How to Become a Fashion Social Seller on TikTok Shop 2026

I have to tell you something that probably nobody has told you yet, and which could change your life.

If you are someone who loves fashion - who spends hours studying collections, who recognises a quality fabric at a glance, who has precise opinions on what works and what doesn't, who follows up-and-coming brands before they become famous - know that that passion today has a concrete economic value. Not tomorrow. Not “when you have enough followers”. Now.

Let me explain: for years I have seen people like you come into our style office with eyes shining. They want to create their own fashion brand. They have ideas, taste, vision. But when we do the maths, reality holds them back: creating a brand requires capital. Even with the most affordable production minimums - 30 pieces per model with Made in Italy, which is already exceptional - you still need thousands of euros between production, branding, e-commerce, communication. And not everyone has them. Not immediately, at least.

For years, all I could say to these people was: “Save, prepare, and when you are ready come back to us.”. It was frustrating for them and for me.

If it is the first article you read, welcome to Be A Designer: the home of emerging designers. I am Corrado Manenti, Brand Designer and founder of the first independent style office in Italy specialised in supporting those who want to create their own fashion brand. For over 14 years I have been accompanying aspiring and emerging stylists and designers from the first sketch to market launch - to date we have launched over 200 brands.

This article is different from all the others you will find online. It is not a generic guide on “how to earn money on TikTok”. It is a written strategic advice for those who love fashion, do not yet have the capital to launch a brand, and want to turn that passion into a concrete career path - with an action plan, a long-term vision, and a real ecosystem to support you.

So read on, because this is where your journey begins.

The Social Seller of Fashion: The Profession That Didn't Exist and May Change Your Life in 2026

Until two years ago, if you wanted to work in fashion without being a designer, your options were limited: shop assistant, brand marketing department, showroom, agency. All required experience, contacts, or a specific CV. For those coming from outside the industry, the doors were almost always closed.

TikTok Shop has created a new professional figure that did not exist: the fashionable social seller. A person who makes money by promoting and selling branded products through their video content. Not an influencer in the traditional sense - you don't need hundreds of thousands of followers. It's not a salesperson - you don't have fixed hours or a physical shop. It is something completely new: you are a salesperson using content as a sales tool, within a platform that already has traffic.

Think about what that means: you no longer have to look for customers. They are already there. 23.9 million Italians spend almost an hour a day on TikTok. The algorithm does the heavy lifting: it takes your content and shows it to the people most likely to be interested. You just create an authentic video, show a product you love, and tag it. If someone buys, you earn a commission.

No capital is needed. No need for a warehouse. You don't need to manage shipments, returns or customer service. The brand takes care of everything - you take care of creating content and selling.

The Numbers: How Much Can You Earn as a Fashion Social Seller

I know what you're thinking: “OK, nice, but how much do you really get out of it?”. Right. Let's talk about concrete numbers.

Commissions on TikTok Shop for the fashion category range from 5% to 20% depending on the brand and product. The average in fashion is between 10% and 15%. It means that if you sell a 50€ garment, you earn between 5€ and 7.50€. Does that seem low? Do the maths:

And the great thing is that it is a scalable model. As your community grows, your sales grow. As you learn what works, your content converts more. 72% of TikTok Shop customers return to buy - those who buy through you once will probably buy again.

What You Need to Get Started: The Real Requirements (Much Less Than You Think)

Here's the part that always surprises everyone. To become a TikTok Shop affiliate and start selling fashion products, you need:

• At least 1,000 followers on TikTok (some sources indicate 5,000 for the full programme, but 1,000 is the basic threshold)
• 50 video views in the last 28 days
• At least 3 published videos in the last 30 days
• 18 years of age
• Account conforms to community guidelines
• No VAT number required to start as an affiliate (commissions are managed by the platform)

You read it right. 1,000 followers. Not 100,000. Not 50,000. 1,000. If you post consistent, quality fashion content, you can reach 1,000 followers in 2-4 weeks from scratch. TikTok's algorithm doesn't look at how many followers you have: it looks at how interesting your content is.

You don't need a professional camera. You just need your phone. You don't need a studio. You just need a clean wall and natural light. You don't need editing skills. TikTok has built-in tools and authenticity trumps perfection.

The question is not “can I afford it?”. The question is: “Am I willing to commit myself 1-2 hours a day for 90 days?” If the answer is yes, you have everything you need.

The Specific Problem of Fashion: Why It's Different from Any Other Niche

Emerging fashion brands cannot give away samples like those who sell gadgets: Made in Italy has real production costs

Now I have to be honest with you, because this is where my direct experience comes in and I want to avoid a mistake I see so many aspiring social sellers make.

If you go to the TikTok Shop and look at the best-selling products, you will find gadgets from 10€, tech accessories from 15€, beauty products from 20€. For these products, becoming an affiliate is relatively simple: the brand sends you a free sample, you make the video, you test it, and off you go.

Fashion is a completely different world. And if you are passionate about real fashion, about brands with an identity, about handcrafted products, about Made in Italy - you have to understand one fundamental thing:

Result? As a fashion social seller you are faced with a paradox: the most powerful niche on TikTok Shop (fashion, 25-30% of GMV) is also the most difficult to enter as an affiliate. Brands don't know you, don't trust you, and can't afford to take risks.

Most social sellers end up promoting imported fast fashion and cheap gadgets. Not because it is what they love, but because it is the only thing they can access.

Unless there is someone to solve this problem.

The Be A Designer Solution: How We Connect Creators and Emerging Brands Made in Italy

That's where what we do comes in, and why I wrote this article.

For over 14 years, Be A Designer has been the first independent style office in Italy. We launch fashion brands - over 200 to date. We have a unique ecosystem: dozens of active emerging Italian brands, with Made in Italy capsule collections, quality products, and a huge need for visibility and sales.

On the other side, there are people like you: passionate about fashion, creative, with the potential to become extraordinary social sellers, but without access to the right products.

We are the bridge.

Private Sales: The Experience That Changes Your Outlook

We created a format that exists nowhere else in Italy: the Private Sales of Be A Designer. And I have to tell you something: they are not simply “events where you try products”. They are something much deeper.

Imagine the scene. Enter our style office. It is not a shop, it is not a showroom open to the public. It is the place where brands are born. Where sketches become patterns, where fabrics are selected, where collections take shape. It is the backstage of Italian fashion - the one you normally only see in documentaries or on the Instagram profiles of big brands. And you are in there.

You see the products live. You touch them. You feel the difference between a quality jersey and an industrial one. You understand why a seam made in a certain way costs three times as much. You try the garments on, wear them, see how they fall. You are touching what “Made in Italy” means” - not as a slogan, but as a tangible reality.

And then something even more important happens: meet the designers. Not on a screen. In person. They tell you why they chose that fabric, what inspired them, how many nights they spent remaking that pattern until it was perfect. They tell you their dream - and suddenly you realise that it is the same dream you have. Only they are one step further down the path.

You also meet other creators, other people like you who are taking the same step. You share experiences, strategies, enthusiasm. You are not alone: you are part of a community forming around something new.

And here is the magic moment: you begin to visualise YOUR future. Because as you film those products, as you tell the story of that designer, as you show the quality of that garment to your audience - your brain is already working. You are already thinking: “When it is MY brand, I will do that. MY product will have this quality. This is how I will tell MY story.”

But let's go in order. Here is how Private Sales actually works:

1. We invite you to our style office. Access behind the scenes: workshop, samples, brand moodboards. See how a collection is created - information you would not normally get.
2. Meet the designers and our team. You know the people, the stories, the creative process. This first-hand knowledge is the secret weapon that makes you a credible social seller and a better prepared future entrepreneur.
3. Create exclusive content on the spot. Our style office becomes your set. Behind the scenes, garment fittings, designer interviews. Content that no other creator can have.
4. Activate membership. You link products to your TikTok Shop account. Each sale brings you a commission. No upfront costs, no risk.
5. You earn, you learn and you visualise your path. Every sale you make teaches you something. Every interaction with a brand brings you closer to the moment when that brand will be you.

The Incentive System: Not Just Commissions

Here is where our model becomes really interesting:

• Competitive commissions: 10-15%, among the highest in the fashion industry on TikTok Shop
• Free products for top performers: real garments to wear and show. The more you sell, the more you receive
• Priority access to new collections: you are the first to see the news, you create content before anyone else
• Direct formation: strategies, data, insights. We don't leave you alone
• Exclusive network: community of social sellers and emerging brands. Invaluable connections

You are not a generic affiliate. You are an ambassador of emerging Made in Italy brands that you have a real relationship with, that you know personally. And authenticity is the most valuable currency on TikTok.

The First Pieces: When Selling Fashion Becomes Like Collecting Art

There is one aspect of this that I have not yet mentioned, and which personally excites me more than any number.

Think what happens when an up-and-coming brand launches its first capsule collection. We are talking about 30, 50, maybe 100 numbered pieces. The first ever production. The first sample books. The first garments to leave the workshop with that mark on them. There are no others in the world.

Now think about this: you could be among the very first people to touch, wear and show those pieces to the world.

No one can know what will happen to that brand. It could remain a beautiful niche project. Or it could become the next brand that explodes, that gets noticed, that ends up in Vogue, that grows to become a world-renowned name. It has happened before. It will happen again. And when it happens, Those who had the first pieces - those who wore them, those who talked about them, those who made them known - are part of the history of that brand forever.

It is exactly like art. Whoever buys a painting by an unknown artist before it becomes famous is not making a purchase: he or she is making a bet, an act of trust, a declaration of taste. And if that artist explodes, that painting acquires a value beyond money.

And there is something even deeper. When you sell those products, when you tell your audience about them, when you convince someone to buy that garment - you are actively participating in the birth of a brand. You are not a spectator. You are a protagonist. Your sales contribute to the success of that emerging designer. Your voice helps a dream come true. And that designer, a year ago, was exactly where you are now.

This is the network we are building. It is not an affiliate programme. It is a wheel of value where creators and emerging designers grow together, support each other, build the future of Italian fashion together. Creators who become designers. Designers that grow thanks to creators. First pieces that change hands and become the shared history of a unique ecosystem.

This only exists here. Only in our style office. Only in Italy. And we are deeply proud of this, because we are not simply selling a service: we are creating something that has never existed before in the fashion world.

Why Only TikTok Shop Makes This Possible (And Why Instagram and YouTube Don't)

I know what you might think: “OK, but couldn't I do the same thing on Instagram? On YouTube? On channels where there's already fashion?”

The answer is no. And the reason is very precise.

On Instagram, on YouTube, on traditional channels, the mechanism is this: a brand pays an influencer - even 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 euros for a single post or video - and that content reaches the influencer's audience. Do you know how many sales it generates on average? A few hundred. Sometimes a few dozen. Influencers with millions of followers moving embarrassingly low numbers compared to the investment. Why? Because Those algorithms are not designed to sell. They are designed to hold attention. Commercial content is penalised, organic reach has been in free fall for years, and the only way to get real visibility is to pay for advertising.

For an emerging brand with a limited budget, this model is a dead end. Paying an influencer €15,000 to sell 50 pieces makes no economic sense. And for you as a creator, you would have to build a huge audience on those channels before you could even hope to generate significant sales. Years of work before you see a return.

TikTok Shop has completely overturned this dynamic. And the reason is strategic: TikTok right now is investing its own money to make Shop work. It wants it to become a real business ecosystem. It wants professional creators to be born. It wants brands to sell within the platform. It wants users to get used to buying without leaving the app.

This means that you, with your phone, 1,000 followers and zero budget, can generate visibility and sales for an emerging brand that on Instagram would require thousands of euros of investment. The platform is bridging the gap between you and an influencer with 100,000 followers - because TikTok does not care how many followers you have, they care that your content makes people buy.

That is why our Private Sales model works now and could not have worked before:

This is the key to everything you have read so far. The window is open now because TikTok is investing in growing its commercial ecosystem. It is doing the heavy lifting for us - instead of the brands and instead of the creators. But this phase will not last forever. When Shop is mature, when millions of creators are already in it, when brands have saturated the categories - the algorithm will no longer be so generous. Free distribution will become paid distribution. The barrier to entry will rise.

We must exploit this window together. Now. Not six months from now.

The Long-Term Vision: Social Selling as the First Step Towards Your Brand

Now I will tell you something that hardly anyone will tell you. Most guides treat you as if selling other people's products is the ultimate goal. As if the ultimate is to earn commissions forever.

We see it differently. In the Be A Designer method, social selling is a stepping stone, not a destination. It is the first chapter of a journey that can lead you to create your brand.

And it is not an empty motivational phrase. It is a concrete strategy. Let me explain why.

When you are a fashionable social seller with the BAD network, you are not “just selling other people's stuff”. You are doing something much more strategic:

• You are learning what sells and what doesn't with someone else's money. You try dozens of products, see the public's reactions, understand which fabrics appeal, which prices convert, which styles work. You are developing a commercial instinct that no school can teach you and that normally costs thousands of euros in failed market tests
• You are building YOUR community. The followers you acquire by selling other people's products will be your first customers when you launch your brand. You already know them. You know what they want. You already have their trust. When you say “I created my collection”, they will be the first to buy.
• You are generating the initial capital. The commissions you earn can become the seed money for your first capsule collection. You are literally funding your dream while learning the trade
• You are gaining first-hand experience in fashion marketing. Hook, storytelling, conversion, live shopping. When you launch your brand, you will already know exactly how to promote it - because you have been doing it every day for months
• You are building your sales channel. This is the most powerful point. The TikTok profile you build as a social seller does not disappear when you launch your brand. It becomes YOUR sales channel. The community, the credibility, the algorithm that has learnt to show you to the right people - all this becomes the engine for launching your brand. You won't have to start from scratch: you will already have an active, tested channel that converts
• You are collecting the first pieces of brands that could make history. The garments you receive as top performers are the first numbered productions of emerging designers. You will have in your hands - and in your videos, forever - pieces that tomorrow could be worth much more than their price. And you will have the story of having discovered them first
• You are joining the BAD network. You know designers who have already been there, suppliers, our team. When you are ready, you won't be knocking on the door of strangers: you will already be inside an ecosystem that knows you, appreciates you, and knows how to help you

Can you see the full picture? It's not a little job on the side. It is paid entrepreneurial training in the industry you love. You are learning, earning and building at the same time - and every piece you assemble today will be a key piece of your brand tomorrow.

Think of the designers you meet at Private Sales. A year ago they were exactly where you are now. They dreamt of a brand, they didn't have the capital, they didn't know where to start. Today they have a Made in Italy collection, a brand with an identity, customers looking for them. They have made the journey. And you can do the same - with the huge advantage of starting with social selling, which means starting already with a community, already with an active channel, already with experience in the field, already with the first earnings in your pocket.

The social seller who today sells products of BAD brands can tomorrow become the designer who launches his own brand with BAD. It is a ladder going up, not a dead end.

The Action Plan: From Zero to Fashion Social Seller in 90 Days

As a saying goes that I love to repeat: a goal without a plan is just a wish. Here is the concrete plan.

At Private Sales BAD you enter the heart of Italian fashion: workshop, designers, fabrics, creative processes

The Bigger Picture: Why Social Selling Will Explode in the Next 2 Years

We are in the middle of a war between the technology giants for control of the purchasing flow. TikTok, OpenAI, Google, Amazon - all are integrating purchasing into their platforms.

• TikTok Shop: buying into the video stream. Already active, explosive growth
• ChatGPT Instant Checkout: buying into the AI chat. 900 million weekly users
• Google AI Mode + Gemini: buying into AI answers
• Shopify Agentic Storefronts: connection to all these channels simultaneously

What does it mean to you? The role of those who can create content that sells will become increasingly valuable. Platforms need content that is human and authentic. Brands need people who can translate a product into a story that converts. You are at the centre of this equation.

In China, live shopping is already a mature industry. There are shops where shop assistants do live shopping when there are no customers. Every sales clerk is also a creator. This model is coming to Italy. Those who position themselves now will have an enormous advantage.

Video Formats That Work for Selling Fashion on TikTok Shop

1. The Honest Review

“I tried on this emerging Italian brand - here's what I think”. You try on the garment, show the quality, give your honest opinion. It lowers the defences: is not an advertisement, it is an advice.

2. The Try-On Haul

Try on 3-5 garments. Show how they fit, how they fall, how you match them. The closest format to the dressing room.

3. The Style Tip

“3 ways to wear this Made in Italy scarf”. You give value, you show competence, the product becomes a natural protagonist.

4. Behind the Scenes

At BAD Private Sales you have exclusive access: workshop, designers at work, fabrics, creative process. Very high engagement.

5. The Live Shopping Session

Directs where you show and sell in real time. The format with the highest conversion. In Italy we are at the beginning: huge opportunity.

6. The Comparison Fast Fashion vs Made in Italy

Compare a cheap garment with a handmade one: fabric, stitching, fit. Powerful to justify the price in a visual way.

The 7 Mistakes That Kill a Fashion Social Seller's Career

1. Promoting products you don't like. You can see it in three seconds. If you are not genuinely enthusiastic, you will not sell. Never.
2. Copying other people's formats. Study, but find your voice. Authenticity is your only weapon.
3. Only publish when “inspired”. Consistency beats inspiration. 3-4 videos a day, every day.
4. Ignore live. Videos bring visibility. Live shows bring sales. Not doing live = leaving money on the table.
5. Do not reply to comments. Every comment is a potential customer. The purchase often starts there.
6. Focus on followers. Vanity metrics do not pay. Focus on conversions and sales.
7. Not having a vision. Where do you want to be in a year? Use social selling as a springboard to something bigger.

Frequently Asked Questions: Become a Fashion Social Seller on TikTok Shop

If you have come this far, that passion for fashion is not a whim. It is something real. And for the first time in history, can become a job without investing capital that you do not have.

TikTok Shop has democratised fashion sales. AI platforms create new channels every month. Emerging brands desperately need authentic voices. And you, with your phone, your passion and 1,000 followers, can be that voice.

As I always say: creating a fashion brand yourself in Italy from scratch is practically impossible. But to start working in fashion, to earn money from fashion, to learn the trade - this is now within the reach of anyone with passion and determination.

Will 2026 be the year you turn your passion into a profession? Schedule a free consultation with me and evaluate your future in fashion together.

If you want to learn more about the method, discover my books "Do you also want to be a designer?" e "The Stylist's Journey.

Our adventure starts here, ready to make a difference?

Good luck!

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