Starting clothing brand tips

[Calm]

Hello everyone, I am looking to start my own clothing brand, I have plans already set down and I know what I want for my brand and clothing designs. I am just wondering if anyone has any tips that have done this and recommend to me, so it could help me in starting and on the long run.

Would be much appreciated,
Thank you!​

 

[zooter]

My advice: Don't.
Over saturated, and unless you have good money I wouldn't bother. My friend is starting one, flying to Paris to meet distributors, manufacturers and etc., so it is possible, just very hard.
Another brand I know does everything in house, sewing, stitching, etc. That is some high quality shit! And it shows and it sells and it's limited etc., this doesn't even touch on how good and compelling the designs are.
Unless you can hit some really niche market, get very high quality goods that are also unique or you have a shit ton of money, I wouldn't bothered tbh. Just my opinion and I truly wish you the best, hope you don't take me as hating on you at all just want to give you a realistic view into the industry!

 

[Calm]

My advice: Don't.
Over saturated, and unless you have good money I wouldn't bother. My friend is starting one, flying to Paris to meet distributors, manufacturers and etc., so it is possible, just very hard.
Another brand I know does everything in house, sewing, stitching, etc. That is some high quality shit! And it shows and it sells and it's limited etc., this doesn't even touch on how good and compelling the designs are.
Unless you can hit some really niche market, get very high quality goods that are also unique or you have a shit ton of money, I wouldn't bothered tbh. Just my opinion and I truly wish you the best, hope you don't take me as hating on you at all just want to give you a realistic view into the industry!

Thank you, I understand everything you have said and I can see it will be hard to push into the industry. I need to take a bigger look into it and take my plans into more depth throughout the next days, weeks or months.

If your doing something small for yourself/family/friends. For designs, I'd recommend you use fiver.com. Best website to get cheap and great quality designs.

Thank you, I will look into looking on fiver regarding clothing designs etc.

You could try targeting untapped markets which have a high GDP.

I am trying to pull something and designs not many people would usually see and trying to make the brand unique and something people hype up for, like supreme you could say as an example. I know it will be a struggle but I will look further into that. Thank you!

 

[Gxdfather]

I'd suggest gathering a following/hype before you launch a brand. If you're going to do something like this, MARKETING IS KEY. What other people have told you is true, the market is oversaturated and if you're not offering something truly unique, especially with no following, it's not going to go well for you.

 

[Sparko]

Work on your designs first, it’s going to be a lot of trial and error - ask for feedback from people, try not to ask friends and family since they’ll be biased. Wear your samples out and see how you feel with them on, are you comfortable and confident?

You could either go the easy route of buying blanks and stamping designs on them or actually put effort in cut and sew quality pieces. Either way, you need to decide if you’ll do things yourself or get a manufacturer - most of the time overseas is cheaper but local manufacturers are easier to communicate with.

During your sampling stage you want to start marketing. Start posting progress pics and what-not to build up hype.

I learned all this because I’ve been part of a clothing startup Discord for a couple of years now. I‘m planning to launch my own as well once I have the time.

 

[Calm]

I'd suggest gathering a following/hype before you launch a brand. If you're going to do something like this, MARKETING IS KEY. What other people have told you is true, the market is oversaturated and if you're not offering something truly unique, especially with no following, it's not going to go well for you.

Yeah I totally agree, I am looking at ways to make sure we can get a couple customers from the begin and promote the clothing brand soon as we set off. I have a couple ideas on how to possibility get more publicity for the brand, but I will do more looking into it. Thank you!

Work on your designs first, it’s going to be a lot of trial and error - ask for feedback from people, try not to ask friends and family since they’ll be biased. Wear your samples out and see how you feel with them on, are you comfortable and confident?

You could either go the easy route of buying blanks and stamping designs on them or actually put effort in cut and sew quality pieces. Either way, you need to decide if you’ll do things yourself or get a manufacturer - most of the time overseas is cheaper but local manufacturers are easier to communicate with.

During your sampling stage you want to start marketing. Start posting progress pics and what-not to build up hype.

I learned all this because I’ve been part of a clothing startup Discord for a couple of years now. I‘m planning to launch my own as well once I have the time.

Yeah I actually do have my own stamp / pressor for that. It's a good idea to be honest and I will defiantly look more into that and ask some people around that I know do that for sure. Trial and error is something I look forward to as well xd. Posting my ideas and products online for review is something I will 100% do as well. Thank you for the tips and information.

 

[Kryth]

Serous advice: don't.

You are 99.99% likely to fail in creating the next successful clothing brand.
It is hyper-competitive and there's a million other people just like you trying to do the exact same thing.

I know someone who even owns his own printing presses for printing the designs onto the shirts and he doesn't even make money. Even if you do print-on-demand services it's just not worth it.

You're better off putting that money onto the stock market after the biggest 2 day drop since 2018 waiting for a rebound than starting a clothing company. Just take that money, put it on $SPY and wait for people to stop freaking out about the Coronavirus. Much better odds.

 

[Calm]

If there's one thing I learned from my design course: it's to use ACCESS FM when designing your product.

A is for Aesthetic. Make sure your products are aesthetically pleasing to your audience.
C is for Cost. In order to attract the most customers, you should make your product affordable.
C (2) is for Customer. Know your audience inside and out to maximize sales. Ask yourself, who's going to be using your clothing? What would make it appeal to them?
E is for Environment. Where will your product be used? Is it environmentally friendly or sustainable? Will I be able to keep producing clothes without having to worry about running out of resources?
S is for Size. What age group will be wearing your product? What sizes will you have?
S (2) is for Safety. Is it safe for your customers to use? Will it harm anyone?

F is for Function. Have you, as the seller, made it clear to your customers what the function of these clothes are? An example is designer brands. Their function is clothing, but it is also to show wealth.
M is for Material. This can be linked with environment. Will you have materials that are sustainable enough to keep producing your clothes?

If you meet all these specifications then you should be good. I'd also recommend sending out a survey to your customers using ACCESS FM as a guideline (e.g., "What colors would you like incorporated?" "How much would you pay for a hoodie?, etc.)

Good luck with your clothing brand, and I hoped it helped.

Thank you so much, I will definitely use this along my way, I really appreciate it.

Serous advice: don't.

You are 99.99% likely to fail in creating the next successful clothing brand.
It is hyper-competitive and there's a million other people just like you trying to do the exact same thing.

I know someone who even owns his own printing presses for printing the designs onto the shirts and he doesn't even make money. Even if you do print-on-demand services it's just not worth it.

You're better off putting that money onto the stock market after the biggest 2 day drop since 2018 waiting for a rebound than starting a clothing company. Just take that money, put it on $SPY and wait for people to stop freaking out about the Coronavirus. Much better odds.

Thank you for the comment. Stocks is also something I am interested in, I have a couple friends who have just started and I will be meeting them soon to discuss more about that as well, Although I do know making a clothing brand is something like the other million people are doing, its just I need to set myself a path and make sure I can progress like the others are not. I really appreciate the comment, thank you!

 

[jonaasmith]

The obligatory "be different" suggestion really is necessary in such a saturated market. Good luck in your ventures!

 

[Kryth]

I wish you luck, if you really must pursue something, pursue it!

 

[Kavish]

Serous advice: don't.

You are 99.99% likely to fail in creating the next successful clothing brand.
It is hyper-competitive and there's a million other people just like you trying to do the exact same thing.

I know someone who even owns his own printing presses for printing the designs onto the shirts and he doesn't even make money. Even if you do print-on-demand services it's just not worth it.

You're better off putting that money onto the stock market after the biggest 2 day drop since 2018 waiting for a rebound than starting a clothing company. Just take that money, put it on $SPY and wait for people to stop freaking out about the Coronavirus. Much better odds.

Agreed. Unless your designs are amazing or you have some genius business model, it won't do very well.

 

[Calm]

The obligatory "be different" suggestion really is necessary in such a saturated market. Good luck in your ventures!

I wish you luck, if you really must pursue something, pursue it!

Thank you!

 

[Requal]

Hello everyone, I am looking to start my own clothing brand, I have plans already set down and I know what I want for my brand and clothing designs. I am just wondering if anyone has any tips that have done this and recommend to me, so it could help me in starting and on the long run.

Would be much appreciated,
Thank you!​

Keep the designs looking fresh and don’t copy other brands styles, be unique! Reach for the stars my dude and also, keep it high quality

 

[Calm]

Keep the designs looking fresh and don’t copy other brands styles, be unique! Reach for the stars my dude and also, keep it high quality

Thanks man, I will attempt that!

 

[Requal]

Thanks man, I will attempt that!

Good luck

 

[Sloth]

Make quality products that are aesthetically pleasing and comfortable to wear for a reasonable price and your brand might have a chance.

 

[Calm]

Make quality products that are aesthetically pleasing and comfortable to wear for a reasonable price and your brand might have a chance.

Yeah for sure. Thank you for the comment