After completing their fashion studies, many aspiring designers are faced with the same question that has long preoccupied creatives of all kinds: What now? In fashion school, you may learn something about pattern design, sewing and draping, but graduates are not always prepared for what it is really like to start your own fashion label and produce clothes .
Successful fashion designer and entrepreneur Sarah Donofrio credits real-world experience for the rest of her journey. Over the past two decades, she’s learned that taking your dream from idea to launch and succeeding in the fast-paced fashion world requires a set of skills, a big dose of creativity, and a dash of business acumen.
In this step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to start a clothing brand from scratch—from training and design to manufacturing and marketing—plus tips on selling clothes from a seasoned pro.
What do you need to start a fashion label?
There are a few steps you need to take to start a fashion label. First, you should decide on a target market and a business model. A business plan is also important, vietnam email list as are considerations about manufacturing and production.
14 steps to starting a fashion label:
- Develop your skills as a fashion designer
- Create a business plan
- Follow fashion trends
- Build a strong brand
- Design and develop your fashion line
- Source fashion fabrics or design your own
- Setting up production and manufacturing for your fashion label
- Create pricing and inventory strategies
- Plan your collections according to the fashion season
- Present your clothing line to fashion retailers
- Create an online shop for your fashion label
- Market your label
- Open a retail store, engagement rates on different social networks start a pop-up or sell at markets
- Learn from the pros
In this video we show you how to get started in the fashion industry:
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Sarah has lived and worked in two countries. Her experience and expertise spans all areas such as design, production and retail. In 2016, china phone numbers she was a contestant on the 15th season of Project Runway.
Since then, Sarah has launched her own clothing line and e-commerce store, won several awards and has appeared in several publications and retail stores.
1. Develop your skills as a fashion designer
Although Sarah owes much of her success to learning professional skills in a classroom, she gained much of her training on the job by working in retail. “I wanted to start my own business,” she says, “but I felt it was important to gain experience.”
Sarah is a big advocate of spending a few years learning from other brands and designers. “It took a long time for me to feel confident enough to fill a store with my clothes,” she says. “I think I needed the time to grow and to gain advice and experience.”
Many institutions offer fashion design and small business programs in different formats. If you have more ambition than money or time, there are a growing number of fast-track and online courses for aspiring fashion designers. Check with local universities or colleges for virtual or part-time courses that fit your schedule and budget, or use websites that offer specialized online courses.
2. Create a business plan
Starting a clothing line requires many of the same considerations as starting any business. How much will it cost to start up? How will you arrange business financing ? What outside help will you need to manage the legal, financial, production and distribution aspects of the business? Where and how will you have your clothing manufactured? Let’s look at this in more detail.
business models for fashion brands
If you are interested in the fashion world but have no interest or skills in design, consider reselling through wholesale or dropshipping
. For those designing a clothing line from scratch, this is the point where you decide what type of business you want to run. This will help you determine how much time, effort and financial resources you will need up front.
Some business models are:
- Handmade: Create your designs and sell them directly to customers through your own website or online marketplaces or at markets and pop-ups.
- Production partner: Design collections and produce garments through a manufacturer and then sell your clothing line wholesale.
- Print-on-Demand: Design repeating patterns or graphics that you print on blank t-shirts and other clothing items using a print-on-demand model and sell online through your own store.
choice of company form and structure
In your business plan, you also determine the type of business or the corporate structure of your clothing line. When starting a business, you can choose a sole proprietorship , a corporation, or another form.
If you choose to have a sustainable online store and ethical clothing production, you can also consider becoming a Benefit Corporation. This designation shows conscious consumers that your clothing company is committed to sustainability.