FASHION UNRAVELED
How to Start, Run and Manage
an Independent Fashion Label
Jennifer Lynne Matthews
Published by East Bay Fashion Resource at Smashwords
Copyright 2010 Jennifer Matthews
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ISBN: 978-1-4524-7120-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009900314
NOTE: FORMS AND TABLES FOUND IN THE PRINTED VERSION OF THIS BOOK ARE AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD ON OUR WEBSITE www.EastBayFashionResource.com
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Table of Contents
Introduction to the Fashion Industry
Chapter 1: Background and Statistics
Chapter 2: Summary of the Design Process
Developing your line
Chapter 5: Define your customer
Chapter 6: Create your brand and identity
Chapter 7: Develop a collection
Chapter 8: Development Schedule
Production
Chapter 10: Introduction to Production
Chapter 12: Patterns and Samples
Chapter 16: The Green Movement
Marketing
Chapter 17: Introduction to Marketing
Chapter 19: Email Marketing Campaigns
Chapter 20: Creating a Web Presence
Chapter 24: The Elevator Pitch
Sales and Promotion
Chapter 25: Introduction to Sales
Starting your Business
Chapter 31: Licenses and Permits
Chapter 33: Funding Your Business
Chapter 34: Protecting your work
Laws and Regulations
Chapter 35: Labeling Requirements
Chapter 36: State Garment Laws
Chapter 37: Product Safety Regulations
Running your Business
Chapter 38: Employees and Contractors
Chapter 42: Direct Fixed Costs
Chapter 43: Indirect Fixed Expenses
Chapter 45: Financial projections
Building a Business Plan
Chapter 48: Introduction to your Business Plan
Chapter 55: Management and Organization
How to Use This Book
I have organized this book, not in the exact order of developing a business plan, but in the order of organizing your thoughts to start a fashion business. I start by helping you determine who you are, your strengths, and the qualities that define you as a person equipped to run a business. You will develop your business plan by looking at these strengths and qualities.
Together, we will review each section in detail. I provide forms in several sections of the book to assist you in this process. I have also made the forms available on our website for your convenience (http://www.eastbayfashionresource.com). Fill out each of these forms as thoroughly as possible before proceeding to the next chapter. If you must stop and conduct additional research, please take the time to do so. Your research will help you through the process of building your business concept.
In the margins of this book, I have provided links to websites and informational articles. I have also provided experts' opinions, as well as real world examples to help you understand this business more thoroughly. Because I have experienced the process of getting a fashion business off the ground first hand, I feel confident that my experiences will make your endeavors less daunting.
Throughout this book I offer advice based on my personal experience. It is not to be construed as legal advice by any means. It is best to consult a lawyer for any legal issues concerning your business.
My Story
My story starts in 1999. I attended New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology, studied fashion design and graduated in 1999. After a very brief stint working for a designer, preceded by a very lengthy process of finding that job, I decided I was not meant to work for anyone but myself.
Fast forward three years. I had moved to San Francisco and decided it was time to start my own fashion design business. I read every book out there on the subject, met with advisors and consultants, hired a patternmaker to review my patterns, and answered every single ad on Craigslist.com for designers.
Where did this get me? $20,000 in the hole, following a series of financial mistakes due to advisors telling me I was ready to launch my business. I had invested in that beautiful silk fabric and that French lace I wanted so badly, only to discover that my customer was so off target, I didn't sell a single thing. No book told me, nor did any consultant warn me of the complexities of what I was getting ready to dive into.
One year later, I had to step away from my business and reevaluate what I was doing. Unfortunately, I had already made the financial mistake previously mentioned. I regrouped, started a restaurant job, and put every extra cent I had into my business.
The damage wasn't over yet. A few years went by, I had my designs in several stores, and then an opportunity crossed my path. Without any planning, I decided over the course of a Christmas party to open up my very own boutique. What better place to showcase my designs than my own storefront, right? WRONG.
Two years later, I closed my doors. The store had evolved into a really cool designer cooperative boutique where a dozen designers took turns working and sharing store responsibilities. But I was doing nothing for my clothing line, my sanity, or my bank account. I had maxed out my credit cards just to keep the doors open. Once I closed the store, I was able to see that opening it in the first place was something that I should never have done.
I am now an educator, a mentor, a designer and a successful business woman. My goal is to help you avoid the mistakes I made.
Chapter 1 Background and Statistics
Fashion design is a relatively new profession in the eyes of the government. Up until the 1980s the professions that were recognized were tailors and dressmakers. Even in the 1980s and 1990s, the government grouped all forms of designers in to one tax category. This included interior, graphic, and fashion designers.
The first fashion design program was started in 1904 at Parsons School of Design in New York. It was founded as a creative and artistic extension to the industrial revolution. The number of schools that now offer fashion design programs in the United States are well over 100, with new fashion programs added every year.
The more recent attention to this industry was brought forth by the Bravo TV series Project Runway which began airing in 2004. (Here's a fun tidbit - yours truly made it through round one of auditions and received a call-back for Season 6 on their new network, Lifetime). Art and design schools today are seeing an increase in enrollment in the major of fashion design, as well as an increase in graduates. Many of these graduates aspire to start their own businesses after graduation. Unfortunately, many of the schools churning out designers have yet to adopt an entrepreneurship program to help ensure their graduates' success in running their own businesses.
The most common misconception about the fashion industry is that is it glamorous and it will make you famous. If you are expecting either of these, you will be in for a surprise. Fashion designers seldom become famous and commonly work long hours, often just to make ends meet.
Many designers who get into the fashion industry, with the intent to start their own business, have not thought this through. Many don't know how to plan for the future, and very few know anything about running a business. This lack of planning and education is the reason 95% of design businesses fail. This is an alarming statistic, but there's a good reason behind it. Fashion design is not a business you just start overnight.
Here's a reality check. You are about to become a business owner. You will be spending more than 90% of your time running your business and less than 10% of your time designing (and in many cases that percentage is closer to 1% or 2%). After reading this book, hopefully, that 90% will look just a little bit easier.
Chapter 2 Summary of the Design Process
In this age of instant gratification and everything at your fingertips, it is common to forget that the process of creating a product-in the fashion industry or any other-takes much longer than just a click of a button. On average, an independent designer takes one to two years to go from the initial design concept to a completed product ready for sales.
The first step in creating a design collection is to research the current trends and make an educated prediction of what the trends will evolve into. Trend reporting services are available, but are often costly for independent designers to acquire. These reports "predict" what the popular styles, colors, and fabrics will be for a particular season, many times reporting up to 10 years in advance. (I explain trends and trending services more thoroughly in Chapter 7, Develop a Collection.)
The second step is sourcing, or finding resources for the fabrics and trims in your collection. The development of the collection has begun. Whether you develop patterns and samples on your own, or work with an independent technical designer; you must create prototypes for the entire collection and test them for fit and design. The samples usually go through several changes before the final products are chosen. Many designs are changed and sometimes even canceled before they hit the production room floor. (This is covered in detail in the section on production, starting at Chapter 12.)
These samples are then marketed to retail buyers. They can be marketed at trade shows, through showrooms, through independent reps, or directly to a store. Retailers place their orders up to six months prior to the actual season when they plan to sell the collection. These orders specify the quantity of the product you will produce and when the retailer expects delivery.
Throughout these steps, fashion designers may have varying levels of involvement from design to production. The involvement depends on the size of the design company and the designer's experience. Designers working in small firms, or those new to the job, usually perform most of the technical, patternmaking, and sewing tasks themselves, in addition to designing the clothing. The larger the company, the more the work is distributed.
Even if a designer does not do the technical work, he or she still needs the knowledge of the entire process to exercise quality control and to ensure the desired outcome for the finished product.
Chapter 3 Define Yourself
Before you even start thinking about how you will get your product out into the world, you need to figure out what your strengths are as a designer, a salesperson, a manager, and as a business owner. When defining your strengths, you should also be aware of your weaknesses.
Take time to really pinpoint what you know a lot about, what you know little about, and what you don't know at all. Even though you may not be strong in all areas, it doesn't mean you don't have what it takes to start your business. Learning how to delegate and contract out work is crucial. As smart and determined as you are, you cannot do everything yourself. Know up front what you need help with so you can focus on the things you know and enjoy best.
So how do you know when to delegate and share responsibilities? The decision will vary depending on your specific circumstances. Everyone's experience with delegating work is different. I didn't learn how to do so until almost my third year in business, but I can assure you I wished I had done it sooner.
In the following example, M explains that trust was his biggest challenge in learning to share the load.
Real World Example
Designer: Michael Herrera, “M”
Company: M the Movement, www.mthemovement.com
The biggest challenge in running my own business was learning how to trust others enough to delegate. I am, like most artists, very critical of my work. It is very difficult for me to forgive myself, let alone other artists on my team, when my art /design is compromised. I have to dot every “i” and cross every “t”, and in my eyes everything can always be improved. Even when you seem to be satisfied with an outcome, you see it in a completely different light the next day. Art is ever changing and this makes it that much harder to delegate because your team has to have the same “eye”, tenacity, and dedication as you, and this is often hard to find.
I was able to “get over” this hump simply by life taking over. There will always come a point in your company’s growth when you can’t physically be everywhere at once, and so I had no choice but to let others take over certain projects. Little by little, I became better at “letting go.” My company became a more efficient one. My life became more relaxed too. You need a start with a good team that understands your vision and supports it. With a team behind you, you can do anything.
M has worked in the fashion industry for 15 years and has designed for many design houses including Karl Kano, Michael Schumacher for Ferrari and Puma. In 2006, M turned his own design concepts into his own business. In two short years, M’s business has established a celebrity clientele and a continuous stream of press coverage.
Chapter 4 Define Your Market
What does "defining your market" mean? Determining the price point at which your product will sell and where it will sell is considered your market.
You probably have an idea of where you want to sell your product, but there are several factors which determine whether you can actually place your product into that market. Your fabric choices, construction details, and quality of production are the major factors in determining your design market.
Design Market
The design market can be broken down into several sub-markets. Below are brief definitions of some of the design markets; which price point they fit, and which retail outlets they can be found in.
Couture describes fine tailoring and custom made-to-order garments. Fabrics are of exquisite nature and may include hand-made laces. These garments are not found in department stores, but in ateliers. Most details are finished by hand, and not by machine. Today this term is being so loosely used, that it has lost its meaning and people have forgotten its true definition.
Did you know?
The term haute couture is protected by French law and is defined by the Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Paris. The criterion for being labeled haute couture was established in 1945.
To earn the right to call oneself a couture house and to use the term haute couture, one must be invited to be a member of the Chambre and is required to follow each of these guidelines:
• Design made-to-order items for private clients, with one or more fittings.
• Have an atelier (studio) in Paris that employs at least fifteen people full-time.
Present a collection to the Paris press twice a year; comprising at least thirty-five designs for both daytime and evening wear. Presently, there are less than a dozen members by this definition.
Ready to Wear describes any garments that are manufactured in quantity. Ready to wear (RTW) can be split into several sub-categories:
Designer describes well known brands such as Gucci, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Their price point is high and can range into the thousands for one garment. Customers are often wealthy and have disposable income. Fabrics are of a high quality and are costly. These designer brands can be found in high end boutiques or brand-name department stores such as Barneys, Saks, and Nordstrom's.
Bridge or Contemporary describes a market catering to a larger customer base. Price points are lower than designer and can range in the hundreds for one piece. The fabrics are of high quality. Many brands launched by celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Ed Hardy are considered to be contemporary. These design brands can be found in department stores such as Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, and specialty boutiques.
Moderate describes a wide customer base and comprises much of the clothing market. Many independent designers fall in the moderate design market, along with Tommy Hilfiger and Jones of New York. The price points are moderate and fabrics are of medium quality. Designs of this sort can be found in shopping malls and smaller independent boutiques.
Budget describes an inexpensive market which can be found at large chain stores such as Forever 21 and H&M. Budget designs are also sold at mall chains such as Abercrombie & Fitch. Price points are usually under $100 per garment. Fabrics are cheap, and garments are generally poorly made. These garments are sometimes referred to as disposable clothing.
Mass Market describes off-price clothing, seconds, and closeouts. These designs can be found at stores such as Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and Ross. Merchandise is sometimes flawed or last season and is priced to move quickly. The price range is generally around or under $20 per piece.
Private Label brands are manufactured designs commissioned by stores who want to sell under their own brand name. The price points and actual markets can vary vastly. This has become a popular option for independent designers because they often have smaller collections and can offer exclusive designs to a store or boutique. Many department stores carry private label designs.
Each of these markets is further broken down into separate classifications. Here is a short list to help you decide where to introduce your collection. Please note that this is an abridged list and it can vary from market to market.
Womens: Juniors, Misses, Petites, Plus Size, Casuals, Tees, Suits, Maternity, Intimate Apparel, Activewear, Outerwear, Eveningwear
Mens: Big & Tall, Outerwear, Casuals, Tees, Suits
Children: Infant, Toddler, Girls, Boys, Toys
Accessories: Bags, Shoes, Hats, Scarves, Gloves
Chapter 5 Define Your Customer
The first question you should ask yourself is: Who is your customer? If your answer is "everyone," you have not done enough research. Hopefully, by the end of this chapter, you will begin to develop a better idea of who that person is.
Understanding your customer is just as important as developing your product. If you can not define a customer, you can not focus your marketing, create your patterns and fit, develop your color palette, or figure out where to sell your merchandise.
Your customer may change during the progress of your development, but that is to be expected. At this stage in the process, you are most likely unaware of what it will cost to produce your collection and therefore uncertain of the price point it will fall in. This alone is the primary reason why your customer might change. Keep an open mind throughout this process as nothing is set in stone and everything is meant to evolve.
While defining your customer, look through magazines-fashion, lifestyle, home magazines, or anything that you may have lying around. Pull out images that describe your customer's life and make a collage out of them. This type of collage is a visual way of telling others who your customer is. It will help you - as well as your graphic designer-when you begin the branding and marketing process.
Now that you have your images, use them as a reference to fill out the customer profile form at the end of this chapter. You may wish to use a pencil. There is a 99% probability that you will revise these answers by the time you finish with this book, so don't write in ink, unless it's one of those really cool Erasermates.
One thought that might occur to you is, "I want several different types of people to wear my clothes, not just one specific person!" Not every customer you get will fit into the description of your target customer, but they may want to be that kind of person. In my own business, I have defined my target customer as a working woman between the ages of 25 and 40 who earns around $45,000 per year. My customers, however, range from 16 to 60 years old and have consisted of students as well as women earning over $200,000 annually.
Not knowing who your customer is could set you up for a financial mistake. In the following example, Amy's vision of her customer created the largest obstacle for her business, before she got it right.
Real World Example
Designer: Amy Cools
Company: AC Clothing and Bags, www.acclothingandbags.com
The biggest challenge I encountered when I launched my business was learning to be flexible in my vision of my customer. Not so much of the artistic aspect of my design, but who and where my customers were. I theorized about where my customers shopped and what they wanted before observing and testing the market. I wanted a store before I was ready, and I rushed into it thinking my vision alone would make my venture a success.
As time passed and I gained experience, I learned that it is not only possible, but crucial to be flexible and to react to opportunities. When I started selling online, I discovered—to my surprise—that some of my most eager customers were in places I never considered my target areas. I also discovered that I enjoy traveling with my line and selling at events much more than selling at a single brick-and-mortar store. I closed my store to focus my energy on the customers I discovered through online sales. To sum up, my unexpected customers taught me the most about what it takes to be a fulfilled and successful designer – listening, and being flexible.
Amy is a self-taught designer that has been working independently in fashion for over 10 years. Amy’s collections mix contemporary and vintage fabrics and are of a playful and colorful nature.
Chapter 6 Create Your Brand and Identity
What is a brand and how do you create one? In a nutshell, a brand is anything and everything that separates your business from the rest. Your brand creates an identity and explains who you are, what you do and why you do it. You may believe a brand is just a logo, but it is so much more.
Creating an identity is every bit as important as creating your product. Approaching your business with a branding strategy before you start your product development can be a wise choice. Keeping consistent values in your business and always representing your business in the same manner creates recognition and loyalty.
Think of your business as you would think of a celebrity, let's say Angelina Jolie. We associate her with good causes. Beware of making bad moves. People will often remember you by the mistakes you make and overlook the positives (Britney Spears - mouseketeer gone bad). Avoid this by carefully hammering out your company values, your message, your product, your website, and everything else in between.
Once you have developed your company values, proceed directly to go, collect $200, then begin to develop your name and logo. Your own name should be first on your list, but you can also choose a word or phrase that is representative of you and/or your product. Choose a variety of names that you like and pre-screen them with family and friends. Before deciding on your name, do internet searches and make sure you aren't using a competitor's name.
You can search the fictitious business name database for your district (city, county or state) to make sure another company registered in your area is not using the same name. I will explain how to register a fictitious business name in Chapter 30.
Your next step is to design a logo representative of your chosen name. A logo is a unique and characteristic font and/or image in which your name should always be rendered. If you have a background in graphic design, you can try to tackle this, but otherwise, leave it up to an expert. What you think may look fabulous may not appear that way to a buyer or to the media. You want to convey a level of status and professionalism in your logo design. To do this properly, you may need to invest a few hundred dollars in an experienced graphic designer. It will be money well spent. Your logo will be your face to the world-do it professionally.
I also mentioned an image. The image is a symbol that represents your logo and name. This is usually part of the logo, but can be used as a stand-alone on your clothing labels, business cards, or your website to represent your name if the full logo isn't suitable for the placement. This isn't always needed, but it's recommended, especially if the name is not short. Branding images you may be familiar with are Nike's swoosh logo, Levi's pocket red tab, and Joe Boxer's smiley face.
Last but not least is your choice of color. Consider colors that speak to the nature of your business. If you are not sure what these might be, start by researching the meanings of certain colors and the type of emotions they generate. This is called color psychology. (Actually, much of this industry can directly be linked to psychology, but I'll save that topic for another book.)
Here is a brief outline describing colors and their meanings.
Red - This color is bold and draws attention. It shows off your confidence and passion.
Orange - Orange is a color of unity and harmony.
Yellow - Brighter yellow symbolizes cheer. Mellow yellows convey stability.
Green - Represents growth, development, and motivation.
Blue - Blue is associated with introspection and tranquility.
Purple -This color is associated with creativity and spirituality.
Pink - Pink is soothing and nurturing.
Gray - Gray invokes balance and safety.
Brown -This color represents grounding and security.
Black - Black exudes mystery, authority, depth, and strength.
White - White is the color of trust.
Chapter 7 Develop a Collection
You've defined yourself, your brand, your market and your customer. It's time to develop your collection.