Being passionate about fashion is one thing, but starting a business out of this passion is another. The idea can be exciting, but knowing that it’s a pretty competitive industry means you’ll need to arm yourself with not just talent and skills; you’ll also have to deal with the business aspect of your endeavor, especially if you’re planning to launch not just a single design but an entire fashion collection.
Maybe you’re already in the industry and have produced a few collections in the past. Or, perhaps, you’re a new artist-slash-entrepreneur who’s hoping to be the next big thing to watch out for in the fashion world. Whatever it may be, you’d appreciate the following steps that may help you ensure a fruitful launch of your new fashion collection:
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1. Pick a Target Season
Fashion collections are usually seasonal. This means you first need to figure which season your new collection will most likely be in demand. The decision will also ultimately affect your work timeline for the collection. If you plan on launching it for autumn or winter, it should be ready in or before February. Spring/summer collections, on the other hand, are usually released in August. (3)
As you prepare for the main event (your launch, that is), you might want to make sure your store or boutique is being prepped along with the fashion pieces you’ll be releasing. If you prefer to showcase your new products in a showroom, now is also the ideal time to look for ashowroom rentalnear your production area or main office. That way, you can easily monitor the progress of your manufacturing and set up the showroom for the collection launch quickly.
2. Know Your Audience
After picking a target season for the launch, the next step is to know your audience. Doing so will give you an edge when it’s time to start marketing or promoting your collection. Keep in mind that as brilliant as your collection may be, it could still fail if you’re unable to capture the interest of your audience or target customers.
As you decide on the colors, patterns, and styles for your fashion pieces, it also pays to know what shoppers are more likely to look for in that particular season you picked. What’s in-demand? Is there any trend expected to make a comeback? Which among your target customers would be willing to spend and splurge on the collection? These are just some of the questions that can help you know your audience more and somehow predict what will sell to them. (4)
3. Ready Your Website
Even when you already have a physical store and a showroom for your brand, you’d still want to consider setting up a website, not just for the new collection but for your clothing line as a whole. With the growing popularity ofe-commerce in any industry, a website could be an excellent way to feature your upcoming launch.
A study conducted in 2018 unveiled surprising findings of people’s shopping behavior. It revealed that consumers tend to buy more when ordering or purchasing online than in physical stores, looking at displays. With this in mind, it’s only a wise business decision to set up a website that you can use to ramp up marketing campaigns. Moreover, it’s another avenue for your customers to conveniently browse through the items in your new collections.
Take the time to ensure all features and pages of your platform are functioning well. It’s also highly recommended to make the website mobile-friendly to attract mobile visitors and shoppers. (1)
4. Start Marketing
Marketing is another business aspect that you shouldn’t forget when launching a new fashion collection. Of course, you need to get the word out and let your target audience know what’s coming their way. If you’re a new brand or company launching its first-ever collection, you need to create brand awareness. In the same essence, an existing fashion line that’s about to launch a new collection needs to retain its loyal customers and attract new buyers, too. You can look into different marketing strategies that you think could help achieve your goal.
You can utilize online and offline marketing, although online marketing might be your best bet if you don’t have that big of a budget yet. Take advantage of affordable or even free advertising mediums, such as social media and content marketing. Onesocial media marketingstrategy you can look into is the Live feature on different platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. The feature allows users to stream or go live on their accounts, which will enable you to interact with followers and customers more effectively. There’s also an option to hire influencers to help you make a better impact and increase your brand awareness. (2) (5)
In Conclusion
New and seasoned fashion designers find it pretty challenging to launch a new collection every time. Don’t worry if you’re feeling anxious as your main event nears because that’s almost how everyone feels during a business or career milestone. Try your best to focus on investing your time and energy in creating stunning pieces and making sure the launch is successful enough to establish your business. Doing so will make all those sleepless nights, artist blocks, and relentless efforts worth it in the end.
The four basic ingredients or elements of design used in fashion are shape or silhouette, line, colour and texture. A silhouette can be described as the outline of the entire garment.
While you must design a collection that is unique and individual, you will always need to be working within current trends in order to be able to create a collection that will actually be worn.
The principles of design consist of: balance, proportion (also referred to as scale), emphasis, and rhythm. When a garment or ensemble uses the elements and principles of design to create a visual unity, harmony is achieved.
There are seven traditional and universal principles of design, which are significant across the industry: emphasis, balance & alignment, contrast, repetition, proportion, movement, and white space.
The elements of design are line, shape, form, space, texture, tone (or value) and color, "These elements are the materials from which all designs are built."
What Is a Fashion Collection? A fashion collection is a curated series of garments and accessories that customers can wear together. Yours may consist of traditional pieces, such as tops, bottoms, and outerwear, or focus on a single product available in multiple colorways.
To be a cohesive collection, it should offer a good mix of dark, medium, and light colors as well as both contrasting and neutral colors. In my opinion, the key is to offer a variety of colors without it ending up in a super busy, multicolored collection. I know, easier said than done.
There are several models that systematize the design thinking process. In the online course Design Thinking and Innovation, Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar leverages a four-stage framework: clarify, ideate, develop, and implement.
Prototypes are built quickly for a reason. Chances are that you will create a few of them while you perfect the design. Step seven is not so much a step as it is backtracking to the planning phase and determining what should be changed in your design, building a new prototype, and testing again.
The short form of the design thinking process can be articulated in five steps or phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test. Let's briefly explore each of these phases in relation to a practical design process.
Four generic business-level strategies emerge from these decisions: (1) cost leadership, (2) differentiation, (3) focused cost leadership, and (4) focused differentiation. In rare cases, firms are able to offer both low prices and unique features that customers find desirable.
Sources from which the designer can draw inspiration include paintings and visual imagery from the theatre, cinema, and popular culture. Historical evidence includes portrait paintings, fashion plates and magazines, photographs, literary sources, pattern books, and trade catalogues.
When developing your collection, many creatives often are told to aim to have a minimum of 12 pieces/looks. If your budget allows, it would be great if you can have 12 pieces of course, as a larger collection will allow for better exposure and versatility throughout the collection.
It should explain the reason, purpose and inspiration behind your collections and what the reader of your portfolio can expect to find inside. If you're writing an introduction for your Personal Portfolio then it can include a bit more about you as a designer – but don't go overboard with lots of text. Keep it short.
Emphasize the name and address of the business. Tell the reader how it started and what products or services it offers. Stress the benefits of using the products or services. If there is an opening event, invite the recipient to attend.
The first stage is the introduction stage where the trend is first seen. These are like the new styles in fashion shows or a new design being released by a brand or even a new brand coming out. An example of this is chunky shoes.
For example, you could say, “My name is Steve Johnson, and my portfolio is a representation of all that I've learned and accomplished as a science and engineering student." This should only be 1-3 sentences. You can write in the first person to engage your reader the most.
Fashion Designers are the creative minds behind original clothing, accessories and footwear. They sketch out designs that can be constructed into a variety of products, from fabrications to patterns, with instructions on how they want it done.
Start with people you know. If you have no idea where you truly want to go with personal style, pull in your most basic resources: family and friends. ...
Overall, a fashion collection must have at least 12 pieces; but this is not a rule. It all depends on some factors, such as budget, target market, execution time, sales strategy, and so. Another example is the capsule collections – the smaller ones, that commonly come with 8 pieces.
The first stage of a trend's life cycle is initiated when the new style is introduced. This can be a silhouette, color, pattern, fabric, and more. During this stage, the origin of the trend typically finds itself at the hands of a major brand or designer during the on-season of Fashion Week.
Introduction: My name is Gregorio Kreiger, I am a tender, brainy, enthusiastic, combative, agreeable, gentle, gentle person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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