CLOTH MANUFACTURING & SELLING , anybody's in it ?

**E320** · 07-30-2006 04:28 PM

Hello,
I was thinking into an idea of manufacturing and selling cloth. It's just in the state of an idea, yet I believe my first steps could be

a) finding a fashion design student-girl, who knows about drawing and modeling cloth
b) making a certain amount of cloth models
c) making a label, logo, brand
d) finding a company that would manufacture this cloth models for me
e) opening a shop in a shopping-mall
and if everything goes ok, f) selling franchises to businessmen all round the world

From what I had calculated, a small shop might cost about 3K installation + another 1-2K of monthly expenses and might bring in about 3K a month.

Yet, for me as a normal male, designer cloth such as D&G, PRADA, GUCCI, VERSACI, etc. whatsoever do look somehow silly.

I was thinking about something people could ware on the street everyday, such as Camel Active ( www.camelactive.de ) for example.

If you know about style and fashion, what do you think - would people buy well-made cloth ( and franchises ), at a reasonable price and good everyday style ( similar to what cames active is making ) with a yet-unknown label, or are people mostly after a well-known label, such as D&G or GUCCI, etc., and won't look at an unknown one?

Thanks!

**chem** · 07-30-2006 07:20 PM

http://www.startingaclothingline.com/

I showed my girlfriend that site because her main intrest are Fashion/Journalism

**paul2145r** · 07-30-2006 09:43 PM

My wife and I were talking about her doing a line of clothing for taller women. Most stores cater to one-size-fits-all when it comes to the length in pants, including mall department stores. Why not have a line that caters to those long-legged women we love so much? Let me know if you find anyone interested in setting up a clothing line. I can help some with distribution/advertising...

**S E N S E Z** · 07-31-2006 12:37 AM

I too had the idea of aquiring a student or one who is into fashion to help design clothing...

sounds like a plan.

**archiebolo** · 07-31-2006 01:06 AM

Im doing the same thing.
except there is some problem with your idea
for a store to survive in a mall expecially fashion wise, you need intensive interier designing and remodleing... which will cost you anywhere from 250k to 500k, and manufactruing stuff and designing stuff will at least cost you 20k or more..
so you might need to rethink your budgit.

you can pm me if you need any more help or info. or perhaps even a partnership.. where are you located?

**E320** · 07-31-2006 06:02 AM

http://www.startingaclothingline.com/
I showed my girlfriend that site because her main intrest are Fashion/Journalism

I've also found this program http://www.optitex.com , could be great for design and later marketing. You can register there and download a demo.

Maybe someone knows any free articles or guide to Starting a Clothing Line ?

Why not have a line that caters to those long-legged women we love so much? Let me know if you find anyone interested in setting up a clothing line. I can help some with distribution/advertising...

Could be interesting... on the other side long-legged women also would look great in a skirt.

which will cost you anywhere from 250k to 500k, and manufacturing stuff and designing stuff will at least cost you 20k or more..

I'm in Latvia, European Union, and actually for what I had calculated a small shop here ( say 50 meters ) in a shopping-mall would cost about 1 to 2K a month rent + two sales girls and other expenses could be another 1K.

Interior designing of a small shop can't be anywhere near 250K, it's not like you're buying a big, old apartment and remodel it. What you get is 4 walls and only have to cover them with something nice, add shelves, posters, dressing cabins, mirrors, etc. so I believe it isn't more then some 3K.

Designing... I believe I could find an aspiring fashion student-girl and, already having a few model ideas in my head, we could design something useful.

Manufacturing, on one side there are factories here in Latvia and manufacturing there, I believe, will cost less then in other parts of Europe or the US, plus I will see the process and would be able to control quality. On the other side, nothing could be less expensive then manufacturing in Asia, yet I also hears lots of people got scammed that way.

you can pm me if you need any more help or info. or perhaps even a partnership.. where are you located?

A partnership could be a great idea. As I understand, you're in the US?
I believe I could be starting out in the very early 2007, as before opening a business I thought of taking a 5 month business classes that would teach me the basics, so that I won't have to run around asking "how do i register a company? do i need a license for that? how do i import/export goods? ", etc.

By the way, maybe you do have some info about how much could a reasonably small fashion shop in a shopping mall bring in? Or how real it is to sell designed and manufactured goods to retailers. Or to get contracts with retailers for goods to be manufatured on their order and so on?

Thanx!