Design Business
Holding Promotional Events for Your Fashion Business
By: startafashionbusiness.co.uk
It’s all well and good to send out promotional items and appear at fashion shows, but if you really want to draw attention to what you’re doing with your fashion design business, you’re going to need to run your own events. These can be held for your business launch, when you bring out a new apparel collection, or in celebration of notable successes. They’re an opportunity for you to distribute promotional products and make an impression on the people who really matter.
Of course, the worst thing you can do is to invest a lot of time and resources in an event to which hardly anybody turns up, so it’s important to plan carefully and to advertise effectively. You can use the fashion press for this, but it’s also a good idea to advertise your event at trade shows and by sending promotional items to buyers, retailers and modelling agencies. When you’re more established it can be advantageous to make your events seem more exclusive, but as a new company you should invite people at all levels of the industry. Personal invitations are generally the most successful, and you should be sure to invite everybody whom you’ve directly done business with.
Putting on an Event
The first thing you need to get right when planning an event is the venue. Avoid the temptation to use your own premises, where there’s too much chance of valuable equipment and fabrics getting damaged, or to use your own home, which - unless it’s huge and spectacular - looks unprofessional. If possible, choose a venue with a bar, as most people in the fashion industry like to drink. By arranging a tab with the bar you can offer free drinks to the first few people there, always a good way to get the party started. Of course, as people get drunk they’re more amenable to persuasion, so this is a great opportunity to talk to them about your fashion designs. Needless to say, make sure you don’t get drunk yourself.
Make sure that some of the people at your event are wearing your designer apparel, whether they’re professional models or just good looking friends. It’s important to keep everybody’s minds focused on what the events is about, even whilst they relax and enjoy themselves. This also helps to create a bit of glamour. You can add to the effect by decorating the venue with large pictures of your work. Promotional products like catalogues should be easily available. Make sure there’s a photographer present so that you have some pictures of your event available for future use, especially if well-known people from the fashion industry attend.
You will usually be able to buy materials for your events, such as invitations, decorations and catering supplies, at wholesale prices provided that you identify yourself as a business customer. It’s normal to provide some food at promotional events, but a couple of plates of sandwiches will suffice, and you can always save money by making these yourself. Some venues will offer them for free.
Informal Events
Formal events are not the only way to draw attention to your fashion design business. Sometimes it’s beneficial to break the rules and use an informal venue to gain extra attention. Make sure you have permission to do this, especially if it’s in a public place, and tip off the press before it happens, but let it surprise the public.
Informal events are sometimes held in partnership with stores stocking a particular designer’s apparel, as they’re a great way to boost sales for everybody. They need to be glamorous, so get models involved. Impromptu fashion shows in unusual places are a great way to capture the imagination of the press and the public alike. Distributing free promotional products to the public will help them to remember what the event was about and will make them feel extra good about having been there, encouraging them to spread good word of mouth about your work.
Whatever type of event you go for, make sure that it looks good and that it feels fun to be a part of. For your own part, you’ll probably find it exhausting, but it can be a very effective way to put your new fashion design business on the map.
Choosing the Right Sewing Machine
By: startafashionbusiness.co.uk
If you’re working with conventional fabric-based designs, the most important piece of equipment you’ll need for your fashion business is your sewing machine. But modern sewing machines vary enormously, and there are all sorts of different ones on the market, from general models to special buttonholers to embroidery machines. Some require manual setting at every stage and some incorporate computers which can enable you to pre-set them from your patterns. How can you choose the right one for your fashion designs?
The first rule of choosing sewing machines is that you shouldn’t rely on just one. If your machine breaks (even the best ones need repairs from time to time when managing a heavy load) you can experience expensive delays if you don’t have back-up. A simple, older machine will usually suffice to let you get on with basic operations whilst your main machine is being repaired. Of course, depending on the size of your business, you may need several machines anyway.
Sewing Machine Tasks
In most fashion design businesses, sewing machines are not used just for sewing. It’s important to think about the specialist tasks which you may need your machine to handle.
- Buttonholing - Making neat buttonholes by hand is a time consuming task and puts a lot of stress on your fingers, which is something you need to avoid in the fashion design business (many seamstresses end up with damaged hands). Specialist buttonholing machines are cheap and easy to use, but a good general machine should be able to perform this function adequately.
- Embroidery - Whilst most general machines now feature some embroidery options, specialist embroidery machines are the best choice if you want to use your own designs. Much more adaptable, most now make it easy for you to program in your own patterns so that you don’t have to keep making adjustments as you work.
- Zip fitting - Fitting a zip so that it doesn’t pull loose after being used a few times is trickier than it might seem. Look for a machine with a specialist zip option which will also make sure you don’t get any fraying at the bottom of the zip.
- Leatherworking - If you’re working with leather or other heavyweight materials, your sewing machine will need to be strong enough to handle them. Many domestic machines break after doing just a little of this kind of work. Even with the right machine, you’ll need to remember to switch to a heavier grade of needle.
- Working with plastics - Modern clothing often incorporates materials like PVC which cannot be stitched in the ordinary way because the stitches would just tear through and pull out. There are specialist stitches, usually based on a chain pattern, designed to get around this. Specialist machines are available at reasonable prices, but you may be able to find them on a good general machine.
Industrial Sewing Machines
When you’re running a fashion design business and using your machine for several hours every working day, an ordinary domestic sewing machine won’t do. Most of these are simply not designed to handle that sort of strain. You’ll need an industrial quality sewing machine backed by a good guarantee and repairs policy. Be warned - this can add as much as £400 to the price, though if you keep your eyes open for discounts you should be able to get a good machine for about £300 in total. Second hand machines are often in good enough condition to be acceptable as back-up, but are an unwise choice for your primary machine, as you cannot afford the risk of things going wrong all the time.
Although it’s now possible to buy high quality industrial sewing machines online, you should generally aim to have a good look at the machines which interest you before you make your choice. Singer centres are an excellent place to buy sewing machines as they do carry industrial models (though they may not always have them on display) and they offer a very good, low cost guarantee system with repairs usually taking just three to four days. However, they will not collect your machine when it needs to be repaired, so you’ll need to be able to transport it to them yourself. Industrial machines can be very heavy, so make sure you have plans in place for dealing with this eventuality.
If you make sure to buy the right kind of sewing machine for your fashion design business, and if you treat it well, with regular cleaning, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t last you for many long years.
Persuading Retailers to Stock Your Designs
By: startafashionbusiness.co.uk
If you want to make serious money with your fashion design business, you’re going to have to sell the clothing you produce to shops. Women’s clothing is the largest sector of the fashion industry and women do most of their shopping in person, even if they look at photos of clothes which interest them in magazines and on the internet first. But how do shops choose what apparel to stock? How do they identify potential suppliers? And how can you persuade them that your fashion designs are worth taking on?
Getting Noticed by Clothing Retailers
Ultimately, the only way you will get your work into shops is by producing strong designs with real sales potential. But even if you have those, how can you bring them to retailers’ attention? There are four major ways to approach this:-
- Attend trade shows: Larger retailers, and some small ones, regularly attend trade shows to look for the next big thing in fashion apparel. They’re interested in well made, distinctive clothes which will fit in with upcoming fashion trends.
- Send out catalogues: Good quality photos of your fashion designs, along with thorough descriptions, may persuade retailers to request sample apparel from you or even to place orders directly. Target your catalogues carefully.
- Visit shops: There’s no point in trying to sell your clothing directly to large fashion stores, where the people who choose suppliers won’t be present, but nothing beats personal contact with smaller shops. Do your research first and show them that you understand their business needs.
- Network: Attend fashion-related events and social gatherings and talk to people there about your fashion design business. Exchange business cards and be sure to follow through promptly with a call. Be friendly and make a good personal impression.
Once retailers have seen your work, you’re halfway there. Provided it’s well made and suitable for their own target markets, they may well consider it. Now’s the time to make sure they do. Be pushy. You don’t need to be rude, but you shouldn’t be too polite either, because the competition won’t be. Make sure retailers don’t have the chance to forget who you are. If they show an interest but don’t take on the first set of your designs that they see, contact them every time you have a new clothing collection available.
Keeping Retailers Happy
It’s an exciting moment when you get that first phone call in which somebody says “yes”. You’ll feel relieved and ready to relax a little, as if the big struggle is over - but in fact it’s just beginning.
Once a retailer agrees to stock your fashion designs, you need to negotiate a suitable contract and make the arrangements for delivery. In most cases you won’t be expected to provide a large amount of stock in the first instance, as the retailer will want to wait and see how they sell, but be realistic about your production capacity - it’s better to set a date slightly later than the retailer’s ideal than to let the retailer down by failing to meet that date. Every retailer deals with suppliers in a slightly different way, so try to establish what delivery arrangements will suit them.
Sometimes new designers provide clothing to small shops on a sale or return basis, meaning that you get paid only when your items sell. This reduces the risks for the retailer and makes them more willing to experiment, but it can be a risky strategy for you and should be used only as a last resort.
Once your clothes are in a shop, keep in touch. If possible, visit from time to time. Ask how sales are going and try to pick up on any customer feedback. If your work is selling well, keep the retailer informed about your future plans. As soon as you have placed one fashion collection you should be thinking about placing the next one.
Finally, never rely on just one retailer. Some retailers will try to establish exclusive deals. Limit them to having, at most, an exclusive option on one particular collection or in one particular locale. If a relationship with one retailer breaks down, you want to have others still selling your work so that your fashion business doesn’t go down too. Keeping up with retailers will keep your busy, but that’s business!
Meeting Demand for Your Fashion Designs
By: startafashionbusiness.co.uk
No matter how carefully you go about planning things in your fashion design business, the balance of supply and demand can be hard to get right. Customer demand alone is a difficult factor to predict. If you take on too many employees when times are good, you risk finding yourself in trouble when demand decreases and you can’t afford to pay them. But if you have too few, how can you keep up if one of your designs suddenly becomes popular? With too few workers you risk missing out on valuable revenue.
When a fashion business is new, it’s not unusual for the designer to be doing all the manufacturing work themselves, or sharing it with business partners or co-directors. You may be wary of the complicated financial processes involved in taking on employees. Fortunately, there’s a way to work around this.
Hiring Contract Workers
When you take on contract workers you are not hiring employees as such - rather, you are entering into business relationships with independent professionals who take care of their own taxes. They are selling you a service. You can approach this just as you would any other business deal. Make sure you see samples of their work and, if possible, get references from their previous clients. Discuss your designs with them, make sure you both understand your patterns in the same way, and show them examples of what the finished garments should look like. Never commission the first version of a new garment from a contract worker.
When your work is doing well, it may be necessary to take on several contract workers to produce the same type of garment. When you do this, it’s very important to check that they are all making the garment in the same way. Customers expect consistency.
Some contract workers offer rates by the hour, but you should always try to negotiate a rate per garment. Your local business support service should be able to advise you of the industry average. When you’re paying by the hour, you have no legal recourse if a particular contractor works really slowly, and it’s potentially difficult for you to balance your costs against your output.
Try to build up a regular stable of contractors whom you can trust. When you need to look for more, ask them for recommendations. If you are working on a large scale, you can consider outsourcing work to contract agencies. These can take away a lot of the hassle of the contracting process, supervising individual workers themselves and offering you greater recourse if something goes wrong. However, they also take a cut, making the job more expensive.
Contracting Abroad
If you’re keen to reduce your costs, you can consider contracting abroad. This doesn’t have to be exploitative. Because the cost of living is lower in developing countries, smaller payments can actually go a lot further. Some contracting agencies specialise in contracting abroad, and can take care of the tax issues for you. It’s always better to make this kind of arrangement via an agency or similar organisation, as it will be infeasible for you to supervise the work process yourself.
Unfortunately, contracting abroad can lead to delays. Aside from basic the time taken to ship your finished garments to you, those garments can get stuck in customs, sometimes for weeks. Obviously, this is a serious problem if you have tight deadlines to meet. This is more of a problem in arrangements with some countries than with others. Ask the agency how they will be able to compensate you if this happens.
There can also be ethical issues with contracting abroad. Even if you travel to visit workers in person, which may cost more than you can afford, it’s difficult fore you to guarantee that they’re working under good conditions and being properly paid by the agency. Furthermore, you will be exporting jobs which you could give to workers in the UK. This may lead to you losing some of the government support services you would otherwise be entitled to.
Contracting can be a thorny business so it’s best to keep it as simple as possible, choosing the option which best suits your needs. When it works it can make keeping up with supply and demand much, much easier.
Sourcing Fabric for Your Fashion Design Business
By: startafashionbusiness.co.uk
When you’re running a fashion design business, the number one thing you need to be sure of it your source of fabric. Whilst it’s possible to buy fabric from the same shops as everybody else, this tends to be a very expensive way of doing things and it’s simply not practical when you’re producing lots of copies of the same design. Before you open for business, you should ensure that you have good access to fabric wholesalers.
Local vs Online Wholesalers
These days the internet makes it easier than ever to locate wholesalers. Because it keeps overheads low, many wholesalers now operate their businesses entirely online. These companies are often able to offer lower prices, but you should take into account any delivery charges when you’re working out how much you could save. You should also make sure that you have a good contract which allows for the easy return and swift replacement of any damaged fabric you receive, as you may be handling very heavy bales which it’s impractical for you to dispatch by conventional means.
Ordering online means you don’t get the chance to examine fabric closely before you make choices. Most online wholesalers can send out samples to get around this problem. It’s obviously impractical to wait for samples when you need a new fabric quickly or when you want to take advantage of a limited time sale, but building up a good relationship with a particular wholesaler can give you more confidence in the quality of their products and a better idea of what they mean by their descriptions.
Getting your fabric from a local wholesaler means that you can examine every item personally before you buy. It makes it easier to meet tight deadlines and it often means that you can buy smaller quantities. Your local small business support centre should be able to give you a list of fabric wholesalers in your area; alternately you can look them up in the business section of your local library.
If you purchase supplies locally, you may be expected to provide your own transport, or doing so may make the process much cheaper. Fabric bales can be very large and unwieldy, so a van is usually more practical than a car. Bear in mind that it’s possible to rent vans on a short term basis. Newspaper small ads for vans plus drivers often offer a cheap way of doing this.
When you visit a wholesaler, you will often be required to provide proof that you represent a business (this is rarely requested during online transactions). Bringing along a business bank statement or a utility bill addressed to your business is usually sufficient.
What to Look For in a Wholesaler
There are several things to consider when choosing a wholesaler:-
- Reliability - Can you always expect the same basic items to be in stock? Can you get access to the same members of staff if you need assistance? Can you be sure of good communication?
- Quantity - Does the wholesaler supply fabric in large enough quantities to meet the needs of your business? Remember that you may be able to make special arrangements.
- Variety - Sometimes you’ll only want to order one particular fabric from a wholesaler, but usually it’s most practical to have the option of getting most of your basic fabrics from the same source.
- Support Services - How efficient is the wholesaler at delivering supplies and/or helping you to transport what you buy?
- Pricing - How does the wholesaler compare to others when it comes to price? Remember that the cheapest deal is not always the best, and be careful to check the quality of what you buy.
In order to provide a reliable service to your clients, you should make sure that you have more than one wholesale source available for the basic fabrics you need. Even the most reliable companies sometimes unexpectedly cease trading, and the fashion supply market can be volatile.
Dealing with wholesalers can be intimidating at first, as you’ll be plunged into an environment where everybody else already knows what they’re doing and you’ve still to learn how to spot a bargain. But with patience and a positive attitude, you’ll soon get the hang of things. Well established relationships with wholesalers means you’ll rarely have to worry about your supply, so you can concentrate on your designs.