Our society is in constant change, and for most times, we don’t even recognize such variations. These changes can be seen in many places in our culture, such as the fashion world, with all its flashes. Through clothes and accessories, fashion expresses, learns and absorbs the constant developments of our society, reflecting it as historical material. For you to express your own perception of what surrounds you, and become part of this culture, there’s no better way than starting your own fashion brand!
If you want to enter this industry, we first suggest that you have 100% passion about it. This is the first key to a successful brand. Unlucky for you, even for an enthusiastic person, this road may be difficult. Lucky for you, we are here to help you be prepared for this new challenge. So, follow our steps to start a new fashion brand.
Find Your Niche
Whenever a new path comes in your way, preparation is essential, if you want to start with the right foot. Our first advice is to begin your journey with a fashion degree, mainly because you will be better prepared for this industry. Then, start searching for products which have a demand of consumers – with less competition, your brand will create a genuine need for new products. Remember to always consider your personality, as your brand should always project your vision to the consumer.
Choose Your Brand Identity
The logo, along with your brand name, are the faces of your company. Customers are used to brands which come with compelling stories, as all these aspects impact directly in the sales. This will be linked directly with the marketing process. Consider hiring a digital designer to come up with a great logo and a catchy slogan, which match exactly with your vision.
Money Plans
This section will show that a fashion brand does not only design clothes, but much more than that! You will also need to be prepared for financial situations. First, here’s a quote for a good understanding of the reality of the fashion world: only 10% are in the glamorous world like Gucci and other famous brands. Small and starter brands struggle with bills and financial problems. So, for a beginner brand, you will need to come up with a business plan to maintain all the financial aspects in peace.
To prepare your business plan, be sure to make a general description of your products, your well-defined strategy and how you plan to sell them. To improve your strategy, consider putting all logistics and create a funding plan as a backup, if any goes wrong. Think about all the employers that you want to hire. Another important aspect is to define your price range – will your clothes sell to a high-end consumer or to a low budget type of person? This business plan will prevent your brand from financial problems, right in the beginning.
Manufacturer
Here, your preparation will help once again. With studies and techniques of producing fashion clothes, you will most certainly know which will be the better type of material to work in your clothes. With that in mind, you can always design and prepare your clothes on your own, or you can hire someone to manufacture for you, depending on your demand.
Design
This will be your specialty, so always design with all your vision! Here, you will put all your personality, and all your identity but also create practicality and attainable design who will attract other people’s attention.
Distribution
This part is all about organizing your space. With only a small room, and a couple of boxes you can create a distribution centre using your mail or other transports to handle the logistics. Do not forget to put that in your business plan.
Marketing Process
Another big step to start your brand is spreading the word about it. Use all the tools in your favour, and remember to create social media profiles to engage and call new connections, which can be useful in the future. Also, don’t be afraid to associate your brand with fashion influencers.
Launch and Look for Connections
This is the last step, in a long road. Now, you just need to prepare a perfect night to launch your brand. Do something like a well-known event, a fashion week, or a presentation night in some comfortable lounge for people to meet your new project. While there, be sure to invite the press, to make a buzz, and well known people from this world for you to show your brand’s potential. Luckily, in this event, you will gather some connections, and maybe even new partners who can help scale your brand from this point onward.
Overall Process
Opening a new fashion brand is never easy, and you always need to have a balance between art and business. Keeping your clothes stylish and continuously in fashion will make you and your project to increase and spread more easily your expression of the world. Hope you enjoyed the reading, and good luck!