Starting a clothing brand: 7 reasons you should talk about it

Is starting a clothing brand a dream of yours ? Are you maybe looking into develop a fashion marketplace, a tailor-made service, a clothing rental or any other service related to fashion?

If so, don’t wait until everything is perfect to talk about it. Yes, it might be scary. However, here are 7 reasons why it makes sense to start communication on your project as soon as possible.

1 – Is there a market for my idea?

If you have an idea in mind and are looking to meet the needs of a certain class of people, communicating early on allows you to see if there is a real need and a potential market fit.

Is the demand already there or will it have to be created?

Are there already people looking for the type of clothing or the service you are about to offer?

Are the searches local or international? In what language do the interactions or transactions take place?

These are the questions you might want some answers early in your journey.

2 – To co-create your product or service with your target audience and collect data

By communicating as soon as you can around your product or service, it gives you the chance to co-create or make adjustments with people in your potential target audience.

This can allow you, for example, to quickly find ready-to-try-out models so that you can easily adjust measurements or volumes.

These people can also tell you if the fabrics are comfortable to wear or if, on the contrary, there is discomfort somewhere. They can even help you in choosing the style or the fit that would work best.

Likewise, if you offer a service, your first audience can help you spot potential issues before you launch it.

3 – It enables you to grow an engaged community

When entering fashion today, developing a loyal and strong community is key to success. This is what can potentially make the difference with the big guys in the industry who have huge financial means to be seen.

With a loyal community, getting known becomes a little less difficult because if they like you, they will speak well about you to other people. This will allow you to grow organically and at a lower cost.

And to create that community, sharing behind the scenes can be a good way to start building it. It makes people feel like they are part of the adventure and makes them more involved.

4 – To develop some buzz before your launch

By communicating early on, you can start to generate buzz around your product or service.

The big luxury houses, for example, do not wait for the fashionweeks to communicate about the hiring of a new designer or a new art director, for example.

Creating a buzz creates envy. By creating some expectation, you make your product and service desirable. This can help you build demand and get people talk about your brand or new service.

Additionally, when starting a clothing brand, you might want to organize some physical events either to sell or to promote the brand. In that case, communicating early can help you fill seats and secure an audience for your events and thus, ease your stress.

5 – To attract the first potential customers

Communicating well upstream of the project also helps attract and identify potential customers.

And having customers quickly is very beneficial for a business that is just starting out.

You can even do pre-orders or pre-sales. Success attracts success. Likewise, customers attract customers. Because in people’s minds, having customers already probably means that your product or service is good.

6 – To convince business partners to jump on the bandwagon

Having a communication and / or digital presence already in place is a reassuring indicator for a business partner. It shows your seriousness and the desire to turn the project into reality. It fits him into the concrete.

Also, communication can help you convince and even attract new business partners. Whether it’s boutiques, distribution, fabric suppliers or freelancers, it sends a signal of trust with the person you want to work with.

7 – Last but not least, to reassure and motivate you

Indeed, starting a clothing brand or a fashion service is hard and stressful. Therefore, communicating quickly and interacting with people in the industry can make you feel like things are moving forward. You can have small victories, and even very concrete and useful information for the future.

It’s all about mindset. The life of a fashion designer is composed of high and low moments. So, seeing a progression in what you are doing and interacting with people on the project can help you stay the course.