Many emerging fashion brands have come to us after they have either attempted to launch their first apparel collection on their own, or after they hired an incompetent or dishonest patternmaker, sewer, tailor, or sample maker and found themselves in the horrible position of having lost thousands of dollars and wasted several months of time, only to find that they were right back at square one.
While we love to help get these clients back on their feet, we cringe every time we hear this story (and we hear it a lot, unfortunately). So many people have had to learn the hard way and we want to protect you from getting into this situation, so for this very important blog post, we have outlined the 4 reasons why every emerging fashion brand should hire an apparel launch consultant.
1) Save Money and Time: We have heard from clients who attempted to launch their apparel collection on their own that they didn't think it was "that difficult of a process" and they thought it was "easy enough to do." This couldn't be farther from the truth! Creating an apparel line and successfully getting it from concept to production is a very complex process and only represents one part of the equation. When someone decides to launch their own apparel collection, they are not just launching a line, but creating an actual business, from creating a business name, business structure, and business plan, to developing a brand identity that is cohesively presented via your logo, website, social media channels, and packaging/presentation, to idenitfying your target customer, sourcing the fabric/trim, identifying your price margins, costing your line correctly, preparing for your "coming soon" campaign, having all the right marketing tools in place, creating a selling strategy (and the list goes on). There are a number of steps that have to be put in place to successfully create an apparel brand and when you hire an apparel launch consultant, you are hiring someone who is an expert at launching a collection and can walk you through all the steps. When most people try to launch a line on their own, they either underestimate the steps, skip important steps, or hire dishonest people - all leading to wasted time and money. We have had clients come to us after having lost $10,000 and more working with dishonest people who were more concerned about taking their money, than giving them a finished market ready apparel collection. It just isn't pretty.
2) Learn as You Launch: At Launch Your Collection, our brand mantra is to Learn as You Launch. We get great joy out of mentoring and guiding our clients step-by-step through the process, educating them every step of the way, so they get a great value out of working with us. When you work with us, you learn the ins and outs of the launch process, so you can one day do it on your own -- successfully!
3) Gain Access to Insider Resources: Most apparel launch consultants have trusted resources that they can tap into and share with their clients. Our founder has established a plethora of fashion industry resources, from fabric and trim suppliers, sample makers and factories, notions suppliers, emerging fashion brand friendly resources, and other valuable resources that we happily pass along to you when we become your launch partner. Our clients are excited when they are given the opportunity to use the same fabric that Oscar de la Renta, Marc Jacobs, Buberry, Moschino, and the design team over at Calvin Klein uses and we love being able to give these fabulous resources to our clients that top designers are using!
4) Have Someone Manage the Process for You: With so many different moving parts that all have to occur at just the right time to pull it all together, it becomes essential to have a consultant manage the complex process of launching an apparel line for you. Our clients never have to wonder what step comes next, or get stuck when something arises that they have no idea how to solve (for example: a quality control issue with a fabric or a sample fit issue). Our founder and president (a 20 year fashion industry veteran) personally manages each and every client launch from beginning to end, so you can be rest assured your launch will be in great hands!