Starting a Clothing Line
Other People Are Reading
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Pick Your Focus
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When starting a clothing line, it's important to know who you're selling to. What is the target demographic? Upscale twentysomethings wear different fashions than budget-conscious teens, so it's necessary to pare down your audience.
Demographic focus affects sizing, quality, merchandising and sales. Proper market research will point out which areas of retail can stand growth and will also give clues as to proper timing. After all, nothing says out of touch like a misses' luxury line launched during a crushing recession.
Of course, it's imperative to copyright any trademarks or logos developed along the way. Always register and record the work in order to protect intellectual property rights.
Developing the Product
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The next step is to figure out whether the line will be pre-made and tagged by the company, or privately designed and produced.
Private production takes more of an investment and is slower to develop. To make this work, there needs to be a design team along with production management, pattern makers and sample garment producers. There will be many meetings with textile manufacturers who run on tight schedules--many European looms shut down for the entire month of August, after all--as well as shopping excursions for buttons and trim. Then, there's the process of hiring a company to actually produce the garments. It's tedious, expensive and time-consuming, but it will create a unique product that will have cache in the marketplace.
The other option, purchasing nontagged garments and branding them, costs less and is faster. However, there can be problems with shoddy quality, labor conditions for the workers and unreliable transport of product. There's also the chance that the company you're purchasing from has sold a similar product to a competitor, creating a glut of that item in the marketplace. This method works best for those who wish to purchase 1,000 units or more at a time.
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Marketing the Clothing Line
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Once the product is acquired or built, how will you get the message out? The next step in the process is to create a look book to showcase the clothing, along with a showroom for buyers to view the merchandise. Alternatively, one can hire what is known as a "diffusion showroom" to carry their line, along with the product of comparable designers.
Shooting the look book is key to selling the line, since it exhibits the clothing on a model that suits the target demographic. If the line is exclusive enough, there is also the option of booking space at one of the international Fashion Weeks or trade shows. Other marketing for your line might include commercials, print ads and distribution to well-known personalities to create buzz. Out of every step, marketing may be the most fun and glamorous.
However, the fun only lasts for about two months, after which the next line is expected to roll out.
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Resources
- Photo Credit 2007 Art Comments / Creative Commons
