How To Launch a New Clothing Brand: 5 Tips For Newcomers In The Fashion Industry

Launching a new fashion brand or a private label might seem like a daunting task, but you can go from planning to launching in 6 to 18 months when you do things the right way. The most critical part of the process is getting started: as a newcomer you might not know how to start planning, so here’s a guide to help you streamline the process. As the saying goes, “Show up and you’re halfway there!”

Identify your target consumers

When you’re planning on selling a product, the first thing you need to do is identify who you’d want to sell them to - who are your ideal customers? You can demarcate your target consumers in terms of gender (men’s clothing or women’s clothing), in terms of age (kid’s clothing), or in terms of price quotient (luxury designer clothes or products for mass consumption). 

Alternatively, you can focus on a particular category of clothing such as lingerie or ethnic. Once the niche market has been determined, you can start shortlisting the apparel category or categories you would initially like to launch.

It’s never too early to start marketing

Creating awareness about your business before you launch your fashion brand can earn you a strategic advantage. Initiate your marketing ventures at least 3 months prior to the launch of your clothing line. Identify your brand’s USPs and highlight them in your marketing initiatives - social platforms can be a great tool for this. The goal is to create an anticipation about the launch and an awareness about your brand.

Plan your budget

It is important to plan out the budget before you start working on the production. Figure out the sources for your funds and chalk out a budget for the clothing line. Make sure you account for all kinds of expenses which would include shipping, electricity, staff payment, and insurances among other things. Also ensure that your available funds surpass the budget because it is highly likely that an unforeseen expenditure would turn up along the way.

Figure out your supply chain

Once the planning is done, it’s time to get down to work, that is to source the products. You might want to produce the clothes locally or outsource production to manufacturing hubs like Bangladesh to reduce costs. Either way, meeting the right manufacturer who understands your needs would be crucial. For newcomers (and even for experienced brands) production is the messiest part of launching a new clothing line.

The smartest way to go about this is to use the services of a production platform, more so when you're short-staffed. Production platforms connect brands with seasoned manufacturers and take care of the entire production cycle from design approval, order placement, sampling, production monitoring, and quality check to final delivery to your doorstep. Having to do these things without expert supervision can be risky, time consuming, and might legitimately compromise the chances of a successful launch.

Production platforms are the most efficient channels to source products because you don’t have to attend to daily chores - the service provider will take care of everything saving you the time and effort. Production platforms like Fashinza offer complete transparency where brands can track production status daily through a dashboard. There is also the scope to directly communicate and collaborate with manufacturers. You can go through Fashinza’s free demo to understand how a production platform works.

Differentiate your label

This is where creativity comes into play. To earn a distinct identity for your brand, you have to differentiate your products which can be done in multiple ways. All your products might have a characteristic feature - like bold prints for instance or you might use your branding strategies to underline what is unique about your brand. When entering a highly competitive market, it becomes necessary to create your own signature brand image.

Once you have these factors taken care of, launching your own clothing brand would seem like a fairly straightforward deal! If you need further help to launch a new clothing line, feel free to get in touch with us. We would be happy to guide you along the way!