There’s No Business like Fash Business

Building a business from scratch is not easy. Building a Fashion Business, with its double whammy of competition and saturation is even more difficult. Building a Fashion EMPIRE…well, whooooo, well..but it can be done. Baby steps okay?

But as they say, those who can, Design, get a guest judge gig, get a tan, an IPO, anda few Fashion week shows thrown. (feelin’ like an underachiever? who? ME? no, not really, okay a little.)

Being able to craft a collection and mould a piece of clothing, art or furniture out of a 2 dimensional piece of material is a talent, and one that should be celebrated. Everybody’s gotta start from somewhere, I mean, c’mon Rome wasn’t built in a day, yes?

Here are some basic things to do if the going gets tough! 

1. Work on outward facing situations first – if a seam needs to get fixed, fix it, if resolutions need to get adjusted, do it, if logos need to be re-worked, fire up photoshop or illustrator. These things tell people you are meticulous and care about your brand.

2. Get your Collections visible. Get your own online store, sell on (ahem, shamless plug) FUTURE NOTION, walk around stores in your neighborhood to ask about consignment opportunities. Get the word of your brand out there! Connect, connect, connect!

3. Get Social – Facebook, twitter, yes, there are many social media channels out there, and it will seem daunting. But instead of being overwhelmed, think of it as a glass full of opportunity and publicity channels for YOU!

4. Send a nicely crafted email out to friends and press. It’s free. again, IT’S FREE! Some free tools you might want to use are mailchimp, constant contact and vertical response.

5. Always respond to emails and Deliver top notch Customer Service. If you missed one or two, it’s okay. Just apologize profusely.

6. Remember that Fashion, like Real Estate, is CYCLICAL. Far better than WGSN and any other trend-spotting tools, is this infographic that might help you in your Merchandising next season.

Hipster Fashion Cycle – Merchandise Forecasting Remixed for being more on-trend

What we would like to know is how are YOU doing? What are the challenges YOU are facing? Let us know in the comments if we can help you in any way!