Gayla Bentley Fashion Update | Shark Tank Season 1
With so many women dressing in sizes 12 and above, the lack of availability and diversity in retail sizes continues to be a problem. Gayla Bentley strives to fight against this fashion discrimination with her brand which caters to women from sizes 12 to 28. Will she earn a deal on
Shark Tank Gayla Bentley Fashion Update
- Entrepreneur: Gayla Bentley
- Business: Plus size women’s fashion
- Ask: $250,000 for 20% equity
- Result: $250,000 for 50% equity
- Shark: Barbara Corcoran and Daymond John
Gayla entered
Gayla talked about the luxurious materials she used and her thoughts on how to break into the retail world. She had to explain to most of the sharks how the fashion world worked when it came to plus-size lines.
Gayla mentioned that her line was available only online at the time, bringing in around $500,000 per year. She was looking for someone to be a pioneer investor in this world.
Daymond John backed Gayla up against the disbelief of Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec regarding how discriminatory the fashion world was.
Kevin went out, despite Barbara Corcoran trying to persuade him to stay in. Kevin Harrington followed because he didn’t see how he’d win his money back. Robert went out because he lacked expertise in the fashion world.
Barbara kept trying to convince all of them that there was a great opportunity in this investment. Gayla also appealed to Daymond, and he asked her to promise she wouldn’t blow up the chance. She promised and said that he’d have the most loyal group working for his interests.
Daymond said he would offer an equal partnership, $250,000 for 50% equity, contingent on getting a deal with a retailer. He asked Barbara if she would join the deal because he needed her expertise in knowing what women would want.
Gayla wanted to keep creative control and countered with 45% equity. Daymond said that is why he didn’t ask for 51%, and that they would be making the decisions together.
Gayla accepted Daymond and Barbara’s deal of $250,000 for 50% and left
Our Gayla Bentley Fashion update shows that despite some initial success and deals with Neiman Marcus, Gayla Bentley Fashion has since gone out of business. The final nail in the coffin seems to have been flooding during Hurricane Harvey in 2017.
This will be our final Gayla Bentley Fashion update.
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Andrew Smith is the founder and owner of Shark Tank Recap. He is a longtime Shark Tank fan that has been watching it for years and has seen every episode multiple times. His friends know him as the Shark Tank expert, because he can answer any question about the show! His favorite Shark Tank products are Bertello's pizza oven and Bug Bite Thing!