Shopify is a no code ecomerce and website building platform that is used by millions of small businesses, artists and organizations that need to build a website with commerce functionality, fast. Shopify Plus is also a platform that is used as the infrastructure for some of the biggest names in retail, connecting real time in-store inventory with online availability. Something that is maybe less known, are the success stories that built from Shopify basic, into billion dollar brands. One of the most notable successes is Fashion Nova.

Fashion Nova is a fast fashion brand founded in 2006, in Los Angeles. Fashion Nova is perhaps best known for, and really hit its stride, when it began reaching out on Instagram to create in-house fashion lines in collaboration with popular and upcoming entertainers and influencers.

These collaborations were a win win for the new Fashion Nova company and those that they created lines with. By collaborating with up-and-coming influencers, Fashion Nova was able to tap into new audiences easily and organically. These up-and-coming influencers likewise gained credibility with their following by dropping a clothing line with a third party company.

Possibly the best example of this is when Cardi B dropped an exclusive line with the fashion retailer. “Cardi teamed up with the viral brand Fashion Nova to launch her first clothing collection. Featuring pleather, crushed velvet, and plaid suits inspired by Clueless, a film that everyone seems to be copying lately, the line didn’t go on sale until midnight Pacific time. Yet all 82 pieces sold out in minutes,” outlines Vox.

This symbiotic approach has rewarded the company’s collaborators as well as the founder of the company. As reported by Forbes, “the fast fashion mogul is worth an estimated $1.4 billion. His fortune stems from his 100% ownership of the company, which does over $1 billion in annual sales, according to a person familiar with the matter. He also has a growing real estate collection, including several mansions in Los Angeles.

Saghian, 40, made his fortune by selling fast fashion to the Instagram set, tapping celebrities like Cardi B, Kylie Jenner and Nicki Minaj to showcase the hundreds of new styles that hit the site every week.”

When people think of companies that sell billions of dollars in product online, they may assume that those well capitalized companies have a completely custom built website hosted on its own platform. It may be less obvious that a company that clears a billion in sales every year is using the same technology that the independent book store around the corner is using. What is even more interesting that Fashion Nova started on Shopify, and continues to use Shopify well into its success.

As a takeaway, this shows that with modern technology and online tools, really anything is possible. While not everyone can collaborate with the Cardi B’s of the world, this example shows that with creative thinking, new markets can be created. Fashion Nova spearheaded its strategy of collaborating with up-and-coming influencers, which can be seen now with many traditional retailers. Again, you may not have access to a celebrity or notable influencer, but what you can do is think of an idea, then think of a novel way to help that idea grow. Luckily, today, the tools are available to make these ambitions a reality.