In recent news, Diane Cha has left her senior job at Gap Inc.’s Athleta brand to join Ayr, a label with 17 employees and no offices or headquarters. As the head of merchandising, Cha will work from her bedroom in Orange County, California, with a team spread across three time zones from Ojai, California to Coatesville, Pennsylvania.

While most fashion labels have rushed employees back to the office post-pandemic, Ayr has made the drastic decision to permanently shut down its offices in New York’s Noho neighborhood. Co-founder Maggie Winter and her husband Brice Pattison, vice president of menswear, work from their house in Ojai. This change has resulted in sustained revenue growth for the label, with annual revenues quintupling over three years and reaching $50 million this year.

Operating virtually has allowed Ayr to recruit more experienced people from across the country and has made a significant impact on its growth. When Mallory Snyder posted an opening for a senior creative manager on LinkedIn, she received over 5,000 applications over the three months that the posting stayed up. “Opening up the team to the entire country gives us access to a deep well of talent,” Winter says.