Fashion Designer Goals to Achieve When Starting Your Own Clothing Line |ADDICTED

When you were growing up, maybe you were a child who always loved to play dress-up. As you grew older, it started taking you longer and longer to find something to wear because you were very particular about what you wore. Back then, you just thought you were too picky or that you just had a closet full of nothing to wear, but the reality is that you were exercising your fashion designer eye.

Photo by Kai Pilger

For some people, they immediately knew they wanted to be a fashion designer from the moment they saw their favourite celebrity wear an outfit to die for, while others didn’t discover it until later in life. Nonetheless, the timeline doesn’t matter. What matters is your passion and determination to succeed in the industry.

As you probably already know, brands and labels come a dime a dozen, but some are recognizable and others that aren’t. So as a budding fashion designer, how can you reach the level of success where your brand is recognizable?

Well, it first starts with setting clear-cut goals and mapping out how you plan to achieve them. Just look at the founder of Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto, Sage Paul.

One of the biggest obstacles she had to overcome was her fear of failure, but she did it, and that’s why she’s the fashion mogul she is today.

It indeed can be scary to put yourself out there in starting your clothing line because you just don’t know if you’ll be a success, you don’t know if people will be receptive to your style of clothing, and you just don’t know what the future holds. With so many unknowns, it can make anybody want to give up before starting.

But you can’t give up.

If you want to start your clothing line, you absolutely should go for it but before you jump in head-first, set yourself some clear goals to get your motivation going. If you’re unsure where to start with your goals, you can start here.

Designer Goals to Achieve When Starting Your Own Clothing Line

Define Your Target Customer

When you were going back and forth in your mind on whether or not to start your clothing line, you probably had a book of sketches of all the clothes you designed. Well, now that you’ve decided to start your line, now is the time to determine who your clothes are for.

Look at the personality, attitude, and “swag” of your clothes… Are they for the working mother? Or are they for the young entrepreneur that lives by her own rules? Figuring out who your clothes are for is extremely important because it’s going to play a significant role in how you market your line and it’s going to set the tone for every single garment you make.

Brand Your Clothes

Branding your clothes may seem like a “no-brainer,” but branding your clothes isn’t as easy as hopping on the internet and going with the first vendor or supplier you find. This is your brand, and it will reflect in your clothes. You need to find a vendor that will get the job done right for you.

Also, you have to consider the types of clothing labels you want for your clothes as well. You, of course, have the woven label but another great option that still promotes your brand and has an easy application process is iron-on clothing labels. These labels are perfect for when you’re just starting, and they don’t irritate the skin as cloth labels sometimes do.

Network Every Chance You Get

To gain exposure for your brand, it’s going to require some networking on your part, both in-person and online, but it also means putting yourself out there, and that’s the hardest part for a lot of people.

Of course, no one wants to look like a fool or like a failure, but you’ll regret it even more if you don’t try. Consider hiring a marketing firm to help you improve your online visibility while you attend various in-person networking events to gain more exposure to your brand.

According to Forbes, one of the most significant benefits of how networking is vital to your career is because you’re not only going to be exposed to new opportunities, but it will also boost your confidence, and you’ll gain support from high profile individuals in the industry.

If you think about it, a solid support system will take you very far in helping you achieve your goals. It’s something when you can witness others believing in your dream as much as you do.