The Rich get PERKS!

Twenty two years ago I moved to New York City after graduating from University of Michigan. Since my husband to be grew up in a suburb of NYC, at the time I met some of his friends from high school and their families.
One family in particular was very wealthy. We have since lost touch with them but they were a lovely family. One thing that I have never forgotten about them was the way the mother shopped for her clothes. It impressed me very much. Again remember that I mentioned the family was very wealthy and because of this-they got 'perks'.
This mother and a group of her friends hired a personal shopper who took them into the showrooms of the biggest, brightest, and best fashion designers. The group of women ordered their clothing directly from the designers and bypassed the retail stores. Since the group of them combined their consumer dollars, they qualified for a wholesale order. Their total order equaled that of some small boutiques so the designers agreed to sell to them directly.
As an naive, young outsider from the midwest, I couldn't believe the luck of the rich!!! I would love to be able to buy directly from the source and save half of the cost!!!! HOW COME THE RICH GET TO SAVE MONEY??? They did not need to save money---it seemed backwards to me?
This thought has stayed with me over the years. On and off, from time to time, I have thought about how to make this business model work for us, the commoners. What I have come up and want to experiment with is a wholesale shopping community that together can generate volume buying power.
This is the story behind my idea!