FASHION LAUNCH INSIDER EDITION 2 - 31ST MARCH 2025

By Your Launch Architect, Jane McMillan

DESIGNING JUST ONE PRODUCT CAN ACHIEVE MORE CLARITY THAN A LARGE COLLECTION IF YOU'RE JUST STARTING YOUR FASHION BUSINESS

For years THE FASHION INDUSTRY GATEKEEPERS (buyers, editors and agents) said that more choice was better.... 

But does more choice equate to more sales?

Have you ever tried to buy a pair of blue denim jeans, only to be bamboozled by choice and left the shop empty handed— hot, sweaty and  mentally exhausted because you didn’t have the energy to try them all on!    

Sometimes choice is too much for our brains so we end up choosing nothing!  By offering less choice your customers don’t need to think, so actually buy more.

Look at cup cakes.  They were just another cake in the cake shop.    But when bakers started selling ONLY cupcakes demand went through the roof.  One baker in Dubai even sold golden cupcakes for $1,000!

This strategy isn't ...

The State of Fashion report by McKinsey & Company for 2025 paints a pretty clear picture of the challenges and opportunities ahead for small, independent and artisanal designers like you. 

With so much uncertainty I thought it’d be helpful to break down the key takeaways and how they might impact your work moving into 2025.

A Shift in Consumer Behaviour
First off, the market is still pretty tough. Consumers are still feeling the pinch and are more price-conscious than ever but this shift is NOT just about discount shopping—there’s more demand for value, which includes embracing things like resale, off-price, and, believe it or not, even dupes!!

As an independent designer, this could mean reconsidering your pricing strategy but much more importantly, and what I tell the designers in Fashion Entrepreneurs Academy, it’s about how you communicate the value of your work.

Regional Shifts

If you are sitting at the same desk surrounded by the same people, doing the same boring job 8 hours a day 5 days a week and basically feeling soooo creatively repressed ….  

...but you’ve always dreamt of becoming a fashion designer….  Then isn’t it time you took charge of your life before it’s too late?

Most of us are indoctrinated to believe that getting a well paid secure professional 9 to 5 job with a big pay check is the right thing to do if you want happiness, self fulfilment and stability ….. and sometimes it’s just to please your family!

But is it worth denying what you really want?

When you are young you just do what you are told so it is natural to follow the path that your family want for you….   

...and when you are young you don’t yet have the life experience to realise that a big pay check can never make you happy.   So it is normal for us to unwittingly follow that path.

But if a 9 to 5 with a big pay check was enough to make you happy then the...

Most of the designers I meet are working 14 hour days designing and doing photoshoots but struggle to get any more than 300 views and 5 likes on Instagram.   They think social media is the only solution but it is not…  

So, take off your Gucci sunglasses and watch closely because I am about to show you how to FINALLY get your brand noticed:

STEP ONE

Firstly here’s how to turn your audience into loyal customers.  Most  fashion startups burn themselves out designing amazing collections for an audience who don’t actually want to buy them. 

So they invest more time and money designing more and more products but it doesn’t matter how many products you design if people don’t resonate with your brand they won’t buy. 

Instead what you want to do is define the vibe of your brand.  This is an attitude or feeling  that will inform your designs,  photography, videography, and merchandising so that all your designs and communication of them are consistent and aligned with what your audie...

Most fashion designers, when pricing their garments and products, will follow a percentage mark-up method which should ideally leave them with a workable profit margin.

However it’s never that simple because some customers don’t care what your make price is,  the pricing method used or even how much profit you made.  They just want the BEST!   ….  

Some want the cheapest but some customers want the BEST;   the most durable; lowest cost per wear; the most timeless or some want the best fit.

Of course it’s understandable that you use the percentage mark up method because it’s what you’ve been taught to do and it is the simplest way to approach pricing…..

But I don’t need to tell you that when your garments are priced like this you STILL get people telling you the price is too high! … and thousands of designers all over the planet use this method and STILL can’t sell enough to make a profit.

The popcorn you buy at the movies has a mark-up of around 1,000%.     You happ...

If all independent Fashion Designers get behind a new concept we could create a paradigm shift in the fashion industry, making it much easier for small creative fashion designers to thrive alongside the big brands.

I call this concept LUXIE.    Luxie is a hybrid concept where big LUXURY brands collaborate with small INDIE designers.

When I started my business in the 90’s consumers wanted big brand labels so it was a struggle and that’s why I want to make it easier for independent designers to thrive in a much more even playing field without the struggles we experienced.

For the first time in at least 40 years more consumers now actually do want to buy from small independents and at long last realise that it is cool to buy more authentic, unique products produced in small quantities and to have a real connection with the designer.

I think the large luxury brands could risk becoming dinosaurs if they don’t adapt and the most obvious solution is for them to work with, spon...

A once-in-a-lifetime RADICAL shift in the fashion landscape is leading the way to create exciting possibilities for Fashion Designers to build successful brands from their OWN HOMES.

Consumers now actually WANT to buy authentic products from small artisanal designers and social media is providing low cost or free ways for designers to promote their designs on a much more even playing field.

This will result in a NEW AGE for designers to work in a more ethical, sustainable way around their lifestyles and many designers have already adapted to this SHIFT building successful brands from their KITCHEN TABLE or spare BEDROOM.

Over the last 3 decades big fast fashion companies made it impossible for independent designers to compete with their large marketing budgets and exploitative low manufacturing costs. 

So, while these big companies were polluting the planet, overproducing and undervaluing staff ambitious designers had to give up dreams of running their own fashion busin...

If you’re a fashion designer who’s been burning yourself out working 14 hour days, falling asleep on the sewing machine to produce your fashion collection but you’re now wondering why nothing is selling.

If you’re feeling a bit defeated, wondering why no-one is buying and losing your motivation to continue with your dream business…

… then I bet you are doing one or more of these three things:

1️⃣You are designing a large collection that offers too much choice so you burn out your health and finances in the process and your customers are confused by the choice so end up choosing nothing.

2️⃣You didn’t edit your collection strategically in such a way that would increase sales yet reduce resources.

3️⃣You didn’t consider what your audience actually want and will be willing to pay for when editing your collection……. Or didn’t edit at all!

If you are doing one or more of these three things then you don’t want to miss my free workshop when I’ll show you the essential strategies every fashion desig...

The biggest mistake I see most fashion designers making is thinking they can build a successful fashion business without learning some contemporary business skills or a launch formula and this is the worst assumption they could make.

But it’s not actually the designers fault.  Traditional fashion education wrongly lead them to believe that conceptual artistic skills is all you need to be a famous fashion designer!   So its understandable that’s what all designers think.

And if it was possible then all designers who launched a business without business skills would be a raving success and we all know that’s not the case.   Many graduate designers who thought the didn’t need any business skills are left penniless with a failing business after just a year or two.

In fact if you continue to think you don’t need any contemporary business skills you will just be investing in an expensive hobby with no strategy for growth and how many years can you keep doing that? 

So how can...