Fashion business information, advice, guidance, and education for fashion brands
I am currently reading the book Great By Choice. In this book the authors, business researchers: Jim Collins & Morten T. Hanson, enumerate the principals for building a truly great enterprise in fast-moving times.
What are the key points for building a successful business? Is it innovation? Do you need to be a geniuses leader who can predict the future? Is it a question of money?.....Is there a secret that we should all know of?…… maybe it’s just pure luck after all???
Are you looking to start a handbag line?
We recently partnered with Tara Sauvage, a handbag expert with over 15 years expertise in handbags and leather goods. Together we will offer help with every stage of the process: from consulting to design, sourcing, development and production with both domestic and overseas manufactures.
Below are Tara’s top 5 points you must consider before starting a handbag line:
Price Point Will Determine Feasibility.
It is important to figure out your retail price point before starting a collection, as this will determine the materials you can use. Many new aspiring handbag designers want to make a luxury leather bag collection that retails for under $100.
This week I read a very informative article on manufacturing and production and it made me think: “What is the single most important step to get the best results from your production? “
I once had a teacher who said that if we simply do our homework and study, the test will be a breeze! And he was right, it worked for me. The same concept easily translates to fashion production.
DESIGN WITH PRODUCTION IN MIND! I know how boring and limiting this part sounds for a creative person like you, but following this motto is the single, most important step to turn your creativity and talent into a BUSINESS! If you plan your production process while you design your product and think ahead about each step, re: the logistics, the cost, the timeline, etc. your production will be easy and will have no tricky questions or surprises.
To help you with that, here are 3 tips you should follow when designing your next season:
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.
Spring 2015 market is just around the corner, how is the sample making process going for you so far? Hopefully your collection is coming well and on time. A major next step for you is pricing your products right to make sure you are making a profit. So as you are getting your cost sheets ready and to help you avoid this bad experience here are 5 points to consider while costing and pricing your fashion line:
Many of you designers out there are probably going into Fall14 production & SS15 samples as we speak and trying to finalize your sewing contractor—choosing one and making it work with them.
As a start-up fashion brand with limited resources, you might be hesitant that the sewing contractor will not have your business as priority; In other words, “doing you a favor” by accepting your job. Considering your budget is probably limited and your quantities are barely make their minimums, you start to wonder: What incentives can I offer them to consider my line a valid brand and want to work with me?
My business philosophy has always been that a business interaction must make sense for both sides in order to last. It must be a win-win situation! Unfortunately, many fashion designers get too involved with their own views and business needs/deadline/pressure and end up waiting until the last minute to place orders, and then ask the contractor to rush without having all the materials and info ready, (not to mention asking for lower production price), etc. At the end of the day, this makes it not profitable and very difficult for the contractors to work with young designers.
Here are 3 valuable things that you, as a new brand with limited resources, can offer your sewing contractor to make this a win-win relationship:
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.
Let's take a second to talk about the feasibility of your fashion business.
Before you jump all in to execute your vision it is really important for you to do your homework and find out how feasible your idea is.
Yes lots of times you will need the help of industry professionals which is where we can help, but even before that there is market research that you can probably can and should do on your own that will answer that question.
I thought the best way for me to address this subject will be to share an example of a general conversation that i often have with a designer on a feasibility consultation session.
like to think of fashion design as an art form, which requires a strong dose of talent and plenty of creativity.
But taking that raw talent and creativity and turning it into a successful business isn’t always easy. Even with these traits, it is not a simple task to design a fashion line that’s both fresh and uniquely “you”…. never the less producing that season after season.
And let’s not forget all the planning, figuring out the nuances of your niche market, pricing your products, and differentiating yourself through branding, all while juggling a limited resource pool and seasonal products. Even the most talented fashion designers in the world would find this daunting!
Made in USA or Made overseas? That is a production question that every brand find itself engaged in at one point or another. To better Illustrate the debate I chose to share a story of a brand I have been working with.
What should we do?
A couple of weeks ago i received an email from Cathy, 1 of 4 owners at NoNetz – who designs anti-chafe swimwear for boys and men. In her email she asked for my thoughts on the following: “Staying in Brooklyn, we get to decent profit in 7 years. Going overseas, we are highly profitable in 2 years. Producing overseas will cost us 75% less in labor...What should we do?"
I took the first few weeks off and just came back from a visit to Melbourne.... yes, in Australia! My wife and I attended a wedding there and we loved it here. What a wonderful city! Lots of awesome things to see and do, lovely people, great food, great art, beautiful beaches and nice weather! (its summer there right now).
Trips always bring new experiences,so what i wanted to share with you today is one that i had on this trip which i thought will inspire you as you are looking to tackle new resolutions in this upcoming year.
The new year is just around the corner and If you are like me than you most likely in the process of (or about to) reflecting on this last year’s achievements while setting up your new year’s resolutions.
For many years now I would have my yearly resolutions mapped out before the start of a year but it never really worked. It's only in these last 4 years that the process became fruitful with measurable results that helped improve my personal life and grow my business. So what made the difference you’re asking??? How can you do the same?
Two main points made it all different for me:
Having a fashion business requires investments, many of them. Money, time, resources etc. these investments can be expensive and you never really know what the actual ROI would be. But the biggest investment that you can make will actually cost you nothing and the ROI is GUARANTIED! I’m referring to the investment in YOUR CUSTOMER!
As creative people, many times designers get caught up in their need to focus on…..themselves – their vision, their creativity, their dreams, their…. rather than thinking about the most valuable person to their business – Their customer. Let’s face it, having customers who buy your product is what will sponsor your business and make it a business rather than a hobby.
Here are 3 cheap (sometimes even free), and super easy ways that you can invest in your customer:
So much more goes into starting and running a successful fashion brand than good designs and branding. Often incredibly talented designers and very marketable labels fold for reasons that have very little to do with the actual concept behind the clothes. So what is the secret recipe behind success in the fashion industry? What do the successful brands do that others don’t?
This Saturday we are hosting, together with Mood Fabrics at their NYC store a full day workshop. We asked the three industry experts who will teach that day and whom each handle a piece of the fashion puzzle, from concept and creation to sales and marketing, for their two best tips on running a successful fashion brand and here is what they had to say:
