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    Design Create Sell: A guide to starting and running a successful fashion business
    Design Create Sell: A guide to starting and running a successful fashion business
    Design Create Sell: A guide to starting and running a successful fashion business
    Ebook196 pages2 hours

    Design Create Sell: A guide to starting and running a successful fashion business

    By Alison Lewy

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    About this ebook

    Making the dream a reality...
    The fashion business is an exciting and diverse industry to be involved with and the number of people starting up fashion related businesses is increasing every year.
    These new entrepreneurs are coming from many different backgrounds including design graduates looking to start their own label, designers working for other companies that have decided its time to be their own boss, and those wanting to utilise their transferable skills to set up a business that can fit around their family commitments.There are also the innovators that have invented or identified a new product they want to launch.
    This essential guide will give readers an overview of the fashion industry and what makes it tick. It will guide them through the issues they need to think about before they start and take them through the key steps involved in setting up a new business. Readers will learn how to conduct the research needed for their business plan and get practical guidance on building your brand, getting your product made, marketing and PR and how and where to sell products.
    This comprehensive book will inspire fashion lovers to turn their dream into a reality.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarriman House
    Release dateSep 30, 2012
    ISBN9781908003508
    Design Create Sell: A guide to starting and running a successful fashion business
    Author

    Alison Lewy

    Alison Lewy ran her own fashion label for 15 years and is founder of Fashion Angel, a fashion business accelerator that offers support to both emerging and established fashion industry entrepreneurs. As well as successfully designing and building her own label, Alison set up production agency Skin Solutions and worked with high-end designers including Matthew Williamson and Preen on product development and manufacturing. Her extensive industry background resulted in working as a consultant for Newham College, managing the Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) for textiles, manufacturing and design projects. The results of the research undertaken by Alison with fashion and textile SMEs formed the basis of new vocational curriculum and the development of innovative business support and mentoring programmes for the fashion sector. Alison went on to run the Fashion and Textile Museum for six years where the constant demand from designers lacking the business and entrepreneurial skills they needed to set up their business led her to setting up Fashion Angel and the Fashion Angel Business Club. Alison was keen that others should have access to the same invaluable support, that she had been lucky enough to receive, having worked with a business mentor for a large part of her professional life.

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      Book preview

      Design Create Sell - Alison Lewy

      Publication details

      A Brightword book | www.brightwordpublishing.com

      HARRIMAN HOUSE LTD

      3A Penns Road

      Petersfield

      Hampshire

      GU32 2EW

      GREAT BRITAIN

      Tel: +44 (0)1730 233870 | Fax: +44 (0)1730 233880

      Email: enquiries@harriman-house.com | Website: www.harriman-house.com

      Copyright © 2012 Harriman House Ltd. Images © iStockphoto.com. Quotes and excerpts remain © respective sources.

      First published in Great Britain in 2012

      Country Living is a registered trade mark of The National Magazine Company LimitedThe right of Alison Lewy to be identified as the Author has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.

      ISBN: 9781908003508

      British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data | A CIP catalogue record for this book can be obtained from the British Library.

      All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publisher. This book may not be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without the prior written consent of the Publisher.

      No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person or corporate body acting or refraining to act as a result of reading material in this book can be accepted by the Publisher or by the Author or by The National Magazine Company Limited

      About the Author

      ALISON LEWY ran her own fashion label for 15 years and is founder of Fashion Angel, a fashion business accelerator that offers support to both emerging and established fashion industry entrepreneurs.

      As well as successfully designing and building her own label, Alison set up production agency Skin Solutions and worked with high-end designers including Matthew Williamson and Preen on product development and manufacturing.

      Her extensive industry background resulted in working as a consultant for Newham College, managing the Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) for textiles, manufacturing and design projects. The results of the research undertaken by Alison with fashion and textile SMEs formed the basis of new vocational curriculum and the development of innovative business support and mentoring programmes for the fashion sector.

      Alison went on to run the Fashion and Textile Museum for six years where the constant demand from designers lacking the business and entrepreneurial skills they needed to set up their business led her to setting up Fashion Angel and the Fashion Angel Business Club.

      Alison was keen that others should have access to the same invaluable support that she had been lucky enough to receive, having had a business mentor herself for a large part of her professional life.

      Introduction

      Making the dream a reality

      THE FASHION BUSINESS is an exciting and diverse industry to be involved with, and the number of people starting up fashion-related businesses is increasing every year.

      These new entrepreneurs are coming from many different backgrounds, including design graduates looking to start their own label, designers working for other companies that have decided it’s time to be their own boss, and those wanting to utilise their transferable skills to set up a business that can fit around their family commitments. There are also the innovators who have invented or identified a new product, such as folding flip-flop brand Salvatos, designed and patented by two sisters looking for a solution to sore feet after nights out dancing.

      This book will give you an overview of the fashion industry and what makes it tick. It will guide you through the issues you need to think about before you start your new business and take you through the key steps involved in setting up that business. You will learn how to conduct the research needed for your business plan and get practical guidance on building your brand, getting your product made, marketing and PR, as well as how and where to sell your products.

      You will be inspired by the case studies of entrepreneurs, just like you, who had a dream and turned it into a reality.

      I hope you enjoy the book and do keep me posted on how your new fashion business develops.

      Alison Lewy

      alison@fashion-angel.co.uk | @FashionAngel1

      Contributors

      I’d like to offer my thanks to the following people who gave me their time and allowed me to include their inspirational stories in the book:

      Julia Grinham, Upper Street

      Corrie Nielsen, Corrie Nielsen

      Morag Wood & Nina Baxter, Land Girl

      Sarah Angold, Sarah Angold Studio

      Chloe Mostyn, Hatastic

      Bronwyn Lowenthal, Lowie

      Mark Thomas Taylor, Mark Thomas Taylor

      Debbie Humphreys, Redhound for Dogs

      Lucy Tammam, Tammam

      Also thanks to Emma Jones, Louise Hinchen and Suzanne Tull and the rest of the Brightword Publishing team and to my fellow Fashion Angels, Morag Wood and Alison Lowe, for their continuing support. And finally thanks to Jako for his creative input, and for being there!

      CHAPTER 1. An Overview of the Fashion Business

      IN THE GLOSSARY: A number of fashion terms used in this book are expanded on in a glossary at the back – just look for words in this font when used for the first time.

      The Different Market Segments

      BEFORE YOU START your new business it’s a good idea to have an understanding of the industry, and then you can decide where your idea or designs fit within its structure, and what the market potential is likely to be for them.

      The fashion industry is broadly split into three market segments . . .

      1. Haute Couture and Bespoke

      The main misconception people have about the term haute couture is that it applies to all handmade and/or made-to-order garments, whether manufactured by seamstresses at Dior or aspiring fashion design students. Many designers add the term ‘couture’ to their collection as they feel it elevates their status. But it can be meaningless.

      The term haute couture is protected under French law and defined by the Paris Chamber of Commerce (Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de Paris):

      To earn the right to call itself a couture house and to use the term haute couture in its advertising and any other way, a fashion house must follow these rules:

      Design made-to-order for private clients, with one or more fittings.

      Have a workshop (atelier) in Paris that employs at least fifteen people full-time.

      Each season (i.e. twice a year) present a collection to the Paris press, comprising at least thirty-five runs/exits, with outfits for both daytime wear and evening wear.

      In reality, very few labels can adhere to the strict criteria, and the costs of producing a collection, as well as the presentations, are so astronomical that the number of brands showing couture collections is decreasing.

      Bespoke is another term that is used by many, much to the chagrin of true bespoke tailors. With respect to clothing, a bespoke suit should be something that is specifically designed and made to order for an individual. Many brands that claim to offer bespoke garments are actually offering made to measure – the difference being that, with made to measure, there is a basic block that is amended to fit an individual, whereas with a bespoke garment, the pattern is made from scratch.

      The customer may still have the opportunity to choose their material and trimmings and alter the original design to some extent. But a truly bespoke suit will take much longer to make, and this will be reflected in the price. There is a movement in the bespoke community to try and get the term protected in much the same way as haute couture has been in France.

      2. Ready to Wear (RTW)

      Ready to wear collections started to appear in the late 50s, when designers started offering clothing in standard sizes, rather than everything being made to measure. Most designer fashion today is considered RTW (or pret-a-porter). Designers’ collections are presented to buyers during the buying season, and usually showcase their new collections either in their showrooms, at a static exhibition or by staging a catwalk show.

      Major cities host fashion weeks to raise the profile of the industry. The main high-profile ones that attract significant international buyers and press are in New York, London, Milan and Paris. These run in sequence during the two main buying seasons in February and September. However, the number of fashion weeks is increasing, so now many other cities such as Barcelona, Copenhagen and Sydney host their own weeks. The timings and seasons referred to throughout this book refer to the UK, Europe and North America.

      During fashion weeks designers will be taking orders from buyers, approximately six months in advance; for example, in February they will be selling their Autumn/Winter collections for August delivery onwards and in September their Spring/Summer collections are being sold for January delivery the following year. The larger brands now produce pre-collections in between which gives them the opportunity to trial new looks and sell more products.

      Advancements in technology are beginning to disrupt the traditional way of selling the collections to both buyers and the end consumers. Burberry’s catwalk shows are a clear example of this. Each show is streamed live at selected, invitation-only, global events. These are attended by buyers who are given iPads, from which they can order the pieces as they are seeing them on the runway. Many catwalk shows are now streamed live online, giving fashion-savvy consumers the opportunity to see the forthcoming trends in advance.

      Another new development is websites such as Moda Operandi (www.modaoperandi.com) which allow consumers to place orders for products at the same time as they are being shown on the catwalk, rather than having to wait until the products are in the shops. This can be of great help to designers, who will then be able to aggregate orders from buyers with the orders from consumers, and therefore place larger orders with their suppliers. In general, designers only produce to order, as trends change quickly and it is not a good idea to have money tied up in stock; at that level buyers also expect a level of exclusivity.

      Ready to wear – diffusion ranges

      Once a brand is sufficiently established in terms of reputation and turnover, they will often choose to produce a diffusion range. This will usually have lower retail price points, giving the designer a chance to increase sales and appeal to a wider market. To produce the garments at a lower price the range may be made in cheaper materials and need less work. It’s also an opportunity to try new design directions or appeal to a different age group. Examples are Victoria by Victoria Beckham, See by Chloe, McQ by McQueen, Marc by Marc Jacobs and Miu Miu by Prada.

      3. Mass Market

      Currently, the

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