We often get asked by aspiring founders how they can learn about creating their own fashion brand on their own terms.
In fact, it’s one of our favorite questions.
Because step one of this crazy roller coaster ride of brand development is to be curious and interested. While there are so many aspects of the process that you need an expert for, there are also a handful of tasks you can take on through your own diligence and learning. Not to mention they cost Nothing.
HERE ARE 3 THAT STAND OUT;
Looks Matter
We said it. And we mean it. In the world of fashion and any creative endeavor aesthetics matter. Decisions will abound at every corner so you need to know what appeals to you, what colors you like, what patterns, style lines, etc. The way to learn this is by studying a variety of sources in art and apparel. Check out our free resource guide to many that we love and find helpful in the process. Especially post-pandemic, there is so much free content out there that you don’t need to go far to be able to find it.
Get Competitive
Understand the who, what, why, and how of what your customer is seeing.
Who is the most significant player in the category you are diving into? Who next and so forth.
What is it that they do to make a big impact? Understanding their marketing, product, and projection is a huge step to understanding what clients see in them.
Why is it that they are staying where they are and not taking on even more? This is your chance to discover and then establish what will be your brand’s superpower.
How will you come into your desired niche and take over? In a really unique way. Further to the above, the secret sauce will be how you show up in a way that no one else is.
Rosetta Stone It
Learn as much as possible about how to understand the specific language of and roadmap that is the apparel development process. This information can be found on any number of sites including our own. Check out how to find your niche,brand decision-making and the 4 key roles you need to support your brand, as a start. Just like your brand voice and any other extension of it, knowledge is the power that drives the biggest wins.
NOW WHAT?
Take the leap and engage experts who can take the knowledge you’ve gained and the vision you’ve created to the next level.
It’s On
The bottom line is that we live, breathe, and love gathering inspiration from art, fashion, and the zeitgeist and distilling it to what matters most. Another love of ours is collaborating with founders who have an aesthetic point of view and helping them to further define it. We specialize in fine-tuning the vision and magnifying what will be most impactful into a finished concept that visually defines every aspect of the product and brand, including details, logo placements, color, print, and silhouette. This document will set the mood and the visual strategy which will be an invaluable tool in working with other experts such as raw material, product development, and production specialists as well as to show potential investors in your brand.
Call Me Coach
We support you in truly understanding how to decipher the information you have gathered on the competition including what is successful from the product side versus the smoke and mirrors of marketing. A large lingerie brand that shall remain nameless has grown exponentially and will probably continue to despite the fact that its product isn’t great at all. If I’m not mistaken they can only hide this with fun campaigns for so long, and eventually, the house will come tumbling down on this shaky foundation. Marketing and Product are equal players in the game. This is too important to forget.
Fire Us, Please!
We are here to make ourselves utterly dispensable by getting you so good that you won’t need us anymore. We are transparent with every contact and bit of information we know and learn on your behalf. Success looks like creating and building your product assortment. It also looks like enabling you to build the volume to sustain a full-time in-house team. We mentor clients on what a structure looks like, who are the ideal stakeholders for your particular brand needs, and the like. We are teachers and doers. This is something you want to look for in all of your hires whether internal or external.
We hoped this helped to get you going on beginning your fashion journey. Need more help or have a specific question about something we covered? Reach out to set up a 30- minute complimentary chat.
We want to hear from you!