How to Start A Fashion Label with No Money or Contacts

Every brand, from the biggest stores found in every shopping center to designer brands all over the world all, have an origin story, chances are they were born from a small business run in their own room and have contacts consisting of only one or two people. It is a big challenge and commitment to launching your own fashion label but a very rewarding one if you have played your cards right!

 

Despite all the challenges you may face, don’t let your lack of money or contacts be a barrier towards reaching this goal. With the help of all the modern-day tools at your fingertips, it is even more possible to bring that dream to life! Strap in and prepare for a rollercoaster ride as you embark on your journey, here are a few tips that may help your creative vision along the way.

 

From Donna Karan to Vera Wang to Paige Adams-Geller, the great fashion designers aren’t just visual talents: they are also driven, entrepreneurs. – Anna Wintour

This is where you create a SOLID business plan –

 

You can’t do anything until you have your winning product right? So think about what you are selling?  You can choose anything you want, you have free reign here. This is a great opportunity to design something that represents you and your style. What is your brand? What is the style of your brand? Compile a bunch of photos and find a mood. From there milk out the essence of your brand and create an executive summary that shares a brief description of the mission statement of the company and its future plans.

Next search for your target market? Who do you want to attract and sell to, are you wanting to sell to kids, teenagers, maybe you are an eco-friendly brand or a Bohemian brand. Maybe you want to sell to hard-working boss ladies or …….. the choices are endless. What are their interests? Why do you think they will buy your product?

 

Once you’ve got all that, ask yourself, what sets you apart from other brands? Play on your strengths, arrive with some fresh new ideas to stand out. But if you do something that the market doesn’t really need, you can’t just create a demand for it. All of the products that we see become successful are catered to a demand from the market, so that’s really important.

After identifying the basics, start planning a good launch campaign maybe start shooting a video and images to use. You don’t need to hire a photographer, just grab your phone and good lighting and begin! Good visuals are a big factor that connects and affects ones purchasing behaviour. Appealing visuals are more likely to attract buyers! And it is not that hard, check out our photoshoot template! HERE All you need to know on how to execute a cost-effective campaign and e-commerce photoshoot.

Remember these photos must reflect your brand’s identity. You want your viewers to be able to tell it’s your brand from looking at just one image.

THIRD TIP – Market Market Market

People say, “you have to spend money to make money” but we completely disagree. With all these amazing FREE online tools and platforms that will help you grow a customer base is just a click away. All you got to master how to use it the right way!

 

1)    Reach out to your friends, family, co-workers, friends of friends. Get them to share your new brand around, not only on social media but also on Word of mouth is a great way to get the word across!

2)    Start a web presence – The best place to start is on Social Media, its FREE and gives you the ability to connect with like-minded people all around the world, use it correctly and you could market your brand to stardom! Use those gorgeous visuals you just created and share them online!

a.    Start with Instagram on of the biggest platforms with more than 1 billion active users a day or maybe Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Engage with your community, start following, liking, and commenting on similar accounts, start building connections with influencers and other businesses. How about starting a TikTok, if you have a younger target market, a growing platform used by many people that gives you a 50/50 chance of going viral!

b.    Never lose sight of your brand’s DNA it should shine through what you are sharing to attract similar people to your brand. If they like your stuff they will buy your stuff.

c.     Don’t forget if you want that little nudge you can always run ads on these platforms with just as little as $2 which can go a long way!

d.    One that is usually neglected is Linkedin, you can also connect with like-minded people, like other fashion entrepreneurs. Grow your network online, these connections may come in handy one day! Or maybe you are searching for help, you are able to join groups that interest you!

Once you have identified your potential buyers and the essence of your brand. It is always good to do your research. Who are your competitors? What are they offering? What do they do similar and what do they do differently?

– When searching for competitors, don’t be afraid to ask around. Instagram is also an effective way to search for competitors, check them on all socials.

Check out what other clothing lines are doing and get some knowledge of the fashion industry. Read interviews and articles from top fashion designers. Stay up to date with trends and happenings is the least you can do.

FIFTH TIP – Reflect on experiences – failing is ok!

As an entrepreneur, it is very important to self-reflect. Reflecting on Recognize your weaknesses and also your strengths. Reflecting after action will allow you to learn from your mistakes as you think about what you have done, what you could have done better, what worked, and what didn’t. While you reflect in action, encourages one to think about situations differently as you learn to solve problems in time, if something isn’t working out, pivot and change the way you approach it immediately.

Starting and running a fashion label is a challenge that isn’t impossible even on a low budget. Just stay motivated, passionate, and continue learning and you can get for sure get far! Combine all these tips and you will see results! If you are very passionate and interested check out THE ULTIMATE FASHION STARTUP WORKBOOK to comprehensively learn more about how to start a fashion business from the bottom. With everything, you need to know in one place with over 10K and a decade worth of actionable tasks to accelerate your business growth and help your fashion label stand out from the crowd.  Riddled with superior industry contacts and links to digital timesaving platforms. In any case if you’re still wondering how you’re going to do everything yourself Shedule a call and we’ll show you where you can find those contacts and save money when launching your label.