Why Your Brand Needs A Fashion Consulting Firm
Building a fashion brand is an increasingly popular entrepreneurial endeavor. Business leaders are looking to get into the space and capitalize on the creative return that it offers. Entrepreneurs want to forge their own tribes, following in the footsteps of fast growing brands like Everlane, Bonobos, Outdoor Voices, etc. Pulling off such a feat, though, is challenging. While countless brands enter the space every year, few of them feel confident with sourcing, manufacturing, distribution, or growing a brand.
ARE FACTORY PACKAGES A SOLUTION TO BRAND DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES?
Knowing this, apparel manufacturers offer an apparent solution: “full packages.” These promise assistance in apparel design and development, sourcing, and marketing your new fashion brand for rapid success.
Unfortunately, the level of service that you get from these arrangements can be lacking. That’s because most factories are production specialists. They are not experts in apparel design and development, fashion branding, or the myriad of other important skills required for successful brand execution.
Moreover, when they fail to meet basic targets, such as material quality or batch completion deadlines, it can leave you scratching your head about what to do next. You have to somehow direct them, even if you don’t have technical industry understanding. Time-draining management responsibilities soon start to pile up.
WHY HIRING A FASHION CONSULTING FIRM IS A BETTER CHOICE
Fortunately, fashion consulting firms can help in all of these matters.
Take brand development, for example. Consultants tend to have considerably more experience than factories in conceptualizing and designing memorable brand identities - graphics, messaging, photography, packaging, e-commerce web development, etc. Ultimately your brand needs to tell a story and that story needs to not only be woven into your products, but throughout all of the other physical and digital ways customers will interact with your company.
It’s also important to build an efficient and scalable product development system and team. Stateless co-founder, Souad Acha, has been working in the fashion industry for more than twenty years, developing brands and managing creative teams. She understands what it takes to build a business that can survive creatively in the modern marketplace. Souad and many other members of the Stateless team have helped establish the foundations for brands like Rockets of Awesome, Cuyana, and Figs.
Then there are the production management benefits. Consultants eliminate the need for you to manage manufacturers on your own, something that can be difficult if you don’t understand production schedules or manufacturing lingo and specifications. Consultants are a bridge that creates distance between you and the factory, while offering insights at the same time. This way, you can focus on creative output and worry less about production issues and so on.
For instance, at Stateless, we advocate with manufacturers on your behalf in highly technical factory language. Our senior development and production manager, Courtney Bagtazo, has significant expertise in factory production, spanning nearly two decades.
Fashion consultants can also help you set up the right kind of supply chain for your brand. Stateless is not paid by factories or material suppliers, so we can objectively align you with the vendors that are best suited for your specific creative and business needs - vendors that specialize in the right areas and can work within your target budget and production minimums.
Lastly, fashion consultants can ensure that manufacturers operate in your best interest. If there are production issues, Stateless can alert you to them and suggest possible remedies or changes. Many overseas factories will often say “yes” to any kind of work you send their way, even if they are ill-equipped to fulfill your brief.
WILL GOING TO A FASHION DESIGNER HELP?
Many firms consider going to a fashion designer to bring a brand to market. But, like factories, they rarely have the holistic competencies to make it happen. They may create beautiful concepts, but they lack expertise in areas like production management, technical design, and product development. Only fashion consulting firms can cover all these areas.
WRAPPING UP
Ultimately, working with a fashion consulting firm eliminates the painful and costly trial and error so many entrepreneurs go through. Consultants provide you with the full range of skills that you need to create a brand that reflects your vision. At Stateless, for instance, our goal is to help your team build an apparel business in the most efficient and creative way possible. We plug any knowledge gaps in your team, so you can put your brand in the best position for success.
