If you are an indie fashion designer wondering how long your business can keep going before you throw in the towel, then this is for you:

Lack of funds is understood to be the #1 reason for fashion businesses failing but that is part of a wider core reason.

We all have a specific threshold where if something gets too close to success, too expensive or too uncomfortable where we give up.

So, it’s not actually the lack of funds that is the REAL cause of the business failure. It is actually the business owners’ mindset.

It’s their fear of success, fear of not being able to get the funding to continue, their fear of having to struggle through or their unwillingness to make sacrifices and/or compromises to continue despite the lack of funds.

Successful business owners are tenacious and believe in themselves and their business idea longer than most people do.

It is the 1% who are willing to do what 99% of people won’t who get the success most people don’t.

Successful fashion designers hold on to t...

SHOWCASE YOUR COLLECTION DURING FASHION WEEK
Even if you are just starting out!

Have you always dreamt of showing your fashion collection at fashion week….

Well…. Some of the designers in Fashion Entrepreneurs Academy experienced the esteemed opportunity of showcasing their collections during Fashion Week in February after just a few months in the programme.

Most were starting from scratch and some hadn’t even gone to fashion school but this is what they achieved.

Lotte said she loved being part of the showrooom and that it was an “amazing unreal experience”…..

Natasha said she "felt lucky to be mentored by [yours truly] in Fashion Entrepreneurs Academy" …

Tiffany said "it was a great experience". She "loved talking to press and buyers", who all loved her collection, and she finally "felt like a fashion designer" and entrepreneur!

Our spotlight designer even received celebrity treatment from a barrage of fashion press.

In less than 6 months you too could experience this when you become a mem...

Relying on social media marketing to grow your fashion brand is DEAD!☠️

Huhhh. 🫣……

OK…..   I am being a little dramatic!!!  🤣 

BUT the reality is that you can no longer rely SOLELY on social media marketing if you want to avoid an empty order book!

According to McKinsey & Company BRAND MARKETING is back!!   

They said in their annual State of Fashion report that [in 2024] 71 percent of executives plan to spend more on brand marketing than in 2023.

So what does this mean for you as an independent fashion designer….

It means that brand marketing is more relevant in 2024 and you cannot be AS dependent on Instagram!!   

You need both social media AND brand marketing!  

In 2024 your Instagram, other social media marketing and Facebook (Meta) ads demand more raw authenticity than ever….  and your content needs to be turbocharged to create an emotional connection if you want to drive people to eventually become a customer.

A HUGE mistake I see hundreds of ...

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 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...

Why you DON'T want to be the most OUTSTANDING, conceptual fashion designer!

Most fashion designers think it's becoming really great at DESIGN that leads to fame and success but that is the most DELUSIONAL idea thats actually likely to keep you broke.

If you keep thinking success comes from putting 100% of your attention into being an outstanding designer you could actually just be working yourself into burn out with no sales or profit to show for your efforts.

If this is you your audience probably don’t even appreciate the quality and craftsmanship of your products so you are undercharging...

... and now you are running out of money,  wondering how to pay for your next collection and you’re tired of posting on social media every day when nothings selling!

If it was true that every conceptual, innovative design sold then EVERY  conceptual designer who JUST focused on design would be successful and we all know that is NOT what happens!! …

 ….   On the other hand w...

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...

Hey, It’s Jane 😀

Recently I’ve been noticing so many emerging fashion designers and fashion band startups not making it past their first three years of running a sustainable fashion business and it occurred to me that most of them have similar problems.

If you’ve been doing at least one of these it means that you are you’re likely dealing with something I call the Curse of the Fashion Designer…trying to sell while your brain is still in creative design mode!!

1.

You’ve been working 14 hour days with no social life for 3 months or more putting your heart and soul into a 20 piece collection but only get 2 or 3 sales of only one of your designs

2.

You’ve been in business for 1 to 3 years but still losing money and every 3 to 6 months your new collection goes over budget so now you’re wondering if you can even afford to do another season.

3. 

For 1 to 2 years you’ve been trying different products and posting images of them on instagram at least five times a week in a...