Investing in samples or prototypes can be a huge financial commitment for a small fashion company, sometimes reaching upwards of $5,000. 

Before diving in, it’s crucial to validate your designs and ensure they resonate with your target audience. 

Here are 6 effective strategies to test and validate your designs without breaking the bank.

1.Social Media Feed: Share images of your designs on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest to showcase your products in various contexts.   

2.   Instagram Stories:  Use polls and questions in your stories to gather direct feedback, gauge interest and build anticipation among your audience.

3. Engage Your Audience: Ask open-ended questions to encourage your followers to share their thoughts on your designs and spark conversation so you can gauge what what might need tweaking.

4. Pre-Sell Limited Pieces: Once you’ve gathered feedback from your images the next step is to start pre-selling a limited number of pieces. This approach a...

For generations we’ve been told a degree is necessary to start the fashion business of our dreams.

However countless numbers of big name designers including Cristobal Balenciaga, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons became INSANELY SUCCESSFUL without a degree!

Every year thousands of fashion graduates get a degree from the outdated education system and clearly most won’t be successful.

So, is it REALLY worth spending 4 to 5 years getting a degree if you have nothing but debt to show for it and no understanding of how the fast changing fashion business is working NOW?

No-one comes out of the womb with all the skills and knowledge you need to be successful so of course you DO NEED education….  If you can afford the time and money to get a degree then yes do get it!!....    But if not then isn’t it more important to focus your VALUABLE time & energy on gaining the SPECIFIC up-to-date skills and education about what you are most passionate about… 

..  And if running your own...

I’ve had lots of requests to repeat the three day training event “Manifestation of the New-Age Fashion Entrepreneur”, so I have edited about 4 hours of content into this teeny micro training:

In “Manifestation of the New Age Fashion Entrepreneur” I talked about how a Fashion Launch Formula is the most effective way to start a fashion brand in the 2020’s and here I’m going to show you how:

The 3X Fashion Launch Formula consists of three key areas:   

STEP 1 MANIFEST

The first step to becoming a successful New-Age Fashion Entrepreneur that’s making a very good living doing what you love and living the best life for you and the planet, is MANIFEST: 

1. Before you dive into making all those ground-breaking ideas that are jumping around in your brain you firstly need to develop the MIND of a fashion entrepreneur.    I have a unique methodology to help you do this which I'll talk more about at my next free event...  so for now just believe that you CAN do this!    
2. Get cle...

In the fashion industry it’s common for new businesses to be financed solely by their owners and develop organically.   Bootstrapping is the term used to describe the challenge of financing your startup without relying on outside funding and instead relying only on existing resources such as personal savings, materials equipment and workspace.

It's what I recommend to clients and students going through the Fashion Entrepreneurs 3 X Launch Formula and in my experience that's what I recommend for most people unless of course you already have someone ready to invest and they are willing to wait a while to receive a return on their investment.

There are many reasons why I recommend this:

• If you obtain funding too early your investor might not be aware how long it can take a fashion business to become profitable and if they don’t see a return on their investment early on could pull out.  
• In the early stages you need some time and creative space to build your customer base an...

YOUR FASHION BUSINESS REQUIRES YOUR MIND BEFORE YOU GIVE IT YOUR MONEY!

Throwing a rich sauce over tough chewy chicken won’t improve the chicken…

…And it’s the same in your fashion biz.   Just throwing money at your business only MASKS the problems.

Instead, successful fashion designers plan strategically with a launch formula.   They know the best areas to spend money that will move their business forward.

Look, I get why you might think that you need a huge investment.  In the past you had to produce large 40 piece collections for wholesale buyers to take you seriously.  You also had to pay for large studio & showroom space….

...But what most people don’t realise is that TIMES HAVE CHANGED allowing you to start a fashion business with just a small budget.  In fact waiting to find that huge investment or backer could be preventing you from taking action and getting started!

In the Twenty Twenties you can work from a small space with some of your team working remotely.   You c...

One of my students , a few weeks ago, came to me in a bit of a flounder.    She said there was no point designing anything because everything already exists and she felt it impossible to design anything unique.

She didn’t want to add yet more unwanted clothes to the worlds surplus….

….So it all just seemed pointless and she was about to give up!!!

Do you ever feel like that?

I'm sure it was just her brain finding excuses to keep her “safe” and prevent her going after her scary goals!!!

But nevertheless it got me thinking that technically she was right!!!    When it comes to clothing everything has already been done before!

But, as I said to my student, not designing and following your passion as a designer because the things you want to create have already been done is one of the worst things you can do if you’re trying to become a successful fashion designer

I completely understand why she would think that.  At uni design tutors told you everything had to be c...

Most fashion designers think that to grow a successful fashion business all you need are fantabulous unique designs, customer acquisition, sell as many products as you can and make great profits.

I understand why you think that….It’s what everyone told you: college tutors, business books, the marketing guru’s, your bank manager,  business advisors…!   We are conditioned to believe that business is all about the cold bottom line and that we have to focus only on the intellectual aspect of a sale....  But,  have you ever wondered why 60% of UK businesses that put blood sweat and tears into great products, sales and profits fail in their first three years.

Don’t get me wrong….you do need fabulous unique products, sales and profits to grow a successful fashion brand…..However what is very often missed is the EMOTIONAL CONNECTION.   Building strong emotional connections with both your customers and your team will form strong lasting relationships that keep your customers returning, ...

Do you know how the workers in your factory are treated?  For example are they allowed to join other workers in a trade union?  

Forming or joining a trade union to protect the interest of themselves and colleagues is a fundamental global human right as set out by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  It's something I am passionate about and in Fashion Entrepreneurs Academy (my group coaching programme) I only advocate manufacturers that uphold their workers rights and treat them fairly.

The trade unions are empowered to negotiate with employers in “collective bargaining”….basically this just means that the union negotiate with employers (collectively) on behalf of the workers for things like salaries, equalities, human rights, fairness, responsibilities, working hours, working conditions, sustainability etc. to arrive at a collective agreement that will form the basis of the employment relationship. 

Collective bargaining involves a specific process of joint de...

GARMENT LABELLING

Starting your fashion business?…  And you’ve made it past the starting block?…. Congratulations!! …. Well done!!!! ……You did it!!!!!  

…Now you‘re probably thinking about things like materials, pattern makers, manufacturing and garment labels.

If you’re anything like the floundering fashion designer you more than likely haven’t considered the legal obligations regarding your garment labelling. 

After designing your fantabulous garments the last thing you want to hear is that it can’t be sold in your target market because it’s missing a label or that the label is missing vital information.   

If you shipped a delivery of incorrectly labelled garments to your customers, and they were held up for weeks on end at customs,  ultimately not meeting your customers delivery date. Not only would you loose the money it cost you to produce those garments, you could loose the loyalty and trust of your customers.

It’s not just a beautifully designed logo on...

Whether you’re a start-up or an established designer you probably all want more sales!.

Are you posting on social media twice a day, running out of content and still seeing no growth?  Perhaps you're just getting started on your fashion business adventure with no idea what the next best step should be.....Or perhaps the pandemic has slowed the growth of your business.

Everyone in business wants more sales and more profit…otherwise its just a hobby!...... And how much energy, time and money is it costing you to find new customers?  

It’s so much easier to sell to existing customer than it is to bring on a new customer and the more offers you put in front of them the more sales you will get…….

"But I only have one product” you might be saying.   “No-one wants to buy more of my one product”…...

Can you add more products?… If you don’t want to add more products how can you sell more of the same thing to your customers?  How can you inspire them to buy more colours, fabr...