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Anyone can run to the store and grab a gift card, but the best gift givers know that the most-appreciated presents start with giving it some real thought. Whether you’re shopping for your bestie who’s been checking in with FaceTime calls every week or that special somebody you gave your number to while leaving the gym, gifts that come with intention are always the winners of the holiday season.

Of course, you could spend hours opening a million tabs just to find the right item. Or you could get a lil’ advice from a veteran shopping director (hi, it’s me!). I’ve been on the search for the most thoughtful finds this entire year, so the holidays are like my Super Bowl. I get joy out of people asking me, “Where can I find the best personalized gifts?” or “What are some impressive finds that won’t blow my budget?” So, ahead I’m breaking down the meaningful, fun finds that deserve to be wrapped this season. And because we’re always going to be financially smart sirens, start with what you’re comfortable spending, then find something that feels just right for your person. Each item is available for purchase with Affirm, you can pay over time with no late or hidden fees—and keep the surprises where they belong: in the gift giving. It doesn’t matter if you’re giving the gift of a fancy beauty product you discovered at Neiman Marcus, a unique trinket from an Etsy seller, or a hero home essential on Wayfair, Affirm makes checking everyone off your nice list easy peasy.

Take our holiday quiz to find your gifting match or keep scrolling for the Refinery29 edit of thoughtful presents.

She has impeccable taste, sends you links before you’ve even heard of the brand, and somehow already owns everything you were considering. The move? Get personal. An embroidered zebra-print pouch with her name on it gives her everyday essentials a very cute home, while a photo jewelry dish turns that picture of you two into something she’ll actually use. Yes, the one from the night you still talk about. If she loves a beauty treat, Dior lip oil or a bottle of one of Tom Ford’s fragrances brings a little luxury to her getting-ready routine. You know your friend. Pick the gift that proves it.

You’ve seen their kitchen. You’ve admired their table settings. You’ve wondered whether you should start bringing your own containers because even the leftovers leave looking chic. Pink checkered canisters from Wayfair make keeping the counter tidy considerably more fun, and Jonathan Adler’s lip-motif coasters give guests something to comment on between sips. An olive oil gift set from Williams Sonoma is another good call: they can taste their way through it, then casually make you the best salad of your life. And for the host who does all that cooking and washing up? A Jo Malone hand cream trio feels like a little thank-you for their hands.

Maybe they’ve had a year. Maybe they always take care of everyone else. Maybe you simply love watching them open something they would have talked themselves out of buying. Here’s your chance. A Saint Laurent card case makes even pulling out a loyalty card feel a little fancy, while a Dyson Supersonic Nural is a generous upgrade for someone who takes their hair routine seriously. For the person whose signature scent is practically part of their introduction, the Parfums De Marly’s viral perfume puts a favorite fragrance within reach. Start with something you know they’ll love, then give them the version they’ve been eyeing.

“We should do that” has been sitting in the group chat for six months. Let’s give it a little momentum. A pasta basket packed with gourmet treats makes choosing a Saturday very doable, while a personalized passport holder and luggage tag give your buddy something to unwrap before you two settle on a destination. For the friend who keeps promising cocktail night, a gold bar-tool set from Wayfair says, “Great, I’ll bring the limes.” Add a travel journal for the person who wants to remember every meal, wrong turn, and surprisingly good hotel recommendation. You may still have to send the calendar invite, but at least you’ve got an opening.

Your gift budget also has rent, groceries, and your own holiday travel to consider. Fair enough. A personalized hairbrush feels chosen just for them, and colorful stemware can make their usual Friday-night pour feel like an occasion. For your friend who treasures a good night in, consider a checked pajama piece or a candle in a playful, colorful vessel. Just think about the small pleasures they return to every day, then find something that makes one of those moments a little sweeter.

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I have a confession: Of all the things that happened at the 2026 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, including a $50 million Fantasy Bra, it was a pair of sweatpants with charms dangling from the waistband that made me gag. Yes, sweatpants. And if you watched the PINK portion of Sunday night’s show, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about.

There was a lot to take in, thanks to stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele. Oversized varsity jackets, leopard-print sweats, glittery little shorts, knee-high socks worn with heels, and enough sequins to make a Vegas showgirl jelly. It was giving early-2000s mall culture, the cool girl in your freshman dorm, and the version of me who used to spend an entire afternoon putting together an outfit just to go absolutely nowhere. In other words, I was obsessed.

Under the creative direction of Adam Selman, this year’s Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show traveled through the seasons, but PINK’s Halftime Show took a detour into something refreshingly more playful. The looks were sporty, a little ridiculous (complimentary), and packed with the kind of styling details that made me reconsider what’s already in my closet.

And here’s the best part: Unlike some of the more elaborate runway creations, plenty of these pieces are actually shoppable. So, naturally, I went looking. Ahead, the PINK runway trends I can’t stop thinking about and the pieces worth adding to your cart.

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Fashion loves a new name. Give us an emerging designer with a killer collection, a celebrity placement, or a piece that goes viral on Instagram, and we’re all ears. Suddenly, everyone’s calling them the next big thing. Their designs are on our moodboards, their names are in our group chats, and their collections are making the rounds at Fashion Week. But there’s a question we don’t ask nearly enough: Is anyone actually buying?

Because behind every beautifully constructed jacket or impossibly cool handbag is someone figuring out how to pay for the next production run. And while a viral moment might get you a few thousand new followers, those followers aren’t necessarily paying the bills.

Destiney Bleu, founder of D.Bleu.Dazzled, knows this better than most. The designer has spent 15 years building her business, with her work making its way onto some of the biggest names in entertainment. You’d think that kind of visibility would mean she’s made it, right? Well, it’s a little more complicated than just a couple of moments in the spotlight. “I don’t think people realize how much goes into running a business,” Bleu tells Refinery29. “It’s not just the cost of the item. It’s, like, the rent, the insurance, all of the payments.”

In fact, Bleu says that after more than a decade in the industry, much of what she earns still goes straight back into her business.”I have been in business for 15 years, and I don’t really get paid, which is another misconception,” she says. “I know that I need to build a salary into it, but that is one of the sacrifices that most business owners make.”

Fifteen years in business. Major celebrity placements. And still having to make those kinds of decisions to keep the business going. It’s a reality check, especially in an industry where success is so often measured by who wore what.

It’s also part of what made The Penthouse Edit, the New York City event Refinery29 hosted alongside RAISEfashion, so interesting to me. The room was full of beautiful clothes, yes, but the real action was happening beyond the racks. Designers were connecting with buyers, meeting editors, and having the kinds of conversations that could lead to actual business. And according to RAISEfashion’s co-founder and executive director, Felita Harris, that’s what Fashion Week should be about. “The one thing that people get wrong about Fashion Week is that it is purely experiential. It’s not,” Harris tells me. “This is the moment for designers to showcase their collection, meet with buyers, network, and expand their business.”

The shows are fabulous. The parties are fun. But the designers? They’re working.

There’s something undeniably exciting about watching a small brand have its moment. Maybe it’s a handbag that suddenly starts popping up everywhere, or a celebrity wearing a designer you’ve been following since they had 2,000 Instagram followers. You want to see them win. But getting noticed and getting paid aren’t always the same thing. “Discovery is only one piece of the equation,” says Tanuj Parikh, global head of revenue at Afterpay and Cash App. “The bigger challenge is building the infrastructure to act on that attention.”

Think about it: What happens when a brand suddenly has hundreds of orders but only enough inventory to fulfill a fraction of them? Or when a buyer wants to place a wholesale order, but the designer doesn’t have the cash to produce it? A big break can become a big headache pretty quickly.

And according to Parikh, one of the biggest mistakes founders make is assuming that more attention automatically means a healthier business. “One misconception is that growth simply means reaching more people,” he explains. “More awareness can be valuable, but it can also expose weaknesses in the business if the brand is not prepared to fulfill the demand it creates.”

Even selling out, something we’d usually consider a major win, can be a missed opportunity. “Selling out can look like success, but it may also mean the brand underestimated demand and left revenue on the table,” Parikh says.

On the flip side, producing too much inventory can leave a founder with racks of unsold merchandise and money tied up in products that aren’t moving. Neither scenario is particularly glamorous, but both are part of the reality of building a fashion brand.

So what does successful growth actually look like? According to Parikh, it starts with understanding who your customers are, what they’re buying, and whether they’re coming back. It also means knowing how much it costs to acquire those customers and what remains after production, fulfillment, and other expenses.

“The strongest founders protect the product and point of view that made the brand special while being disciplined about the less visible parts of the business: inventory, fulfillment, margins and customer retention,” he says. In other words, a great collection will get people talking. Knowing how to run the business is what keeps the conversation going.

Here’s something else we don’t talk about enough: Opportunity can be expensive.

Getting a major retailer interested in your collection sounds like a dream until you realize you need the money to manufacture enough pieces to fulfill the order. And for independent designers who don’t have the financial backing of a major fashion house, that can be a very real obstacle.

It’s one of the reasons Afterpay’s involvement in The Penthouse Edit went beyond sponsoring a Fashion Week event. The company also partnered with RAISEfashion on the Designer Production Fund, which provides independent designers with direct funding to help bring their collections to market and fulfill new business opportunities. Independent designers with immediate production needs or business opportunities can apply for funding now.

“Our contribution to the Designer Production Fund makes that support tangible,” Parikh says. “It helps address the production and inventory needs that can determine whether a designer is able to act on new demand.”

A buyer can fall in love with your collection, but if you don’t have the money to produce the order, what happens next? That’s the gap the fund is designed to help close. And for independent designers who are constantly balancing creativity with the cost of doing business, access to production funding could make a meaningful difference.

And it’s not just about money. Sometimes the right introduction, a little guidance, or access to someone who’s already navigated the challenges of running a fashion business can make all the difference.

Harris points to Hiywet “Mimi” Girma, founder of YESAET, who’s simultaneously running a direct-to-consumer business, expanding her wholesale operation, and participating in RAISEfashion’s advisory programming. “I think that’s very difficult to do today being an independent designer,” Harris says.

And she’s right. When you’re an independent founder, you’re often the creative director, marketing department, customer service team, and finance department rolled into one. There’s no massive corporate machine behind the curtain making sure everything runs smoothly.

That also means making smart decisions about where to spend money, especially when the budget is tight.

Parikh says one investment he often sees small businesses make too early is broad marketing, before they’ve figured out whether their operations can support the attention they’re trying to generate. “A major campaign can attract attention, but if the product, inventory or customer journey is not ready, the business may pay to expose its own points of friction,” he explains.

Meanwhile, the investments that tend to happen too late are the ones that aren’t quite as exciting to post about: inventory planning, customer service, fulfillment, and systems that help founders understand what’s actually happening in their businesses.

Of course, getting customers to discover your brand is still important. It’s just one piece of a much bigger puzzle.

Beyond its flexible payment options, Afterpay offers participating merchants opportunities to be discovered through its shopping app, as well as access to reporting, marketing resources, and business tools through its Business Hub. For smaller brands competing against retailers with enormous advertising budgets, having additional ways to connect with shoppers can be valuable. “Independent brands may not be able to outspend larger retailers, so relevance becomes especially important,” Parikh says. “They need to reach consumers who are already interested in discovering and shopping from brands like theirs.”

And when those customers do find a brand they love, the shopping experience matters just as much as the product itself. “A brand can invest heavily in its product, storytelling and marketing, but still lose the customer if the final steps feel confusing, inflexible or inconsistent with the rest of the experience,” Parikh says.

It’s a reminder that the work of building a successful fashion business doesn’t end when someone falls in love with a piece. You still have to make it easy for them to buy it.

So let’s say it finally happens. Your collection gets picked up by a major publication. A celebrity wears one of your designs. Or that product you’ve been working on for months suddenly goes viral.

Now what?

Parikh recommends making the most of the first 30 days after a major exposure moment. His advice? Make it easy for people to shop while they’re still interested. Ensure the product is easy to find, be clear about what’s available, and give customers a way to stay connected if something sells out.

A waitlist, pre-order option, or email sign-up might not sound particularly revolutionary, but it can help turn a passing moment of interest into an ongoing relationship with a potential customer. And whatever you do, don’t promise something you can’t deliver. “Be realistic about inventory and fulfillment, communicate timelines clearly and avoid overpromising simply to capture every possible sale,” he advises.

Then comes the part that’s less glamorous but arguably more valuable: looking at the numbers. Where did the new customers come from? What did they buy? Did they come back? And can the business handle another surge in demand without stretching itself too thin?

For Parikh, the ultimate goal isn’t necessarily to become the biggest brand in the room. It’s to build a business that can consistently deliver on what made people fall in love with it in the first place. “The real test of a partnership is what remains after the event is over,” he says. I’d argue the same goes for Fashion Week.

The next time an emerging designer has their big moment, by all means, celebrate it. Share the collection, save the look, tell your friends about the brand. But remember that behind those beautiful clothes is someone managing inventory, negotiating with manufacturers, answering customer emails, and figuring out how to make the next collection happen.

Fashion Week might introduce us to our next favorite designer. What happens afterward determines whether we’ll still be shopping their collections five years from now.

And as Harris reminds us, designers aren’t just here to put on a good show. “Designers are in business to make money, to expand their brands globally.”

Let’s make sure they get the chance to do exactly that.

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