Gab Waller, initially a personal shopper and stylist, identified a gap in the fashion industry: the ability to source highly sought-after, sold-out items for clients. What began as a side hustle quickly blossomed into a thriving business, fueled by Waller’s innate ability to locate coveted pieces like The Row’s Margaux bag and Alaïa’s mesh Mary Janes for a growing clientele, including celebrities such as Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Hailey Bieber, and Sofia Richie Grainge. Waller’s pioneering venture carved out an entirely new career path – fashion sourcing – a role that didn’t exist before her. Despite lacking a pre-existing blueprint, she built a global team and cultivated a strong online presence, propelling her profits to soar by over 305% between 2022 and 2024.
However, the success of Waller’s sourcing business, initially named “Gab Waller,” was built on a manually intensive and complex process. The team juggled multiple platforms, including Instagram DMs, Asana, Excel, WhatsApp, Xero, and Monday.com, to manage client requests, product acquisition, and invoicing. This cumbersome system, while effective, created inefficiencies and risked overlooking some requests. Recognizing the need for a more streamlined approach, Waller envisioned a centralized platform to manage all aspects of the sourcing journey, infused with AI capabilities to further enhance efficiency. This vision became the genesis of Sourced By.
To transform her vision into reality, Waller partnered with Scott Davis, a former founding engineer at StockX, as Chief Technology Officer. Davis’s extensive experience in developing marketplace platforms and leveraging AI aligned perfectly with Waller’s ambitions for Sourced By. His contributions to tech giants like Google and Snapchat, as well as his pivotal role in establishing StockX as a leading marketplace for luxury goods, positioned him as the ideal partner to build the technology behind Sourced By. Davis recognized the shared principle driving both StockX and Sourced By: the inherent human desire for unique and rare items, the thrill of the hunt. Sourced By, he believed, would redefine how clients connect with these coveted luxury items by streamlining the sourcing process and delivering a personalized experience at scale.
The development of Sourced By, in partnership with Headstart, prioritizes AI to streamline backend operations, such as logging requests, managing orders, and invoicing. However, Waller emphasizes the irreplaceable human element at the heart of the sourcing experience. The AI is designed to enhance, not replace, the personal connection between sourcer and client, recognizing that the joy of acquiring a sought-after item is inherently a personal experience. This blend of cutting-edge technology and human expertise bridges the gap between desire and discovery, making the previously impossible-to-find, effortless. The platform aims to empower sourcers to fulfill a greater percentage of client requests, escalating Waller’s current 30% fulfillment rate to a projected 100%.
Beyond simply fulfilling requests, Sourced By represents a broader movement. Waller aims to democratize the fashion sourcing industry, providing tools and resources for others to build and scale their businesses. She envisions Sourced By as a catalyst for growth within the entire sourcing ecosystem, fostering connections and empowering individuals to pursue fashion sourcing as a viable career path. This philosophy resonates with her first investor, Emir Talu of Pentas Ventures, who recognized the potential impact of a platform designed not for exclusivity, but for industry-wide empowerment. Waller believes her success should uplift the entire industry, creating a rising tide that benefits all involved.
The potential impact of Sourced By is further underscored by the projected growth of the personal luxury goods market, estimated to reach €580 billion by 2030. Fashion sourcing, accounting for an estimated 5% of this industry, presents a significant opportunity for platforms like Sourced By. Moreover, the increasing integration of AI within the fashion industry, as highlighted by the “Fashion & Technology in 2025 Report,” further validates Waller’s forward-thinking approach. Her vision has earned her recognition on Glossy’s “50 2024: The People Who Shaped Fashion and Beauty This Year” list and a speaking opportunity at CES 2025, solidifying her position as both a fashion and tech innovator. Sourced By embodies Waller’s commitment to accessibility, innovation, and human connection, setting a new standard for the industry and inspiring a new generation of aspiring fashion sourcers.
