Start A Swimwear Brand

How To Start A Swimwear Brand In The UK ?

(039-02-25) If you want to start a swimwear brand – JUST DIVE IN.

That is probably not the answer you are used to hearing. Most professional advice would suggest extreme caution – With endless research and preparation –

Research the swimwear market. Research  branding. Research competitors. Research suppliers. Research  factories.  Prepare your business plans. Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. Research. Research. Research.

But how long would it take to adequately prepare for starting a swimwear line ? How many thousands of  your valuable hours  would you waste researching, when you could be doing ?

Sure, you may make mistakes by jumping in at the deep end. But even with all that research and planning, you are still not going to be an expert in every field. And you will still make  the same mistakes without expert help anyway.

The London Pattern Cutter is here to help you every step of the way. Side by side we will help bring your designs to life with our highly experienced fashion industry  professionals.

You can choose to do as much or as little as you want. Just leave everything else to us. Or let us teach you how to do it yourself with our one-to-one fashion  workshops.

William Johnston has been in the fashion business for over forty years. He has helped literally thousands of startups with expert advice on pattern making, sizing and production methods. He has worked for dozens of iconic British brands, such as All Saints, Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood.

Emile Vidal Carr  has twenty years experience as a fashion business owner  and fashion business adviser.  The British Fashion Council recently announced him as a finalist for the 2019 Fashion Potential Award, resulting in Emile working with Steve Hewitt, CEO of Gymshark.

 TO CONTACT EMILE    emile@thelondonpatterncutter.co.uk  

Getting Started.

Our advice is to dive right in. But dont jump off a cliff.  Start slowly, with a small collection and small production runs. Only manufacture in the UK to start with. Learn the ropes before venturing abroad.

We specialise with startup brands on a limited budget. Let us provide you with all the advice, information and services you need to start your swimwear brand and get your collection  successfully to market. The best way to learn anything is just to get out and do it. Starting a swimwear brand is no different.

Swimwear Startup Workshops.

Concentrate on the areas that you like doing, and  are most skilled at. That skill may be as a designer, an organiser, an ideas person. Or  a provider of capital. We provide workshops for all areas of  starting and running a swimwear business, so you can learn as you go.

Our most popular swimwear  workshop is  the swimwear startup workshop. This is a variation of our clothing startup workshop, but tailored toward swimwear. Secondly, our design appraisal workshop

Our Services.

Our London based swimwear sampling and production unit has received  a tremendous amount of interest from clients wanting to understand how to start a  swimwear brand.

Many of our clients  are completely new to the fashion business and have absolutely no experience or knowledge.  Most   want to start a brand to  produce their own design ideas in  small quantity production runs.

These new business owners have no idea where to start and are eager for expert advice and help. They need help at every stage of the process – Designing,  pattern cutting, sampling, tech packs, and sourcing fabrics, trims and factories.

Most swimwear factories are not interested in producing small quantities. Those that can help will ask for a tech pack. But what is a tech pack, and how do I get one ?

The First Step.

The first step for anyone starting a swimwear brand is to understand what your strengths are. If you believe that your strength is in designing, then you need to familiarise yourself with everything about swimwear design, garment construction and fabrics.

Keep your eye out for swimwear garments that reflect the shape and fit of the type of designs you would like to make. Ideally make sure that these are from reputable swimwear brands so that you can trust that they are  professionally made.

These can form the basis for your own design and save much trial and error in making your samples. You will eventually build a library of designs and patterns to refer to for future designs.

Collect  images of swimwear designs and details   that you find interesting or relevant. This should include all sorts of things that are inspirational from whatever source. Also collect samples of interesting fabrics and trims.

Patterns And Samples.

Dont try to make the patterns and the samples, unless they are your strengths and you have the facilities. It is more cost effective to allow other people to do the jobs that you are not suited to.

Find knowledgeable experts in the field who you can learn from, and who you can trust to provide you with first class services.

Tech Packs.

If the factory  accepts your order without a tech pack  the client may find themselves with a production disaster. The reason the factories ask for a tech pack in the first place  is because they need  all the relevant information to complete the order correctly.

Although its not always required, you would be advised to get a professionally designed  tech pack for your designs. If you are manufacturing abroad, then this would be strongly advised.

Comprehensive Service.

we can supply  a complete service  to the swimwear start-up entrepreneur, including designs, patterns, samples, grading, tech packs and small production runs. If a larger production is required then we can advise on suitable factories for this.

Specialist Swimwear Machinery.

Swimwear requires a specialist swimwear factory, with specialist machinery  that few factories have.

 TO CONTACT EMILE    emile@thelondonpatterncutter.co.uk