How to Start a Kids Dance Clothing Line

Great dance outfits will always get a standing ovation

You don't have to be able to tell the difference between a pirouette and a grande jete to have a passion for designing children's dance clothing. As any parent can attest, the moment their child takes the stage, the amount of cash expended on frothy tulle skirts and sequined bodices takes a back seat to the pleasure of seeing their child magically transformed from jeans-wearing tree climber to sugar plum fairy. If getting into this delightful business is your idea of a great way to launch a career, this article can help. You'll be making the call about what to design and how much to inventory to meet customer demands, but the rest is a matter of setting up a business, finding retail outlets for your designs and dancing to the tune of little girl dreams.

Instructions

1. Make decisions about the types of dance clothing you plan to feature in your clothing line. If your original designs include everything from stretchy leotards to recital costumes, you'll have a better chance of selling your line to busy retail buyers who love the idea of getting a variety of items from one reliable source.

2. Know your market. A little research will define your demographic as girls between the ages of five and 10, so the majority of your designs should accommodate this age and size range. Decide if you will order your fabric from domestic markets or venture to the Pacific Rim for deep price cuts. Given the embellishments on dance clothing, you might also want to research the trim market so when sequins, pearls and metallic cloth are required, you'll have a source in place.

3. Visit the library and browse the Internet to build a list of retail outlets for your dance clothing line. If personnel, time and money afford you the luxury of approaching everyone from department stores to boutiques and from dance schools to big box stores, go for depth of placement. If your desire is to keep it small to start, consider selling only to online dancewear companies that keep inventory to a minimum for small orders.

4. Be a color expert. Every year, the Color Marketing Group selects a palette of colors that will be used by designers of all types of clothing. Given this fact, there will always be a wider range of fabric in the colors CMG has picked for the year; if you plan to fabricate dance outfits for multiple sources, you'll have more to choose from and there will be no competition in the studio or on stage between retailers selling your designs.

5. Work up a season's worth of designs and fabricate samples. Your "dog and pony show" will require literature in the form of sell sheets or a mini-catalog (photos of your dance outfits on children are ideal), a price sheet, data on delivery and turnaround times from order to shipping, financing terms and discounts offered to retailers buying in large lots. Consider pre-packs as a way to sell staples. For example: A pre-pack might contain 100 black leotards, 100 pink tutus, 100 pink rehearsal skirts and 100 pair of black tap pants in a variety of popular sizes.

6. Assign the job of contacting retail buyers compiled when you executed Step 2 to an assistant or do it yourself. Child's dance clothing buyers can be found at corporate headquarters, regional headquarters, regional marts and world headquarters. Use the phone or email (all buyers have a preference; find out which) to set up appointments to show off your line or, if distance is a problem, arrange to ship a package of your marketing materials to them. In place of actual dance clothing samples, send material swatches so buyers can gauge the quality of the fabric you're using. Ideally, hooking up with retailers at a regional or national trade show puts everyone under the same roof at the same time, so you can schmooze buyers from morning to night.

7. Be prepared to transfer the fabrication of your dance clothing from your workroom to one or more subcontractors if things get busy fast. A good subcontractor can slot your bulk orders into their sewing schedules on a per order basis and have a roster of seamstresses on call to accommodate the ebb and flow of customer demands. Finding the right one will be a lifesaver as your business picks up.

8. Emulate the big guns if you hope to stay in business for a long time. Danskin (founded in 1882) has a reputation for quality dancewear, comfortable, functional and beautiful designs and terrific customer service. Capezio Brands, around since 1887, is considered by professional dancers to be the Cadillac of dance clothing. Strive to follow in their shoes and your dance clothing line will be around for plenty of curtain calls.

Tips & Warnings

• When you launch your children's dance clothing line, decide whether you will include shoes in your marketing product mix. There's a big market for point (toe) shoes, ballet shoes, jazz shoes and tap shoes. Appeal to busy buyers who love one-stop sourcing with a full line of proprietary designs. Once your business begins to hum, include all of these items in your catalog of performance-ready outfits: leotards, tutus, ballet skirts, liturgical dresses and leotards, tank tops, camisoles, unitards, tights, leg warmers, dance dresses and dance bags. Expand to recital costuming if you have the energy for this seasonal job.

• The amount of competition for children's dance clothing is formidable. Make your children's dance clothing designs unique, fashionable, functional and sturdy and your products will sell nicely.