Everything You Need to Know About Starting a Clothing Line

Everything You Need to Know About Starting a Clothing Business

Starting your own clothing line can be exciting, illuminating, and sometimes nerve-wracking work. You’ve worked hard to create in-depth, detailed fashion design ideas to make your dream a reality. It takes a lot of hard work, good business sense, a flexible budget, and determination to build a brand.

There’s market research, strategic decisions for your business model, building brand awareness and critical choices at every stage to make your brand stand out.

1. Finding The Spark: Looking For Clothing Brand Inspiration

Creative ideas for your brand likely won’t just pop up out of nowhere. Finding what inspires you and your clothing designs is crucial to starting a clothing line.

The most important question to answer is simple. Who? Who is your target market? What is the demographic of customers most likely to love your clothing line?

Just consider all the options you have when you’re weighing how to start a successful clothing line:

• Specialty. What niche will your clothing line fit? Workout wear? Maternity wear? Luxury loungewear? Each niche has its own target market.
• Pain points. Do you notice any holes in the clothing market—problems in need of quality solutions? For example, maybe you struggled with the dearth of flexible maternity wear and want to provide more options for that market.

Envelop yourself in the fashion world; observe fashion runway shows, and peruse some art museums and clothing collections. Inspiration is all around you, and it’s begging to be found.

If you’re serious about manufacturing clothes for your brand, this should be an exciting, illuminating time.

The Beauty Of A Fashion Mood Board

A great way to find your clothing line inspiration is using a fashion mood board. What sets a fashion mood board apart from your standard collage of colorful pictures is that a fashion mood board directly helps you design a clothing line. This is where you’ll create and choose the general or exact aesthetics, colors, fabric, and overall inspiration.

2. Identify Your Customer and Research Your Market

You’ll have yourself running in circles if you don’t know who your target customer is. Spend some time identifying their needs, wants and desires. This goes hand-in-hand with identifying a niche in your target customer’s market. For example, maybe curvy women are having a hard time finding fashionable, well-fitting clothing to wear while working out. That could be your target (curvy women) and your niche (workout wear).

As far as research goes, some designers work best in a vacuum. If that is you, go for it! But most designers need a little direction, so they don’t end up doing a lot of work that doesn’t have a home to go to. Talk to your friends, family and mentors about your plans. Stay open minded; they might have some good input for you.

Don’t discount the internet either. It can be your best friend during this process. Research similar brands and see what they are doing right, and where they could stand some improvement. Your target niche might just be staring you right in the face.

Where to Get Started on Fashion Research

First, follow the key sources in your target market. Where are your ideal customers getting their trends? Vogue? Elle? Fashionista? Women’s Wear Daily? Set Google Alerts for new posts at key websites so you know about trends the same day the articles come out.

Next, scour social media. Follow fashion influencers and track their hashtags. You’ll get plenty of real-time trend updates and inspiration as soon as they come out. Pinterest is another great platform for bookmarking trending styles and browsing for new ideas.

Do I Need a Fashion Degree First?

Here’s a surprising and inspiring fact for you. Almost 40% of all working designers do NOT have a formal degree in fashion.

There are quite a few places you can learn about fashion and the business of fashion. Many successful business owners started their journey by “learning on the job.” It’s definitely a viable way to learn about the industry, and spread your creative wings.

You don’t have to work for another designer (although if you do find a job like that, jump on it!) There are many other opportunities to learn as you work.

Options include:

• Working at a boutique or department store
• Working for a fabric vendor or other related business
• Taking an administrative job at a fashion school
• Working in a related creative field such as interior design or graphic design

Be creative in your search and be willing to start on the ground floor. Look at it this way, you could get paid to get an education, instead of you paying tuition to a school. It’s a win-win, right?

3. Design Your Fashion Line

Sketch and Illustrate Your Designs

Let’s say you’re learning how to start a clothing line for curvy women who love going to the gym. Your research into what your audience wants should tell you the basics. Start building your collection: workout bottoms, effective tops, maybe a few outer layers for cold weather. What colors go well at the gym? Which ones scream “fitness?” Flex your creative muscles here. Have fun with it. Work within the constraints of your target market and you may find surprisingly pleasing results. If you need expert guidance in bringing your designs to life, consider working with professional fashion design services to refine your collection.

Determine Fabric and Materials

You’ve designed the clothes, so you know what the recipe will look like by the end. Now it’s time to think in terms of ingredients. Which fabrics and materials will your audience love? If your brand is all about sustainable workwear, for example, then 100% polyester fabrics probably aren’t your first choice. Choose the materials to suit your demo, keeping price, sustainability, and comfort in mind.

4. Find a Clothing Manufacturer to Work With

Now that your target market research is over, you can start to take bigger strides towards the start of your own clothing brand. The next step is arguably the most important. You’re going to want to work with a clothing manufacturer that shares your vision, goals, and passion for clothing.

As much as it’s tempting to go it alone, you need to find a fashion production house to know and service your needs when learning how to design clothes. Your clothing line, especially in its infant stages, requires a careful hand to help it grow and prosper.

Vetting potential manufacturers is all about balance. Reliability. Pricing. Materials. Shipping locations. You may not find a perfect fit, but your mission is to find the best fit for where your clothing company needs to be:

Avoid cutting corners. “I can handle the manufacturing myself” sounds great in theory. But if your clothing line becomes unexpectedly trendy, you may find more orders than you can deal with in the manufacturing process. Look for a manufacturer who can scale with your business.

Request Samples and Assess Quality

Don’t forget about fabric sourcing. One manufacturer may offer cheaper prices. But what if your brand is all about sustainability and eco-friendly fabrics? Cutting costs may not be best for the environment.

It’s simple: you’ve got to get your hands on the merch! You don’t want to ship out your first line of clothing and discover the materials are horrible when you open your first customer reviews. Assess the quality. If you’re doing athleisure, for example, take the samples with you to the gym.

After considering all the above, you need to choose a clothing manufacturer willing to listen to your questions, concerns, and ideas. Of course, you want to pay someone that can help start your own clothing line, but more importantly, you want someone you can trust with your creative vision.

The Importance Of MOQs

A crucial detail of starting a clothing brand or business is checking out MOQ policies at your chosen clothing manufacturer. A MOQ stands for ‘minimum order quantity,’ and MOQs can determine a massive step in manufacturing.

While not unique to the clothing manufacturer business model, minimum order quantities are ways for manufacturers to cover the costs of working with clients.

In essence, a clothing manufacturer may set a MOQ of 300 clothing samples per order. A large MOQ like this (especially with a larger production house) is relatively standard. However, this could throw a wrench in the plans to build a viable clothing line and fashion business model for emerging designers.

That’s why when you establish a relationship with a clothing manufacturer, you must ask about its minimum order quantity. Although harder to find, smaller MOQ clothing manufacturing is an ace in the hole for many brands starting out.

Smaller clothing orders also allow you to perform minor market research, which is vital to building a brand and clothing business. Are your potential customers responding favorably towards your clothing line? What are they enjoying and responding to? Use raw data and sales figures to determine your next steps.

Using low MOQ clothing manufacturing has myriad benefits. For one, it doesn’t take as long to receive your clothing order. Secondly, you can save a lot of business resources. High MOQs can essentially gatekeep newer clothing designers from joining the ranks of Michael Kors and Vera Wang.

5. Negotiate Pricing and Production Terms

A massive aspect of starting your own clothing brand is procuring the funds to do so. Furthermore, crafting a budget that works for you and your company is crucial to your brand’s success.

Designing clothing can, unfortunately, be an expensive endeavor. Cut and sew clothing manufacturers, pattern makers, and seamstresses pore over your fashion designs to make your unique clothing ideas a reality.

Clothing manufacturing doesn’t come free or cheap. But to compromise the future of your fashion business to save some money is a risky venture.

6. Create Your Brand Identity for Your Fashion Business

What Is a Brand Identity?

Brand identity is what sets your clothing company and brand apart from others. This can be a unique design, voice, and online presence that communicates your particular design values and ideas to customers.

As you can probably imagine, this is especially important in fashion design. Many customers use clothing lines as ways to outfit their identities. This means customers want to feel a certain way when wearing particular clothes. Therefore, having a solid brand identity that speaks to certain customers is crucial to building a brand and independently starting your own clothing line.

Choose a Catchy Name for Your Clothing Line

This is another opportunity  to have some fun. Think about linguistic tools like alliteration (consecutive consonant sounds, like “Vintage Vogue” or “Suitsupply”) or assonance (consecutive vowel sounds, like “Free People”). Or try combining words to nail your niche, like “Fabletics” or “Modcloth.”

Design a Unique Logo and Visuals

No one forgets the Nike swoosh. No one forgets the “polo” logo of Ralph Lauren. Why? These brands simply and memorably hit the nail of their brand on the head.

That’s why your goal here should be simple: clear memorability. Does it sum up your brand in a single glance? If so, you’ve probably got a winner.

Develop a Brand Story and Mission Statement

Warby Parker began when one of its founders lost his expensive glasses on a backpacking trip. As a grad student, he couldn’t afford to replace them. It’s a simple anecdote that displays the overarching brand mission: to upset the status quo of overly-expensive, customized eyewear.

What’s your anecdote? Try to find the one scenario behind your brand that actively illustrates the brand theme.

7. Register Your Business

Small business finance 101 is its own post. But we should cover one essential step. You have to start the business on paper. Common options here include the LLC (limited liability company) with an operating agreement to outline the company’s structure. If your business plan has a more complicated scope that will require investor funding down the line, you might think about filing for a corporation.

Register your business name with your home state. Check with your state for the necessary licenses to operate a clothing line. You’ll likely find these are easier to obtain than you imagined, but they’re an essential step.

8. Develop A Marketing Strategy

You likely have a talent you don’t know about. Maybe you’re a natural at Pinterest and you’ve built a following there. Maybe you’re a relentless cold pitcher who doesn’t mind shooting off emails to potential retailers. Maybe you’re a natural at TikTok and need an excuse to use these superpowers for good.

Whatever your secret talent, there’s a chance it has a marketing application. It’s not essential to get your fashion marketing strategy right on the first try. But you should put the strategy on paper. What are you going to do to get the word out? Write a weekly plan for the first few months as you start your clothing business, then revisit it later to evaluate what you need to tweak.

And don’t overlook the power of visuals in shaping your brand’s first impression. Professional-looking photos—or better yet, hiring a photographer—can elevate your brand instantly, making it look polished and credible. High-quality images help showcase your designs in the best light, build trust with potential customers, and make your marketing efforts far more effective across platforms like social media, your website, and press features.

Next step is to get your name out there. Think about the “story” you’ll be telling the world about yourself and your brand. If it helps, write it down so you can organize your thoughts. (We also did an article called “What Makes Your Brand Special” that you might find helpful.)

One last thing, take full advantage of social media (the cheapest, most effective marketing there is). And work with Instagram influencers, if possible. Most are happy to promote new brands in exchange for free products!

9. Do a “Soft Launch”

The point of a “soft launch” is two-fold. First, it gives you a chance to see where you’re succeeding with your collection and marketing, and where you might need to make some changes. Once you’ve identified those areas, you can make the appropriate adjustments. Then you’ll be ready to talk to potential co-investors and partners.

Of course the ideal would be to own your business outright, but many designers find themselves in need of additional working capital. Once you have a good grasp on how well your brand is selling (via your “soft launch”), you’ll know how much outside investment you need to grow it to the next level.

Common Pitfalls

Winging The Whole “Money Thing”

There’s a temptation – especially when first starting out – to either ignore, or to underestimate, the amount of money you’ll need to launch your collection. After all, who likes to think about money when your creative dreams loom so much larger?

At the beginning, it’s practically impossible to get a handle on exactly what things will cost. So don’t try to. But you do need to get some best estimates. Things you’ll want to “ballpark” include:

• Fabric and Trims
• Pattern Making and Sample Sewing
• Labels and Hangtags
• Packaging
• Website Development
• Bulk Production

Once you have these estimates in hand you’ll be well-positioned to create a working budget. If it turns out you are under-funded, you’ll know how much money you need to raise. There’s nothing worse than getting halfway through your launch, just to find out you don’t have enough capital to see it come to life.

Assuming Bigger Must Be Better

A common mistake emerging designers often fall into is “over-designing”. There are two subcategories to over-designing:

Designing more garments that you can reasonably include in your launch.

Whether it is due to time or budget constraints, you might be better off starting small, and growing your brand at a more thoughtful and sustainable rate. You’ll learn many things after your first launch. These discoveries will influence the size and content of your collection in the future.

Over-designing the actual garments themselves.

This is another misstep common to emerging designers. Yes, of course you want your collection to be interesting to look at and be true to your unique vision. But we encourage you to temper your unbridled creativity just a little bit! Don’t forget that every time you add a zipper, ruffle, flounce or flourish to a garment you are adding production costs (and probably trim or fabric costs as well). Go overboard, and you may actually price your garment right out of your intended target market.

Another consideration is that people tend to buy garments that are easy to understand, and to wear. So unless your goal is to be as avant garde as possible, take a good look at your collection with an editor’s eye! For this exercise, you might want to bring in a trusted friend or mentor to offer some input and suggestions.

Ready To Start A Clothing Business Of Your Own?

If you’re willing to put these steps into practice, learn, and adapt, you’d be amazed at how quickly you can start a fashion brand.

At TEG, we want to help you develop your brand and get your clothing line started in the industry ASAP. For more information regarding our various services, like fashion pattern making and seamstresses, be sure to explore our FAQs and get in contact with us. No matter your budget, your business and clothing line can grow with a bit of TLC from TEG.