Simple Ways to Start An Apparel Company

If you find yourself constantly thinking about creating clothing designs, launching and selling clothes, chances are this is your passion and you have to try it. What’s the worst that can happen? You learn new skills, experience and if you don’t like the results you get, you stop and try something else. Life is too short to live on regrets so “just do it”. Now, we understand that starting a fashion apparel company doesn’t only depend on desire, you have to arm yourself with the right strategies in order to give it your best shot and who knows? Your fashion company might be the next Gucci or Fendi. So, because we want you to give it your best shot, we will highlight some of the best and simple practices you have to do in order to start your fashion apparel company on solid footing.

Identify A Consumer Need

The fashion industry is congested. There are too many brands for buyers to choose from and more fashion apparel companies are launched from time to time, making it hard to find a space in the industry as a startup fashion brand.
However, this shouldn’t discourage you because nothing good comes easy. Instead of jumping into the industry just like that, start by researching consumer needs. Is there a fashion need consumers would want to be met? If you look closely, you will find something to capitalize on and use as a point of contact with fashion consumers. For example, Rihanna saw that there’s a lack of diversity in the market and what did she do? Starts a fashion company that caters to plus-sized women, plus-sized men, and even offers makeup products for all skin tones.
Find a need in the market and meet it.

Identify Your Potential Customers

If you can identify a market need, then you are close to finding your target audience. Think about it, who do you want to sell to? If you plan to sell children’s wears, your potential customers are parents. It is great to consider the actual consumer, however, you must present your brand in such a way that it attracts the buying customers who have the purchasing power.
If your end consumers and buying customers are the same people, that makes your work easier. Now, you have to understand the personality of your ideal customer. Who is your customer, what is their goal and interest? For example, Supreme, the fashion brand, markets itself like streetwear, the clothing items are casual and they attract hip youngsters. The people who wear Supreme feel like they belong to a gang of cool people.
There’s no limitation to the type of personality you can base your fashion brand on.

Create Your Fashion Brand Personality; Name, Logo, etc

You know your market niche, you know your ideal customers, it’s time for you to build your brand personality around it. Create a unique name that will resonate with your customers. Well, fashion names can be anything, you can use your name if it sounds cool; just make sure your fashion name doesn’t send the wrong message. For instance, if you intend to run a women’s clothing brand, it will be misleading to use a name that can give people the idea that you run a sports fashion company.
You also have to create a logo that captures your fashion brand personality. For example, the logo of Supreme fashion is “Supreme” written in a red interesting font on a white background. Red is a vibrant and bold color, so we can conclude that Supreme is trying to create a personality that is daring and visible. And did they get it? Absolutely. The type of people who wear Supreme can be spotted in a crowd of people, that’s how bold they are.
Some fashion brands are simple, some are classy, some are crazy, the ideal thing to do is make sure that your brand personality generally, color, logo, tagline align and send the same message.

Create A Business Plan

Every business requires planning, passion is not enough, nor is your desire to make a profit enough. You have to be intentional with the steps you take. Define your company, how do you want to run it? Choose a structure, is it a sole proprietorship where you control everything, or do you want a partnership structure? You have to register your fashion company, get the necessary licensing, patents, and trademarks. You also have to account for your pricing structure and long-term operation with budgets and whatnot.
You don’t have to do all this by yourself, you can always seek the help of professionals in the field so that your business plan won’t be mere words that have no legal ground. The key takeaway from this is, don’t start your apparel company without first creating a business plan. Your business plan can also help you secure investors or partners. This is the document you present to potential investors or partners to show them your business objectives and how you intend to reach them.

Design Your Collection or Clothing Pieces

This is probably your favorite part. You’re almost ready to launch your apparel company. Create your designs but don’t get lost in your world where you create a design or designs that won’t be wearable. Even as daring as you might want your designs to be or as simple as you want your designs to be, you have to reach a balance that works for both you and the buyers. They want to look beautiful but also want to be comfortable, and you want to create designs that stand out but you must also reach your business goals. So, keep that in mind when you’re creating your designs.

Find Clothing Manufacturing Partners

In case you didn’t know, most of the clothes you wear are manufactured in Vietnam, China, and other Asian countries. While fashion brands from France, Italy, the US, and other countries in the world create impressive fashion designs everyone wants to wear, they often don’t produce the actual clothing material you wear. Factories in Vietnam and China are known for manufacturing the clothing using the designs these fashion brands provide to them. Since you’re interested in this business, you have to do your research on which manufacturers are most suitable for you based on quality, delivery timeframe, and pricing. Reach out to at least five manufacturers about your fashion company, discuss your goals and the type of partnership you want to create with them. Only work with manufacturers whose terms agree with yours.

Conclusion: Start Marketing and Selling

First things first, you want to have an online store so, create a website for your company, put your fashion company on social media platforms as well. This will make it easier for potential customers to reach and connect with your brand.
Next, start running ad campaigns, you can use influencer marketing, affiliate marketing, and paid ads on Facebook and Instagram. SEO practices will also help with creating awareness for your apparel company.
We wish you the best as you launch your fashion company!