How To Start A Fashion Brand - Building your own clothing business
Do you have an idea for a fashion line but not sure where to start?
Maybe you’ve spent hours/years wondering how to start a clothing brand?
This blog post is broken down into 5 easy steps for getting started with the ideas & how to start your own fashion business!
Even if you have recently launched a fashion start up - this blog post will still offer some really valuable information!
Remembering the importance of self-care in the fashion industry – Ellis + Noronha
This week I’ve handed over the reins for a guest blog post by Ellis & Noronha!
printing tips from the experts: 3 steps to perfecting your first prints
Whether you’re thinking about getting into t-shirt printing or something more complicated, there’s a few things you should know before you start putting your designs in ink. Below, I’ll take you through some expert tips for perfecting your prints.
five things fashion brands do to succeed
Whether you’re looking to start a fashion brand, in the process of, or already established, I’ve compiled five things that I believe to be essential to success.
why you should reconsider calling yourself a #sustainable brand
What does the word sustainable mean to you?
From one person to the next, it’s sure to mean something different. Even the OED definition seems vague when you consider the sheer lengths that this word can stretch to, especially in a world where it grows new meanings by the day. This in itself makes the word incredibly limiting, as it effectively opens yourself up to scrutiny and fierce criticism about where you’re falling down or ways that you miss the mark.
why you should choose shopify as your web platform
Finding the right web platform for your start-up fashion brand can be confusing. With so many to choose from, how are you to know which one will benefit you and your business most?
working from home in winter: a guide to self-care
Working from home can be tough, especially in the colder months where shorter days and darker nights make it hard to match the same levels of productivity that you may have reached in the summer. For these reasons, it’s essential that you prioritise a healthy work/life balance.
recommending a manufacturer for fashion brands
Since starting my fashion consultancy business, I often get asked a similar question: can you recommend a manufacturer to me?
Of course – I would love to! Yet for many reasons, this is unfortunately a very grey area. To start with, there are a myriad of details behind what exactly constitutes a good manufacturer and inevitably this differs from person to person. To put it plainly, I like to use the analogy of internet dating or house hunting as an easy comparison tool. Finding the right manufacturer for you will be hard work and sadly there won’t be any direct shortcuts. It’s all about building a long standing and healthy relationship, communicating on a personal level and getting the right feeling. Now do you see where the dating/house analogy comes into play?
elizabeth stiles features on drapers news
I was approached recently to comment on the profit loss at Ted Baker by a journalist at Drapers News & wanted to share on the blog in case you missed it!
how to get the best possible cost price from your factory
The intricacies behind the production process of a fashion business may seem mundane at first glance. When your mind is brimming with creative ideas about colours, designs and mood boards, these tasks can appear less inviting. Yet, these logistical issues are essential when it comes to ensuring that your business is in the best possible position to thrive.
mastering the #hashtag for your fashion brand
2007 saw Twitter completely redefine the hashtag. Rather being used simply for numerical purposes, the hashtag became key in online communication, especially in terms of trends. Since Twitter transformed the hashtag into a way of grouping collective feelings, other social media sites have jumped at the opportunity of utilising the hashtag as a way of increasing engagement, building audiences and subsequently generating greater profits.
Building an Ethical Fashion Business
Over the last ten years there have been a few major disasters within the manufacturing sector which has highlighted a larger problem within the industry. One of which was known as the Rana Plaza disaster where 1,130 people died from a collapsed building in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The building contained clothing factories, a bank, shops, and apartments.
How to find fabric suppliers for your small business
In my Facebook group The Fashion Feed, the same question gets asked quite a lot… where can i buy fabric from?!
I decided to collate all the info into 1 blog post and I ‘ll also keep updating it when I see new recommendations :)
I would highly recommend phoning the company if you can’t buy online. A lot of the fabric mills are very old school and it will be easier to work together rather than sending emails back and forth
vlog - a handful of tips if you're in a rut with instagram
I have at least 2 or 3 people every day come to me asking about instagram, what to post, when to post and why they should even bother if their following is small. I’ve done a short video with a handful of tips if you feel like you’re in a bit of a rut with it all
the influencers who you need to follow
After considering what the future may or may not hold for the influencer age, it seems apt to pause for a moment and consider the now, by focusing on the bloggers who are absolutely killing it with their style and content.
how to change the mindset around your problems with chloe slade
This week I have teamed up with Chloe Slade who has written an inspiring blog piece around business and mindset
Chloe is a Manifestation and Mindset Coach. You may know Chloe from Vibe and Flow, which is an online membership and resource which covers manifestation, mindset and money, or via Cone Accounting, which is an accountancy firm for creatives. But, through both businesses, Chloe helps people make mindset shifts to create a positive impact within their lives.
Chloe is obsessed with tea, travel and is a total homebody who loves nothing more than a high vibe night in with her fiancé, Ben and Chihuahua, Hugo.
why do so many fledgling fashion businesses fail?
This is an article I came across last year and regularly forward it on to my clients as it sums up everything I believe in with regards to budget planning at the start of your brand!
It has been written by Kim Winser for Forbes.com & the link to the original article can be found here
Kim was the youngest-appointed and first female director of the Womenswear Group at Marks and Spencer Plc, chief executive at Pringle of Scotland, CEO of Aquascutum and chairman of Agent Provocateur. She also served as retail guru to 3i, and most recently, launched luxury fashion brand Winser London
managing your suppliers & production to avoid costly mistakes with catherine erdly
This week is an interview with Catherine Erdly of Future Retail UK where we discuss all the tactics you can put into place to avoid costly mistakes within your production process