You feel a great need to create a fashion brand, but why?
Is it because all your friends say that you're super stylish and they like the way you dress so why not start a fashion brand...?
Or is it that you have seen a gap in the market and you want to fulfil a need that you believe consumers have?
If it's the former, then creating a fashion brand may not be for you.
Creating a fashion brand, is creating a business. It's not glamorous, it does not have low barriers to entry, and it is not easy.
We Know It's Your Passion!
Having a passion for fashion is fine, if you like to dress up, look nice and get complimented, this is not a reason to start a brand. This is lifestyle focused and maybe you should do something else...
When you create a business, you need build everything around your customers. You have to ask questions like; Who is my target? What do they like? What do they like to wear? Do they like prints or not? and so on and so on. You are working on behalf of your customer and so it should be about what you 'think' your customers will like.
Starting a business can be costly and a fashion business can be even more so. Fabric is usually your biggest cost and with the addition of trims and other sundries things can get very expensive quite quickly.
Considerations
Things to consider when starting a fashion brand along with the aforementioned:
Where you will sell;
You need to know where you would like to sell, so that you can understand how you can get infront of the fashion/boutique buyers or if direct to consumer? How you will sell to your brand?
You need to know;
Where you will sit in the market? Understanding your price points is crucial to knowing how much you will have for producing your collection. Who are your competitors? A list of viable competitors will help you to know more about the brands you are trying to achieve.
How you will promote your brand? Will you use social media? Will you use influencers?
As you can see there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.
Throughout our experience we believe that the general consensus is that starting a fashion brand is an easy business to start - but be assured that it is a still a business, and should be treated as such.
Please let us know your thoughts and comment below.