Starting your own private label clothing company is not as difficult as you might think. I assure you that the founding members of Volcom, Paul Frank, Hurley and Von Dutch, are not crazy fashion geniuses. You can double your rise to brand stardom as long as you have the following:
1. A decent logo
2. Creative concepts and graphics – Design talent
3. A Unique Blank Apparel Supplier
4. A decent screen printer
5. A line sheet to show potential buyers
6. Commercial and promotional talent.
Which do you think is more important? Is it obviously design talent what you say? Are you kidding? You must be kidding. Have you left home recently? Have you seen Von Dutch’s clothes? Chimpanzees that build crayons produce better designs. Also, I imagine monkeys are more hygienic, but I digress.
The number 6 is clearly the most important element. You can create a whole line of beautiful and edgy clothing, but if you can’t launch it, no one will ever see it (excluding your mother, of course). So unless you want a closet full of your fantastic designs, ask yourself the following two questions:
I can sell?
In other words … can I hit the pavement with my line sheet and walk into every boutique clothing store I can find? So am I going to harass shoppers in retail clothing stores into trying to spend 5 minutes of time on Magic 06 ‘(Clothing Convention) for me?
Will I be able to make a professional presentation to a Nordstroms buyer?
Can I promote?
Do I have creative ideas for viral marketing or gureilla to get this tag off the ground?
If the answer to both questions is No, you’d better get help. I mean, find someone with a passion for fashion who is also ridiculously outgoing, great on the phone, and aggressive as hell. Lastly, (and superficially) it would help if your sales rep is attractive.
I know, how awful … I’m really sorry, but I didn’t say anything about this being an equal opportunity blog ๐
With that said, let me welcome you to the shallow end of the pool … that is, to the world of fashion.
Good luck with your tag!