If you think men deserve to look elegant, classy, and sleek without overdoing it, then you’re on the right track. Combined with the right skills, talent, and love for garments, you have what it takes to start your own fashion line. If you’re pondering the thought in your head, here’s how to start your very own fashion line:
Research
The first thing to do is to make sure you’ve done your research. From the latest trends, designs, fabrics, trims, production, factories, and techniques. You’ll find here what a manufacturer could provide for your fashion line. From detailed product requirements, sourcing and approving samples, production, and inspection of final goods to shipping, logistics, and delivery, a manufacturer can help bring your ideas to life. The best thing you can do is to speak to different manufacturers and see what they offer to understand the entire process from start to finish.
Make a business plan
Once you do the research and are familiar, not only with what the market has to offer but also with the production tools available for you to utilize, you can come up with a business plan to help you narrow down exactly what you’ll be focusing on. Do you want to focus on casual wear, streetwear, formal attire, shoes, accessories, or sportswear? Being specific will help you excel and offer something of high quality, well-researched, and appealing to the market. Now is the time to decide what your edge will be and who your target audience is to help you start narrowing down the options and help you come up with a specific audience to design for.
Crunch the numbers
Once you know exactly what you need, it is time to start putting realistic figures to calculate how much capital you’ll need to start your own line. You’ll only need an estimated figure to start off with to help you determine whether you need to take out a loan, find an investment, or if you can afford to use your own savings.
Develop your brand
If you’ve decided to move forward, it’s time to develop your brand. You know who your target audience is and which fashion sector you’d like to focus on, so it’s time to come up with a name and logo that will appeal to your potential clients. Choose something catchy that resonates with your audience and test it out to see if it needs to be developed.
Start designing a collection
When designing a collection, remember that there should be a specific theme or inspiration in mind to help link the collection together in one way or another. Whether it’s in the material, style, color, or inspiration, there needs to be a story to help you bridge the collection together and come up with ideas that are different every season.
Start hiring a team
Depending on how big you want to go, you could find you’re in need of other individuals to help you get your business up and running. You could need someone to handle production and ensure that the quality and design are what you asked for. You’ll definitely need an apparel fulfillment company to run warehousing and orders for you. You could need a legal representative to help finalize your legal status and get your business up and running. You could need a marketing specialist to help spread the word about your brand and shed light on the gap you’ll be bridging. Just remember to start with only the essentials and hire as you grow bigger to avoid spending expenses you don’t have.
Decide on where you’ll be selling
Will you have an e-store or an actual store? Ideally, it is best to start with as little costs as possible, and having a store is a lot of money that you don’t need to start off with. However, you’ll still need to create a functioning website to direct your target audience.
Marketing
For a fashion brand, marketing is crucial. But in order to market it properly, there are several things you need to invest in to make sure the outcome is absolutely perfect. You need to hire models, a photographer, and create a look-book for your first collection in order to have something to show the public. The more attractive and appealing the photos are, the more your target audience will be inclined to give your brand a shot.
Once you’re up and running, you’ll start understanding that it’s a continuous loop that you will continue to work with every season. Following the trends, you’ll come up with a new collection and offer it to your target audience. If you follow these steps, you’ll be starting your very own fashion line!
