After all, Mr. Posen is not the first of his generation of designers — the generation that emerged post-9/11 and pre-global downturn, and was thrust into the spotlight very early on as part of a concerted effort to create a positive narrative in a dark time — to hit the hurdle of the changing business of today and not be able to get over it. He is simply the designer probably best known outside the ivory tower of fashion.

Derek Lam, for example, who also founded his business in 2002, was a runner-up in the 2005 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and won the CFDA emerging designer award for women’s wear the same year, decided earlier this year to close his high-end business and focus on a contemporary line. Thakoon Panichgul, who started his namesake line in 2004 and won the CFDA/Vogue award in 2006, put it on pause in 2017 and has now relaunched with a direct-to-consumer model. Behnaz Sarafpour, who also started her line in 2001 and was often nominated for CFDA awards, has switched from ready-to-wear to fragrances.

All were (and are) talented. But they came into the industry at a time when careers could be made by very specific gatekeepers and kingmakers: department stores, who held the keys to national reach, and glossy magazines, which served as the conduits to consumers, dictating trends and the names everyone needed to know.