How to start a fashion label: Things I wish I knew before launching one pt.2
For all the non-nepo babies of the world
Welcome to another epizode of the “Things I wish I knew before launching a clothing label”. This time I’ll be covering sales chanels, marketing and logistics for fashion businesses.
This section is dedicated to my younger self and all the clones of my younger self out there in the world. Through the outpour of my salad brain, here you’ll have a summed up version of all of the things I wish I came upon on the internet before I launched a fashion label. Think of it as your guide on how to build a sustainable and profitable fashion business if you’re not a nepo baby.
![Classic cream trench ankle length coat Classic cream trench ankle length coat](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_5760,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3e3874c5-b235-4298-95b5-1c826be08556.heic)
Today I’ll continue where I left of last week. But if you want to read my first article to figure out what comes first feel free to do so here 👇🏼
So you’ve nailed the branding, you have a pretty solid idea about what your signature design would look like, you’ve already found your production partner and have your first batch of samples ready, so now what? Well I thought you’d never ask.
Sales channels
Where to sell
Exploring sales channels is always a challenge. When I started out almost a decade ago I made two crucial mistakes. I dived in head first before spending sufficient time on researching. My idea at first was to run a marketplace and I wanted to develop a platform from scratch. I spent so much time and resources on building this, never quite being satisfied with the end result. It was a complete nightmare. The site was buggy, it was crashing the entire time, elements were out of place, it was not SEO optimized at all and the developers I was working with weren’t really invested in nor interested in finding a suitable solution. To them I was just another client with no technical background and a bag full of money. So after 3 years of being trapped in this vicious cycle, my finances ran dry and as I started exploring different avenues I stumbled upon Shopify. Let me tell you, a whole new world opened up for me with this platform. Well that’s mistake numero uno.
Mistake numero dos is testing. Seeing things from today’s perspective, I underestimated the power of testing out. Even though I’m not a stranger to testing per se, after all I’ve been experimenting with different styles and categories throughout the entire existance of Bastet Noir, I could have saved a lot of money if I just started it on social media or leveraged existing audiences on platforms like Etsy before opening my own store.
I guess the moral of this story is don’t be like me. Do better. If a young fashion designer approaches me today and asks for my advice on where to start selling first, I would definately say this, if you already know what types of designs you want to make and don’t need input from potential customers, than Etsy is the way to go. Before you cricify me, hear me out. I’m not suggesting this for those who are trying to pursue luxury fashion. We all know Etsy is not that type of platform, but it’s definately a great way to test what you want to sell if you’re on a limited budget. With millions of shoppers browsing, it’s one of the most successful marketplaces in the world. I know plenty of designers who have found success on this platform. One of them is this beautiful Boho store Nalini.
Other sales channels worth exploring for independent fashion designers are Wolf&Badger, CultMia , TheReflective and LDC. I’ll dive a bit deeper into each one of these in a separate article dedicated to different types of business models and will talk more in depts on pros and cons.
Marketing
figuring out whom and how to sell
- I can talk about this one for days, which is why another post entirely dedicated to this will follow, but for the sake of this article, let’s keep it short.
If you’re not sure what product to start with, you need to do market reasearch first. One idea worth exploring is testing on Substack. Yes I’m aware that this might be a bit controversial, but I believe this platform is the future battlefield for fashion brands. With such a highly engaged audience whose interest is solely fashion and lot of fashion experts among which well known stylists, editors and even influencers already utilizing the power of it, this just might be the platform where as an independent fashion designer, you could cut through the noise and reach to highly targeted audience without spending a dime. Substackers are a very supportive community and you could get a valuable insight into the minds of potential customers you wouldn’t otherwise in any other place. While I can’t say for certain what works and what doesn't as I’m just a baby on this platform (started using it about a month ago), so far from what I’ve experienced it seems like chats are the way to go. Seeing how a lot of the members in these chats are either seeking an advice on where to find something particular to wear or how to style it, it’s more than obvious that they are a true connoisseurs of fashion and you can use their expertise on the topic to help you design the perfect product that will resonate with potential customers.
If you however already have a story developed, take it to Instagram or as kids like to call it these days The ‘Gram. Even though in my opinion the power of Instagram is waning, seeing how engagement is not what it used to be especially on accounts that don’t pay for advertising, with people flocking to other platforms and influencers fatigue getting more and more real by the second, it’s still a good platform to get your story accross and make your customers understand what the brand does and what it stands for. Think of it as a place to deliver immersive customer experience rather than being a selling platform.
One lesson I learnt the hard way is just following social media trends blindly and not thinking about the bigger picture of how the Instagram page should serve as a storefront rather than a content dump.
Which is why at the beginning of this year we’ve reimagined our page to reflect the core values of the brand itself, which for us is the impeccable craftsmanship luxury techniques we use across every clothing piece we produce, the extreme care and attention to details that goes into every garment and the feel of the high quality deadstock fabrics we’re using. This is what it looks like now.
Logistics
shipping and where and how to store inventory
So now you have your first order. Ka-ching. Dollar, dollar bills y’all. What’s next?
There are few things you should have in mind here and that’s whether or not you’re planning on having a direct to consumer business or a wholesale one. I’ll cover business models in a separate article, but for the sake of this one I’ll talk about D2C.
In case you thought, well hey, that’s not too bad, I can handle this. Let me just go ahead and throw yet another minial task to your ever growing to-do list. Logistics is to me probably the most boring challenge to tackle, even though is probably one of the most important tasks to do to maintain a healthy margin. Figuring out the whole journey can be a nightmare, but worry not, as I’m here to guide you through it.
Let’s start with figuring out the shipping carriers. There are two types of postal services. One is your regular post office. Every country has one. Fees there are supposed to be the lowest, but delivery times can be long and oftentimes unpredictable, not to mention tracking codes could also sometimes impose a problem. And then there’s your reliable, trustworthy and always on time option such as the DHLs and Fedexes of the world. My advice if you're starting by selling high priced items is to go with the latter. The process to open an account with either one of these will differ from country to country, but the important thing to remember is to reach out to a local representative and ask for a special account for retailers. This will allow you to get special discounted rates tailored to your needs and volume of items sent out each month.
Last time I didn’t cover sourcing fabrics because I believe that this belongs in the logistics part of the business but if you’re wondering where it comes as a step into the entire process, it should go after or sometimes before designing, depending on whether your inspiration comes from a certain fabric or the fabric will be determined after the design is conceived. Few good places to start and test are online suppliers. I’ll share here few I think are worth researching.
SwatchOn has an enormous database of fabrics and the great thing about it is that you can actually order a sample to check the fabric prior to commiting ordering a bigger quantity. As a member of the CFDA supply chain collective, the site’s suppliers come mostly from Asia including Japan and Korea.
Nona Source sells high end fabrics which are leftover from fashion companies belonging to the LVMH group. It would be the perfect choice for those who are thinking of pursuing the luxury sector. Be aware though, if you’re working from outside of the European Union, prior to ordering in bulk, taxes and duties will apply. So before placing an order, make sure you check with customs, so you’re not totally blown away when your shipment arrives.
Yardblox is lesser known and to be honest I don’t really know much about them, so I’m not sure if it’s a good option or not, but it seems to me like the business is ran by two passionate women who understand the challenges designers face. They also have some pretty cool sustainable fabric options and guarantee quality with their 4 point system, so it might be worth checking them out.
Fulfilment as a concept comes a bit later on, after you’ve figured out the business model of your fashion label. However, while I’ll write another article dedicated to the different business models to pursue, I believe fulfilment is still worth mentioning as part of the logistics, just so you’ll get a basic idea of how to organize things and tasks. So what is it? There are companies who have massive storage spaces from where they handle all of your inventory both shipping and returns, as well as handle the pesky little annoying details like barcodes. What’s good about them is that they’ll handle the shipping for you, so you don’t have to worry about it and since they work with so many similar brands, they have agreements with special low shipping rates for their clients. Another good thing about them is that if your primary market is let’s say the EU and your company is not based in the EU it would be better for you to use a fulfilment company because your customers would avoid taxes and duties since the shipment is sent from a country within the EU. There’s also downsides though as fulfilment centars require a minimum amount of shipments per month and for someone who is just starting out this can be very unpredictable. Another thing is that you’ll need to have a production in place and a quantity of at least 500 pieces in order to be eligable for them to take on your business or be able to pay at least around 700$ per month. You also wouldn’t be able to control the packaging and personalize it with handwritten notes for instance. While they might not be usefull for you at the start, they sure can be when your company grows to more than 10 people and expands your market. There are of course centars specialized in handling fashion items, but I’ll write about these in a separate article, as this one’s already way too long.
Before I wrap up this article, there is one thing that I believe is worth mentioning and that is returns. Be aware of them. I remember when I was starting out, every returned item was a pain in the a**. It still is honestly, since everything we make is made to order and seamstresses are paid immediately after an item is done, if not properly handled returns could have been the end of us. So one thing we’re currently doing on items with a regular size is charging a restocking fee of a 40$ to be able to at least cover the expenses for the fabric and the production. Another thing is we’ve partnered with Airrobe to give our customers a chance to resell their items on the platform if they don’t fit or they don’t want to continue wearing them.
Well I hope this is usefull for all of you young fashion entrepreneurs out there. A third part of this piece is coming out next Sunday.
Until then, because sharing is caring, if you know someone who is an independent fashion designer and will find this helpful please share it.
I know time these days is a precious currency, so thank your reading.
Hasta la vista lovelies from my Salad Brain.