Fashion business information, advice, guidance, and education for fashion brands
Beyond technical skills and creative vision, the foundation of building a thriving fashion brand rests upon you, especially your character traits.
As a creative entrepreneur, you'll embark on a unique journey, weaving together your artistic vision with your business savvy. It's a delicate dance, a perfect balance between the right and left brains, where your creativity meets your strategic acumen.
Setting the right retail price range isn't just about numbers. It's a strategic decision.
Understanding the intricate connection between pricing and production is essential for sustainable growth and success and can significantly impact your fashion brand's production process and sales.
To do it right, you’ll need to balance factors like production costs, brand positioning, target market, competition, and desired profit margins.
In this article, you’ll learn how retail price plays a pivotal role in shaping both the creative and business aspects of fashion brands and get some tips to help you make informed decisions:
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.
You're not starting a business
You're going on a journey
And in this journey, there are times when it's exciting and energizing, and you don't want to go to sleep not to miss a second of it.
And other times, when you feel a dark cloud hovering over you, things are not working, and all you want to do is get under the blanket and not get out of bed until it is all resolved.
But as we know, if you hide under a blanket, nothing will get better cause you're the one who can make things better!
You finished your first production run, the goods are being shipped to you from the factory, and it's time to launch and start selling...
It's your first time doing this, you poured your heart and soul into this, and you have no idea what to expect. What if it will not be recieved well? What if it's too expensive? What if you chose the wrong materials? Fit? Sizes?
That unknown produces lots of anxiety, and your inner voice is having a field day.
If only you had a better idea of what to expect…
Clothing manufacturing is not for the faint-hearted. Working with the wrong manufacturer can end your business, especially if you are a new brand.
You can take steps to find the right factory. However, some signs will only be noticed once you work with the factory.
So what are the symptoms that should make you run away from a factory?
The answer is one of these industry "secrets" that if you are new to the industry, and especially if you do sew or never produced apparel before, you simply wouldn't know it...
Yet once you hear the answer, I bet you'll go, "oh yes, that makes a lot of sense."
In this video, I also share info about the cost of labor and why certain categories are assumed to cost less than others...
What is the ideal number of styles that you should offer when launching your fashion brand?
On one hand, you don’t want to invest in a big line until you get your proof of concept, but on the other hand, you want your line to look big enough so it will be taken seriously.
Is there a magic number you should be aware of?
Developing a new apparel product is complex and requires numerous rounds of samples and fitting before you can get it right.
If you are new to this process, and since each round is an additional cost and time, the question becomes how many fittings rounds is reasonable to have? And how many rounds are too many?
Retail is going through one of its most disruptive periods with pressures coming from all corners. This disruption provides new opportunities and a window into where you can go next with your fashion brand to transform your business into a retail powerhouse. Now is the time for brands to adapt to a customer-led environment by sharpening their technological capabilities so they can prosper in this new environment.
Sourcing the right fabrics for your fashion products is half of the battle in developing the perfect garment.
However, the process can be overwhelming, long and frustrating, especially for a new brand that is new to the industry and can't yet commit to high volume.
How can you make this process more effective and less complicated?
Below I've put a checklist of the steps and actions that you should take to help you with that.
...Like really know your customer!
Not what you think, wish or hope that they would be like, and not just the high-level details of their age, income level, and location but the specifics of their character, habits, likes and dislikes, priorities, what a day in their life looks like and more as if they were your best friend or a close family member that you know very well.
In fact, when you start a brand (or any business for that matter) the first question you should answer is WHO AM I SELLING TO?
It's no news that pricing your product right will have a big impact on your sales.
But what is pricing it right means?
This question can be even harder to answer if you are just starting your fashion brand.
There are few ways to determine the right prices of your fashion products even at that stage. It requires some research, but It all comes down to defining your market positioning, your specific target customer and the value of your product for that customer.
Helping you avoid the thousands of pitfalls that can shatter your fashion business dreams.
That is my job!
And I love it!
However, as a result, in the majority of my content I usually address what mistakes to look out for, which doesn't leave much room to talk about the great things that our fashion industry has to offer.
After all, there is a reason why soooo many people want to be part of this industry.
I'm not looking to raise money or bring on investors so why do I need one?
This is usually the response that we get when we ask designers if they wrote a business plan for their new start-up fashion brand.
Quite frankly, I don't blame them for thinking this way, I myself thought the same until I started my fashion brand.
