, we’ll look back on and see things very differently.”