Top Strategies for Successfully Entering the Business of Fashion in 2024
Hello Designers!
In this article, we’ve laid out some pros and cons of different strategies for entering the retail world as a fashion designer.
One of the biggest challenges independent designers face when starting out is gaining access to physical retail stores. Having a presence in brick-and-mortar locations offers a sense of brand validation and allows customers to experience and try on pieces in person. This is especially critical for young brands, as customers often haven’t yet built trust in them and want to check the quality and fit of products before making a purchase.
For emerging designers, being in a physical store lets customers assess the quality of materials and whether items suit their body type, which is difficult to achieve through online channels alone. Designers have several options for how to approach this, but each has its limitations.
1. Opening Their Own Store
Owning a retail store provides fashion designers with full control over their brand experience, from store layout to direct customer engagement. However, for most young designers, this option is financially out of reach due to the high costs involved.
- High Rent Costs: Prime retail locations require significant investment, making it difficult for new designers to afford without substantial funding.
- Staffing Expenses: Hiring and managing staff adds another layer of financial burden, increasing the overall cost of running a store.
- Overhead Costs: Beyond rent and staffing, additional expenses like utilities, maintenance, and marketing make it challenging for emerging designers to sustain a physical retail space without considerable capital.
2. Wholesale
At first glance, wholesale seems like a practical option since stores purchase inventory upfront, providing designers with immediate revenue. However, there are several drawbacks to this approach, especially for independent brands.
- Preference for Established Brands: Reputable retailers often choose to work with brands that have already established themselves to ensure easier sell-through, creating a barrier for newer fashion designers.
- Buyback Clauses: Many wholesale agreements include buyback clauses, requiring designers to repurchase unsold inventory, which can be financially crippling.
- High Minimum Orders: Wholesalers often require minimum order quantities that many small designers can’t meet due to financial constraints or production capacity.
- Delayed Payments: Retailers typically make payments for items 90 or 120 days after product delivery to the store.
3. Consignment
Consignment can seem like a promising option for emerging designers, as they do not typically need to produce a large inventory upfront. However, it also presents several challenges that can hinder a brand’s growth and creative freedom.
- Limited Display Control: Retailers decide which pieces to showcase, restricting new designers from experimenting with their full range of ideas and styles.
- Lack of Direct Feedback: In the majority of consignments, communication with the customer is either inadequate or absent entirely. This results in designers missing out on valuable customer input, which is critical for improving their products and understanding what truly resonates.
- Missed Opportunities for Adjustments: As a result, designers can’t identify potential issues, like fit problems, and make timely adjustments to optimize their products’ success.
- Brand Overshadowing: Stores that operate on consignment often focus on promoting their own brand, encouraging customers to return to the store rather than building loyalty to the individual designers.
4. Flying Solo: The Solution That Empowers Independent Designers
- Designer Control and Flexibility: Designers can bring in pieces they want to showcase, swap items at any time, and host in-person events to engage directly with customers.
- Low Inventory Requirements: Designers can display as few as 10 pieces, allowing them to enter the retail space without large financial commitments.
- Fast Payment System: Designers receive payment within 30 days of a sale, providing crucial working capital to help them grow their brands.
- It is about your brand: In addition to signage featuring designer names and clear visual separation of each brand within the store, Flying Solo has a large PR department dedicated to promoting the brands under its umbrella. This includes placing them in high-profile publications like Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, L’Officiel, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and others.
By empowering designers with flexibility, control, and timely payments, Flying Solo has become a critical platform for young brands to thrive without facing the traditional retail barriers.
In summary, Flying Solo offers a unique blend of opportunities for independent designers, combining the benefits of physical retail with the flexibility of a supportive community, while helping them avoid the pitfalls of wholesale and consignment agreements.