Tag: Startup Fashion
SFD115 How to Start a Clothing Line with (practically!) No Money
When you think about starting your own clothing line, you probably imagine garments you designed completely from scratch gracing a magazine page or floating down a runway. But starting a fashion brand takes years… and a major investment of cash. If what you really want is to get something of your own design out into […]
SFD113 How to fund your fashion brand with a freelancing career
Need funding to launch your fashion brand? Mat Booth, founder of UK-made luggage brand Both Barrels, funded his startup brand by working as a freelancer. Listen to the story of how he shifted from employment to freelancing, and then started a successful label without any outside funding.
SFD112 How to launch a shoe brand without any fashion experience
Not all successful fashion designers go to fashion school. Lila Stewart used to do marketing in the music industry, and her husband Jeremy was a political consultant. But when they decided they wanted to start a business with philanthropy at its heart, they found themselves entering the fashion industry with zero experience. In this episode […]
SFD107 What to Include in a Freelance Fashion Designer Contract
Do you really need a contract as a freelance fashion designer? What should your contract include? On this episode of the SFD Podcast, you’ll hear from small business attorney Andrea Sager on contracts, design ownership, payment disputes, and the best ways to protect yourself and your assets when you’re freelancing in fashion.
SFD094 This Dirndl Designer Grew a BIG Fashion Brand with a TINY Niche
Is it possible to start a successful fashion brand when your niche is super small? On this episode we hear from Erika Neumayer Ehrat of Rare Dirndl. Her full time job is designing and selling dirndls. If you’ve never found yourself desperately scouring the web for the perfect dirndl, we’re not surprised! It’s such a tiny […]
SFD071 A Fashion Design Dream Come True: From the Honduras to NYFW, With Guillermo Irias
When it came to success in fashion, Guillermo Irias had nothing going for him. Raised in the Honduras by a single mom who didn’t think a fashion career was a good idea, he didn’t have the financial or emotional support he needed. But he is hardworking, driven, and passionate. And he wasn’t willing to let […]
SFD064 Fashion Startup Advice on Creating, Manufacturing and Selling Your Designs
You’re someone who spends hours getting lost in a fashion idea, drawing and redesigning a garment over and over again until it’s just right. But once those ideas are perfected you’re not sure how to go from hand drawing on a napkin to holding that garment in your hands. But you can wade through the uncertainty […]
SFD063 Mailbag: Fashion Design Career Advice on Samples vs Prototypes, Made to Order fashion and Textile Design
Many of you have loads of Q’s about working in fashion…and I know it can be hard to find answers. Maybe you don’t know any industry experts to ask. Maybe your coworkers are tight lipped and not willing to share their secrets. Maybe you just don’t even know where to go. Which is why I’m excited […]
For a successful fashion design career, do the opposite of everyone else
The fashion industry is a nasty mix of secretive behavior and cutthroat competition. We feel like the more tight lipped we are, the further we’ll get in our fashion design career. But the fascinating truth? Doing the complete opposite of what everyone else in the fashion industry does is how you get ahead. What does that mean? It means talking, […]
SFD052: Mailbag! Your Fashion Industry Q’s Answered
Many of you have loads of Q’s about working in fashion…and I know it can be hard to find answers. Maybe you don’t know any industry experts to ask. Maybe your coworkers are tight lipped and not willing to share their secrets. Maybe you just don’t even know where to go. Which is why I’m adding a […]
How to Survive as a Fashion Designer (and why I thought I was a unicorn)
Figuring out how to survive as a fashion designer is like figuring out how to survive Black Friday madness: But instead of just one day a year, it’s every day. All year long. This business is brutal and there’s no mercy. People will push you over and punch you to get what they want. And they couldn’t […]
What Experts Don’t Tell You About Launching a Fashion Line
There’s a lot of dreamy advice out there about launching a fashion line. There are a lot of courses and experts and coaches telling you how you can make your fashion dreams come true and: Magically launch and fund your fashion collection with Kickstarter Gain a loyal following on Insta by posting daily and using the […]
The Painful Beginnings of My Own Fashion Brand (that I’ve never talked about)
You’ve been thinking forever, “I want to have my own fashion brand.” It’s your childhood dream and you feel like, “I could really do this!” But there’s a lot of stuff no one ever talks about – like logistics and money and profits (or lack thereof). I’ve shared snippets of my fashion journey before. But I’ve […]
How to improve your branding as a fashion designer
Have you ever argued about fashion with a friend who says that what they wear doesn’t matter? Then you counter that of course it matters – it’s the first impression you get of a person! Your visual branding is the same.
Fashionpedia: Why Every Designer Needs This Book
As a fashion designer, it’s hard to remember what every type of garment detail is called (there are SO many kinds of pockets, sleeves, necklines, etc). Add textiles, trims, dyeing and printing techniques to that list, and your head will explode with all the variations. Enter Fashionpedia: The Visual Dictionary of Fashion Design. I had no […]
Interview with Successful Fashion Designer Rochelle Behrens
Last year I interviewed successful fashion entrepreneur Rochelle Behrens. When the two of us sat down to talk…things got real. Rochelle is one of the most genuine and candid people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and knowing. Before the interview started, I humbly asked her to share it all, to teach and tell […]
The Ultimate Guide to Fashion Design Industry Terminology & Abbreviations
The fashion industry is intimidating. And if you don’t know the right technical terms, you can embarrass yourself. Maybe you’ve found yourself in acronym and terminology overload…tech pack, BOM, graded spec, block, CF, HPS, DNTS. What do all these words mean…and do you need to know all of them? It can feel overwhelming. Which is […]
Fashion Industry Interview with Handbag Designer Kaci Head
In case you missed it, on Monday we sat down with handbag designer Kaci Head for the Successful Fashion Designer live show. Kaci ventured into the fashion industry with her own collection back in 2000 and since then she’s had 3 labels and worked with multiple fashion brands. In this episode, we talked about: 17:10 The […]
Give 2017 a swift kick in the *$$…start now with a free AI training this Thursday
If you’re intimidated by Illustrator or feel completely overwhelmed and have no idea where to start, this free live workshop is for you.
What Goes in a Tech Pack?
A tech pack is the blueprint to get your garment manufactured…which sounds simple enough until you sit down and try to put it all together. The amount of details you need to spec become overwhelming. How much info is enough? Should you create it in Illustrator? Where do you put certain things? To start, let’s look at […]
