Fashion business information, advice, guidance, and education for fashion brands
People don't just buy products; they buy stories, experiences, and emotions.
A well-crafted brand story transcends mere clothing; it creates an emotional connection, resonating with customers on a personal level.
Let’s delve into the art of crafting compelling brand narratives for fashion brands that leave a lasting impact.
Last month I had a great webinar with MarketTap, if you missed that CLICK HERE to listen to the recording.
During the webinar the topic of shoppable Instagram posts was mentioned as a "Social Media Must Have" in 2018.
During the Q&A session that followed our webinar, a number of the audience’s questions
Do you think that having a great logo is enough to build a fashion brand around?
Over the years I heard mix answers from designers to this question, so I wanted to try and answer this question because I think it is an important one.
I hear many designers who describe their logo as the Unique Selling Proposition of their brand, its DNA and the reason why people will buy their products.
The retail landscape is definitely changing.
Although there are different opinions as to where it's heading, the future is uncertain.
Retailers are struggling, department stores are closing doors or ....just don't pay designers on time.
Small brands are challenged to compete in a saturated market with low margins.
Are we looking at the end of Brick and Mortar?
You have probably noticed it on some garments that you bought.
It is a number, usually somewhere on the care labels, most likely with the letters RN# before it. As in the picture below.
An RN number or registered identification number is a number issued by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), upon request, to a business residing in the U.S. and engaged in the manufacture, importing, distribution, or sale of textile, wool, or fur products.
When starting a fashion brand, thoroughly understanding your product, knowing who you’re selling to, and defining your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) are vital for the success of the brand. It sounds pretty obvious, right? Apparently not all businesses follow that.
Niche business - a business targeting to a specific group of customers with a specific common shared interest, passion, or desire.
Many new fashion brands don’t take the time to define their niche and end up spending their money and affords on the wrong targets. Starting a brand of dresses with interesting designs or with the
A guest post by Maria Pesin from Vibe Consulting
I know, I know, selling is scary. Will the customer like your product? Will you seem too pushy? Will you not push enough? What if they reject you? How do you even start? These are many of the questions my clients ask me. The truth is selling is not as hard as you think. Just like anything you do there is a process. Following the process will help take the fear out of selling. The more you do it the easier it becomes and the better you get at it. As entrepreneurs we need to get over our fear because without sales there is no business. Even if you hire great salespeople, business owners who involve themselves in sales have better results. Buyers love when the owner cares enough about their business to interact with them. Here are my 5 tips to selling your brand to store:
PaperGirl is a brightly illustrated and inspiring made in NY childrenswear line that our company manged the development and production for this past year before launching their first collection in April 2015!
The stunning original artwork that make up each print on the garments, coordinates with a booklet (also designed and written by the designer) stored inside the garment’s pocket to inspire its little wearers to dream as individuals. Here we meet the designer behind the imaginative brand to hear her unique story:
This is a guest post by Eric Fitzgerald, an independent business consultant and the founder of Fashion Business Insider.
Like most aspiring designers, your sketch books are probably filled will lots of new and exciting design ideas that you want to someday explore in your collection. Having a platform to experiment with new ideas, fabrics, and silhouettes is the dream of any entrepreneurial designer. As much as creativity will help define your brand, remember that you’re also running a business and that brands take time to develop. Part of that development process is being consistent with what you offer your customer and how you offer it to them.
Consistency does not mean you need to be boring or basic. In fact, as an emerging designer, ensure that your product speaks volumes about who you are and what your brand stands for. Push yourself creatively and continue to innovate. But do so from a vantage point that is
This post is written by our branding consultant Maria Pesin from Vibe Consulting.
I was at a trade show one day shopping for product to sell in my shoe and accessory store. Passing by a booth I saw belts that looked interesting. The salesperson gave me the information about the belts and I was ready to leave. Then the owner of the company came over and told me the story of the company and the belts. The story was so compelling that I sat right down and wrote an order.
Stories have the power to inform and educate, entice and engage a customer. Stories can
As creative people most fashion designers are not well versed (nor they should) in the legal aspects of starting and running a business. Never the less a design business that is responsible for producing products from scratch. When done wrong, things such as protecting your business identity, dealing with vendors and contractors, paying your taxes etc. can end up costing your business money and quite a lot of headache and time when facing these issues later on.
To help you with this, here are 4 things to consider before your start your fashion business:
“Be hard on yourself. Ask ‘Do I make sense? Am I crazy?' You can listen to everybody [else], but follow your heart. The worst mistake is to do something and then realize, I didn't really want to do it but so-and-so told me to” Diane Von Furstenberg
Reading this quote probably brings up memories of decisions you've made at some point in your life as well as in your business. One relatable experience that stuck with me happened when I was in fashion school:
As a young designer I had a very distinctive design perspective and didn't want anyone telling me what they thought about my ideas as I had no intention to compromise my artistic views
This is a guest post by Michael Roderick is a relationship strategist.
Many designers are interested in building a following for the work that they do. Whether you are looking for more orders for your fashion line, more visits to your website, or more people to attend the pop up and showings that you host, the main idea is to develop a tribe very quickly.
But how do you go about building that tribe when you are first starting out? Here is one very simple tool to get started.
Choosing an appropriate size range for your apparel products will usually have more impact on your branding than what you might think, especially if FIT is high on your list of priorities for brand identity. The available sizes you decide to offer can send a message to whom you see as your target customer and what market you are going after.
When it comes to apparel there are two standard size ranges:
This is Jessie, I’m a production associate here at Human B.
This past weekend we attended the Freestyle Fashion Conference hosted by Open Source Fashion here in New York which brought out an inspiring group of industry professionals to talk about fashion and business. We spent the day attending and teaching workshop classes on subjects ranging from Pop-Up Shops to Data Driven Marketing Strategies.
I want to share a few stand-out moments from the classes for those of you who couldn't make it:
1. “Think about your personal brand socially versus professionally”. Across every industry, the
This is a question that we frequently get from designers, so I figured you would benefit from the answer as well.
Q. What is the skinny on bar/UPC codes? And do I need to have that on my products/hangtags?
A. To answer the question, first, let me explain what a UPC code is and why it is used.
A UPC, Universal Product Code, is a bar code that encodes product information (company, product style, size, color, etc.) in a visual pattern that can be read electronically. For example, retailers with an electronic point of sale system at the checkout use UPCs to keep track of their stock, sales and reorder products by scanning the bar code.
After a long search to find a factory that’s a good fit to make your product you are finally ready to press GO on these samples until your IP attorney advises you to have everyone who works on your product sign an NDA. At this point, your contractor may not want to, but why?
An NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), also known as a confidentiality agreement, is meant to protect any type of confidential and proprietary information that is not publicly known.
This is a guess post about branding from Pia Silva - A branding expert and the co-founder of Worst Of All Design.
Most people think if they have a badass logo, they also have a badass brand! And while a cool logo can take you far, it is most certainly not a brand, and understanding the difference can open your eyes to new opportunities for growing your business.
Below are 4 key differences that can help you determine if you have a brand or not, and when you need one.
