Table of Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xi
One Piece of Advice xiii
1 Before You Start 1
The Reality 1
The Most Important Advice in This Book 4
You Survived the Bad News 7
2 The Fundamentals 9
Start with the Mission 9
The Plan 10
Setting Up the Business 14
The Team 17
3 The Money 25
How Much Do You Need? 25
Cash Flow: The Two Most Critical Words 26
Where to Find Money 29
Factoring Tim Moore, EVP/Director of Global Business Development, Hilldun Corporation 34
The Right Financing Depends on Your Individual Business Tim Moore, EVP/Director of Global Business Development, Hilldun Corporation 37
Navigating an Economic Crisis 45
4 Product Development 49
It Takes Time 49
Focus On Your Customer 50
Have a Point of View 51
Inspiration or Appropriation? Susan Scafidi, Professor and Founder, Fashion Law Institute 51
The Quality Standard 54
The Trends 54
Product Range 55
Core Product 56
Patterns and Samples 57
Choosing and Working with a Patternmaker Anna McCraney of Blank Canvas Development 59
Shoe Development Shoe Girls Studio 63
Costing 64
Price 66
5 Sustainability 69
What Is Most Important to You? 70
Sourcing Sustainable Materials 71
Sustainable Production 74
Share Your Commitment 76
Standards and Certifications 77
6 Fabric and Materials 79
Learn First 79
The Challenges 80
The Sources 84
The Order 88
7 Production 93
The Production Plan 93
Production Options 96
Ethical Storytelling Manpreet Kaur Kalra, Founder, Art of Citizenry 112
Production Management 112
Packing and Shipping 119
8 Marketing and Branding 121
The Customer 123
How to Get to Know Your Customer Laura Moffat, Cofounder and Director of Marketing, Kirrin Finch 123
Content Strategy and Creation 127
Marketing Channels 136
Search Engines Deconstructed Manpreet Kaur Kalra, Founder, Art of Citizenry 137
Understanding What Works 146
9 Sales 149
Direct to Consumer (D2C) 150
Direct to Consumer: Online 150
Direct to Consumer: In Real Life 156
Wholesale 161
The Appointment 169
The Order 171
Getting Paid 179
Supporting Sales 182
Trade Shows 188
Going to Market: Getting the Most Value from Trade Shows Alexandra d'Archangelo, Brand Director, COTERIE 189
Who Should Sell the Line? 193
10 Public Relations and Events 199
Press and Media Strategy 200
People and Partnerships 205
Dressing Celebrities Roger Padilha, Cofounder of MAO Public Relations 206
Who Should Handle PR? 210
Events 211
Event Formats 212
Fashion Week 215
Event Production 216
Sponsorship 226
11 Protecting Creativity 229
Fashion Designs and Intellectual Property Protection Olivera Medenica, Dunnington Bartholow & Miller LLP 230
12 Expanding the Business 237
Growth vs. Scale 237
New Revenue Streams 239
Product Extensions 240
Consulting and Creative Direction 241
Stand for Something 242
Acknowledgments 243
Notes 245
Resources 249
Index 257
