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TIME TIME TIME ...

4/27/2016

4 Comments

 
TIME TIME TIME ...

​You have a great concept, you have the backing and the drive, but all of these things can’t make a line successful if it doesn't ship on time.


One of the biggest pitfalls for designers is staying on schedule and making their deliveries on time. It’s a struggle to design, produce, ship and sell on time, especially for designers who are learning how the fashion calendar works.  The industry has standard dates that are predetermined for designers to follow as guidelines:

-          Fabric shows – when the season’s fabrics become available
-          Sales shows – when the current season collection is presented to stores
-          Store delivery dates – when stores accept orders ​

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Designers Who End Up With Late Product Either Do Not Stick To Their Calendars Or Are Setting Their Calendars Up Incorrectly. 
How you organize your time before and in between these industry dates will make or break your business. It’s easy to get caught up in the design process, forget about Chinese New Year and mill closings, or not realized that the trim you want is out of stock and needs 6 weeks for delivery. Argh!

This is where a TIA – Time in Action— calendar comes in. You can build your calendar by marking key industry dates and then working backwards from your final due date keeping these guidelines in mind.

Below is a list of important dates to help guide you:

1.       DESIGN – Work backwards and see how much time you realistically have for design

TIP: As a general rule, this time needs to start earlier than you think! You should have an idea of the collection, concept, silhouettes and fabrications you are looking for while at the fabric shows. This way you can order sampling to test early on while making muslins. Try to have your ideas and details hashed out before starting your first samples.

2.       DEVELOPMENT OF PATTERNS & SAMPLES – Block a time for development and STICK to it! Think through every detail in terms of fit, construction, fabrication and be decisive. It’s easy to keep designing but there is a moment when you have to say yes or no and move on. You should strive to go through 1 or 2 rounds of this and then proceed to final samples.

3.       SAMPLE MAKING – Make sure you give your sample room or factory ample time and all the trims that they need. They get booked up and you want to make sure your garments are sewn properly so you will have an accurate sample to show the buyers.

4.       SHOW DATES/ SAMPLES READY - Where are you showing (NY fashion week, a booth at a trade show such as Coterie, D&A, or at a showroom)? Do you need one set of sales samples or more? Do they need to go to the showroom or be photographed for a look book? (BTW - It’s always good to shoot the clothes before they go to the showroom or show as it can often be hard to get them all back as sales doesn’t like to relinquish them).

5.       SALES DATES - There is a certain time frame the collection will be shown during market, which occur during set times in various locations. Are you doing more than one market? LA & Paris shows are later than NY. Do these dates interfere with your fabric ordering? Are you able to project your fabric buy? You may have to in order to get your fabric in on time.

6.       FABRIC – How long does it take for your fabric to arrive? Is it a stock item or does it need to be woven/knitted from scratch? Most production fabric coming from Italy takes 8-10 weeks but could even be 10-12. Lab dips for custom colors will add time to this. Add in time for an approval cutting before they ship bulk so you make sure that your fabric is finished correctly. Consider their Holidays—Italy is usually closed for the month of August. Not ordering fabrics on time is a fatal error because when fabric ships late, factory gets it late, factory ships late, you ship late and lose credibility and business. All of this can be avoided if carefully planned for. 

7.       TRIM – Don’t forget the trim! Does it need to be special ordered?  Certain colors, finishes, sizes etc. take extra time. Make sure when you sample that you know what the delivery date (and minimum) is to order more trim if they are out of stock.

8.       PRODUCTION - How long will it take to produce the clothing? (be realistic J) Add two weeks to this time for extra cushion. Factories are busy so the sooner you get your cut work in the better off you are.  Don’t let holidays take you by surprise - Chinese New Year, European Christmas or summer holidays can seriously bum you out and mess everything up if you do not allow for that extra time so add accordingly.

9.       DELIVERY DATES –While this is the last step, this should be the first date on the calendar during which everything will be planned backwards from. For example:

-          Fall 7/30 & 8/30
-          Spring 1/30 & 2/28

TIP:  Make sure it is clear if you offer an ex warehouse delivery date or an in store date. Also note that department stores have special procedures for shipping so take note that this often will take time to set up, and may even require outside help. Stores will cancel orders if they are late and you will be left with product.

Working backwards from the above list will help you stay organized and keep realistic goals for sample making and production. 

Best of luck planning!



4 Comments

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO START A FASHION BRAND?

4/27/2016

5 Comments

 
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO START A FASHION BRAND?
​
Isn't that the million dollar question?

Unfortunately there isn’t one answer to this question. The answer depends on many aspects such as the product type, target market, price point, business concept, strategy etc.

In order to build a strong fashion business with real chance in being successful you must spend money to make money!

Just like with any other business.

More so, with the complexity of creating a product from scratch you can’t cut corners and you’ll need to plan ahead.

By planning ahead I don’t mean creating a wish list with what you’ll hope would happen re: I would like to sell in 50 stores in the first season, be profitable after the first year, have a markup of 80% etc. I mean a detailed, well thought of, step by step plan with a strategy, milestones and cost for executing the plan -  in other words, you need a business plan.

The biggest financial challenge that start-up fashion brands face (which unfortunately most of them are either not aware of  or simply ignore) is cash flow. As a fashion brand you are creating a product from scratch and are responsible to pay upfront for everything involved in making the product, you will than wait anywhere from 3-6 months before your customers pay you for the product and In the meantime you will also need to pay for the development of your next season.

This can adds up to a big investment,

For example, although you might only need 10k to start the business and develop your first season you will still need maybe 100k as an investment to get you through the first 2 years considering the circle of cash flow described above.

Than how can you figure out what it will cost you to start your fashion brand? Here are the steps to help with that:
  • Market Research - You should start with that, take the time to do your homework. Do the research and define your business vision (at least for the first year).
  • Vision - Once you gather the above info, decide on what products you will offer, your price point and market positioning and how you’ll market and sell your fashion product.
  • Calendar – Now that you decided on your business concept and strategy create a calendar for executing it.
  • Start-up investment - Create a budget sheet and start plugging in the numbers to get a better understanding of your start-up investment.
  • Project your cash flow – Using the cash flow section on your budget sheet, look at the first year in business and project your income and expenses for the year, than based on that decide how much money you’ll need to get you through the first year. If the amount is too high, go back and see what can be adjusted to make it work better for you. Also keep in mind that you don’t need to have all your investment ready on day one, you can spread it over few months ( and who knows, maybe you wouldn’t even need it all after all).
5 Comments

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO LAUNCH A FASHION BRAND?

4/27/2016

1 Comment

 
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO LAUNCH A FASHION BRAND?

Similar to cost, the time question does not have only one answer and the answer depends on different aspects of your brand, such as your product, your target customer/ market, your commitment and availability (time and money), your business concept, business strategy and more.

I’ve seen brands that launched in 6 months and others that took 5 years. I wouldn’t necessarily say that one had better chances to be successful than the other cause I have seen success stories with both scenarios.

Launching a fashion brand the right way means planning ahead carefully, having the right support system in place (service providers, financial backing, supporters etc.) and a 100% commitment to the project (it doesn’t mean 100% of your time, you can still have a full time job). Having these components in place will make a big difference in how quick can you can get your product to market.

Below are points that will impact how long it will take to launch your brand:
  • Creating a business plan – this is essential for planning, this stage involves quite a lot of research and home work on your end, Re; market research, defining your mission statement, your brand USP (Unique Selling Point), your market positioning, target customer, business concept, sales and marketing strategies and how much cash will you need. Once you have a business plan in place you will also have a better idea of the time-line for execution. I would say allocate 4 weeks max for this stage.
  • Designing the line – This might be the only step where the time line is fully in your control. This stage should take you not more than 4 weeks to conclude. 
  • Developing the products – this stage depends on the type of product, number of products, your development partners and whether you are using existing components/styles or inventing a new one (a new fabric technology, new innovative construction etc.). Obviously an invention will take longer. In the same way developing a fitted jacket will most likely take longer than a tote bag and working with an overseas factory might take longer than locally and so on. This is a tricky part to estimate without knowing the product, but on average you will be looking at least 6 months for developing a line that is using existing components. 
TIP: The development of your first season will always take longer since it involves much more than just developing the products. You are also developing a fit/construction for the first time, testing out service providers/components/concepts etc. and basically setting up the ground for your future developments as well, so be aware of that and plan accordingly by padding your development time. Is this your first time developing fashion product? 
  • A marketing and sales strategy – How you choose to launch your line will have an impact on the time line as well. Will you be selling wholesale or direct to customer (website, home parties, brick and mortar etc.), are you going to pre-sale the line or produce an inventory first to sell from etc. What you’ll need to get ready for each of these scenarios will be different from each other and will require a different time line.
TIP: Plan to launch in a season that best fit your brand (strategically speaking). Think what season would your product work best in and plan around that. re: for example if your line has a resort-y feel to it than Fall/winter might not be the best season to launch in. 
  • Your availability and financial resources -  As expected how much time can you commit to put into your business as well as the financial resources will have an impact on how quick you act on things and move forward. If you still need to hold a full time job to help you pay for the business expenses than obviously you will less time to put into your business and therefore expect things to take longer.
TIP: We’ve seen designers who built their business while still holding a full time job, so that is doable. If you are committed to make it work and know how to manage your time well it can be done. However being dependent on your new start-up business to support you financially at the beginning stages might not be realistic and can add a lot of stress to an already stressful situation, which can lead to making wrong decisions and steering away from your plan. So, whether you are doing it full time or part time make sure to plan your personal finance for the first 2 years.

Author: Human B
1 Comment

    Author

    Billi Doyle, I'm sharing info in this collective blog from various articles that have helped me in my retail business ventures thus far. Please feel free to share these with those who need help getting started in the apparel industry. 

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