galliano-homme said:
i wonder if anyone has any experience on this subject and could answer me a few questions.
1. do people design there clothing withfabrics they have found and then try to soure tham on a large scale?
2. how do you find a potential factory to produce your clothing?
any help would be great thanks.
I would suggest trying to get a job in a factory of one of these labels if you really want to try something. Like if you could get a job designing if you have an AA or BA degree; or maybe you could get a job as a "go getter." You could talk to people as you do your work and then you could figure out how to start your company
My friend owns an advertizing company, Altec media in Riverside CA; and he started as a go getter for Altec and then after 6 years he bought the comapany (Which was going in the red) off of the owner and turned it around for profit. He originally took the job to learn how to start his own
Also My friend in San Clemente CA owns Dragon. They make Sunglassses and tons of apparell for the offroading and Dirtbiking crowd. He started by woking in an Oakley Sun Glasses facotry to learn how things where done and what he needed to do. Now the guy is friken rich; and he gets us all free glasses that cost $70 ussually.
Also you will need to wite a business plan once you have figured out what you want to do. With a business plan you can apply for loans, and acutally register your business with the state. You may want to consider taking an 8 week Entrepuenuer class at you local community college cause they will tell you how to do all the legal and admininistative side of you busniness.
Also pick up a magazine so you are always on current events, but don't believe everything you read. I like Wired cause its hip, liberal, and thats my target market, but then i read .Inc for my business perspective or things.
One Last thing, location is crucial, if you want to start a clothing business you'd better be in California, or atleast somewhere on the East coast like Florida or NY. Becasue you will need to start by attending events and by going small. Like if you want to go after skaters got to all the big skate shows and give away your shirts at cost! If they have cool designes people will wear them. And make sure to have your website on their somewhere. And try to find skater sites and forum and advertize, its incredibly cheap and somewhat effective if you do it right. Thats why every computer dork shops at
www.newegg.com go to any overclocking website and theres a newegg add on the frong page.
Anyways hope that helps and sorry if you don't want the sk8r or surfer or whatever crowd but I've seen a lot of that, even though I personally don't wear any of those cloths.