Make It Work

These days, countless boutiques and online shops are stocked with clothes made by indie designers—crafty, creative ladies who turned their love of style into stylish threads. If you’ve got an eye for design and a passion for fashion, you’ve probably wondered just how they did it. Turns out, whether you want to be the next Diane von Furstenberg or simply dream of hawking your handmade frocks at the local craft fair, it’s something you can do too. A few of BUST’s fave indie designers, including Samantha Pleet and the gals behind Shebible, Dear Creatures, and Nooworks, gave us the inside scoop about what it takes to launch a fashion line, DIY-style.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS:
money matters and making a plan.

Fashion may be fun, but launching a clothing line is fi rst and foremost a business. Budgets and goals are just as important as hemlines and silhouettes, says Brooklyn-based designer Samantha Pleet, whose dandy-esque collection of feminine rompers and dresses was picked up by Urban Outfitters last year. “I have a BFA in fashion design, but I really wish I took classes in business,” she says. It’s important to consider the realities of entrepreneurship so you can decide upfront if you’re game to do the legwork.

And let’s cut to the chase—to start your label, you’re gonna need money. Even the most DIY divas have to pony up some funds to bring their brilliant ideas to fruition. You’ll want enough dough to cover pattern and sample making, fabric and materials, and production and shipping, which could vary greatly depending on the type of clothes you make, how you produce them, and where you sell them. But the good news is, you can actually do it with very little cash. “It’s not so much about capital as it is about time and hard work,” says Jennifer D’Angelo, the brains behind grunge-chic label Nooworks. “For the first two years, I invested about $50 and just reinvested every penny I made.” Nooworks began as a T-shirt line and grew to include dresses, jackets, and pants. D’Angelo makes reasonably priced clothes in simple materials with small manufacturing runs, so her start-up costs weren’t bad. When it comes to choosing fabrics, think about how much money you’re willing to spend, then design your pieces around your budget. If you’re conjuring up a couture line at $25 a yard, you’ll have to make a huge investment on materials alone.

Not everyone can launch a clothing line as inexpensively as D’Angelo, but it doesn’t take as much as you might think. Calvin Klein launched his business in 1968 with $10,000, and Nanette Lepore started in 1992 with a $5,000 loan from her dad. Relying on personal loans from family members is a common way for budding designers to get their line off the ground. “We started with a $10,000 loan from my dad in 2001 and repaid him after a year,” says Deirdre Nagayama, who, along with partner Stacy Rodgers, launched the classic, comfy San Francisco–based line She-bible. “We’ve never taken out a bank loan, but we do lean on our AmEx from time to time.” Others apply for business loans. “I thought of it as a choice between starting a line and going to graduate school,” says Pleet. “I took out loans and worked through the first year.” Associations like the National Federation of Independent Business offer financial resources for smallbusiness owners, and Accion.org is a good source for microloans. Whatever you do, don’t quit your day job. If you’re already employed, stay that way so you can support yourself financially while you launch your venture. Before you thread a single needle, you’ll need to create a plan. Write down your goals, whether that’s opening an Etsy store with a couple of dresses, or creating a 10-piece collection that’s sold in your favorite boutique. For help writing a business plan, check the Small Business Administration Web site (www. sba.gov) for resources, or see what courses your local community college offers. The She-bible gals took a “How to Start a Fashion Business” class at San Francisco City College for a mere $66. There are also legal issues involved with running a small business, so if you’re serious about turning your hobby into a possible moneymaker, read up on how to legally establish your company and find out any tax consequences that come with it.

SHE & HEM:
create your collection.

The first step, of course, is nailing down your designs. Decide what type of clothing you want to produce (strictly dresses, or a range of tops and bottoms?) and how many pieces you want to start with. Choose colors and fabrics (keeping in mind the cost of materials), and think about creating a cohesive look that lets your style shine. Create prototypes of your designs to see how wearable they are or if garment construction isn’t your forte, simply sketch your ideas and make notes about design details.

CUT IT OUT:
pattern and sample making.

Once you know what you want your collection to look like, you’ll need a pattern for each piece. It’s imperative that the patterns are expertly made, since they’ll be the blueprints for every item you produce; they’re also the foundation for a good fit—a key element when it comes to selling your clothes.

If you have mad sewing skills, very little money to invest, and a desire to tackle patternmaking on your own, find a how-to book you can learn from (see sidebar). Being able to interpret your designs and manage alterations will save you money and turnaround time. But because the technical craftsmanship of excellent patternmaking may elude even an experienced sewer, many designers leave this step to an expert. “Neither of us sew,” says She-bible’s Nagayama. “We usually start with a concept, or parts of garments that we like the fit of, and begin modifications from there. We also sketch our ideas and explain what we want to our patternmaker.”

The most reliable way to find a patternmaker is through referrals. If you know someone in the fashion-design biz, hit her up. You can also contact fashion schools for students with strong patternmaking skills but be wary. “I worked with student patternmakers to keep my costs down, but I paid for it during manufacturing,” says Nooworks’ D’Angelo. “Having a really good patternmaker allows you to bring them your crappy hand-sewn item, and they’ll know all the right questions to ask to create a professional-looking 068 / BUST // AUG/SEPT piece.” Web sites for fashion professionals like InfoMat.com and Fashiondex.com also offer referral services, or try the classified sections of industry papers like WWD.

With patterns in hand, you can use the same search avenues to find an expert seamstress to create a one-off of each piece. Often, these samples are what you’ll present to local boutiques to see if they have an interest in buying, so it’s essential that no seam or hem is left unconsidered. Be sure to inquire about her expertise with the type of product you design, look at examples of her past work, and ask about turnaround time.

SELL IT LIKE IT IS:
getting buyers.

In order to make your line profitable, you’re going to need buyers. And it helps to have them before you invest mucho dinero in producing items that may or may not sell. When it comes to small boutiques, it’s usually the shop owner who’s looking for the latest and greatest merchandise to fill the store with. Stopping in or sending a handwritten note to introduce yourself and your new line is a good way to start.

Getting your gear sold in boutiques outside your hometown, in department stores, or even internationally, however, is a bit more challenging and much more costly. Attending a fashion trade show (where designers set up individual booths to show off their wares to thousands of buyers) is the best way to do it. But because paying to flaunt your fashions doesn’t ensure interest in your line, shelling out the dough can be quite a gamble; it’s fitting that the most wellknown fashion trade shows such as MAGIC and POOL, are held in Las Vegas. “Before you take the production plunge, make sure you have an audience,” says Nagayama. “Do a trade show to presell your items so you aren’t creating things you haven’t already sold.” If that seems overwhelming, start attracting buyers by opening an Etsy store to gauge interest. Or sell your gear at indie fairs like BUST’s Craftacular, then take your profits and invest them in more expensive ventures like a trade show.

But before you start selling to anyone, you’ll need to figure out how much to sell your threads for, making sure the price covers the cost of goods sold (COGS)—all productionrelated expenses like buttons, zippers, fabric, construction, labor, and shipping. A designer has two sets of customers, the retail store and the final shopper. Generally, retail shops mark up the wholesale price of clothing (what the designer charges the store) by double, plus 20 percent. Calculating your wholesale price can be complicated, but one of the best approaches is to apply the same markup principle. For example, if your COGS is $25, your wholesale price would be $55 ($25 x 2.2), and your retail price would be $121 ($55 x 2.2). If your retail price is too high compared to that of similar items on the market, you’ll have to simplify the design, use lessexpensive materials, or make production more efficient.

FACTORY GIRL:
producing the goods.

Production is where your brilliant ideas become a real, live clothing line. Typically, many young, broke DIY designers with small orders to fill hire a freelance seamstress for production. It’s a good way to keep costs down until your business grows to a point that can’t be handled by an individual.

Once product demand increases, most designers have their line produced by a factory, where industrial cutting and sewing machines crank out clothes much quicker and more precisely than someone using a home sewing machine. Generally, these plants don’t advertise their services, which means it can take some digging to fi nd one. And not every factory likes to work with new designers, since they tend to have more problems and pattern mistakes. “The info booth in New York’s garment district provides great resources for newcomers about available factories in the area,” says Pleet. “Go there and ask lots of questions about which factories are available and open to working with newbies and how to contact them.” The Evans Group (www. evansgroupinternational.com), with factories in L.A. and San Francisco, specializes in small-volume production, perfect for new designers. Another thing to be aware of is manufacturing minimums. For instance, a factory may require 200 pieces of each style, but that may include all sizes and several color options (make sure you understand their parameters). When starting out, it’s best to choose a factory in the U.S., even locally if possible, so you can communicate clearly and oversee the process.

ACHTUNG, BABY:
getting noticed.

Without exposure, your collection will fizzle without ever seeing the inside of a fashionista’s closet. Marketing and branding your business is as important as the design of your clothes, so you’ll need a logo, business cards, and hang tags (featuring your label’s name and secured by safety pin to each item of clothing) that are as cute as your collection. Call on your artsy friends to help you. Know a graphic designer? Enlist her assistance (in exchange for trade if you can’t pay her), or search Craigslist for affordable freelancers.

Consider creating a look book: a booklet that features photos of gals wearing your clothes, along with the name and style information of each piece. It’s an important sales tool for buyers, because they can see what your clothes actually look like when worn, and it’s a perfect item to send to editors and bloggers who will hopefully want to write about your new line. “I had always been kind of scattered and scrappy with my product photo shoots,” says D’Angelo. “Then I met a photographer who explained how great shots will sell your products and how your shoot should tell a story so press will find it interesting. Use your friends as models, and have fun!” Every penny counts, so sending out thousands of press kits (a nice folder including a look book or photos of your collection, a designer biography, a collection summary, and copies of any press clips) is out of the question. Email your info to anyone who might be interested, but be choosy about who gets a pretty, printed package. D’Angelo sends 10 really nice kits with a handwritten note and sometimes a sample.

In addition, create a simple Web site for your line. If you’re clueless when it comes to HTML, sites like Webs.com offer Web-design wizards and user-friendly interfaces that can walk you through it. That same graphic-designer friend can probably help make your site look good, and remember, keep the same color scheme and font selection throughout your branding. Take any opportunity you can to talk up your business or show folks your collection. You never know what it may lead to. Relatively unknown California-based designer Bianca Benitez, of the sweetly feminine line Dear Creatures, sent one of her favorite actresses and singers, Zooey Deschanel, a few pieces from her first collection. Deschanel took a liking to the line and the next thing Benitez knew, Deschanel was starring in a cotton commercial that featured her Dear Creatures dresses, giving Benitez instant, free, international- level exposure.

Launching a clothing line is no small potatoes. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from friends, family, and more-experienced designers. Be prepared for a lot of hard work. You’re guaranteed to make some mistakes along the way, but the day you see a stranger on the street rocking one of your original designs will make it all worthwhile.

RESOURCES :

TRADESHOWS

• MAGIC, Las Vegas (www.magiconline.com)
• POOL, Las Vegas (www.pooltradeshow.com)
• Project trade show, New York and Las Vegas (www.projectshow.com)

FABRICS & PRODUCTION

• Apparel Search (www.apparelsearch.com)
• American Apparel Producers Network (www.aapnetwork.net)
• Style Source (www.style-source.com)

READING

• The Fashion Designer Survival Guide by Mary Gehlhar
• Fashion for Profi t by Frances Harder
• Patternmaking for Fashion Design (and DVD Package) by Helen Joseph Armstrong

Illustration by Fontaine Anderson