Start A Sustainable Brand
How To Start A Sustainable Fashion Brand.
We at The London Pattern Cutter pride ourselves in giving our clients practical and honest advice to enable them to set up and run a successful sustainable fashion business. We need to be completely honest about the practicalities involved.
The difficulty with starting a sustainable fashion brand is that sustainability is designed to help the big corporate brands, rather than smaller clothing brands.
Smaller fashion labels cannot compete on the same terms with either big sustainable brands, or with smaller brands that do not have sustainability as their focus.
Lets face it, most people dont really care about where or how their clothes are produced, as long as both the look and the price is right.
Commitment.
If you are going to produce sustainable clothing, you need to commit yourself entirely to this objective, or just forget it completely.
The price of your clothing product is naturally going to be higher than if you didnt bother. Your core customers are going to be those who view sustainabilty and ethical production as a priority, and will be looking for your absolute adherence to those values.
That means that you have to get it right – Your branding, marketing, and pricing exactly must be exactly right. And you need to understand how to produce and source sustainably.
You need to decide exactly who your product is aimed at, and what they are looking for.
Your Target Market.
In order to decide exactly how to brand your product you need to identify your target market from the outset.
Competing Successfully.
It is certainly possible to compete successfully as a sustainable brand, even as a beginner with no previous fashion industry experience. But it is necessary to understand how the fashion industry works, and to have an in depth specialist knowledge of what is required of sustainably produced fashion.
You need to learn the basics very quickly in order that you dont make costly mistakes right from the outset. Our fashion startup workshop provides a basic grounding in how to start a fashion brand.
Ethical Production.
You would need to decide what your definition of ethical production was, and how much extra you would be willing to pay for this. The big brands will have the pick of the best factories, and be able to pay for the best. Small business entrepreneurs will not have the same range of options open to them.
Fabric Sourcing.
For any clothing brand, fabric sourcing is one of the most important factors, and maybe the most important in regards to saving money. You need to be flexible in your choice of fabrics.
Your ideal fabric may just be too expensive, while that fabric in the sale isnt perfect , but its half the price. By the time your design hits the shops, with mark-up etc., it is £20 more expensive than it would have been.
With sustainability in mind, your choices are more restricted, so you need know how to source your fabrics and trims efficiently.
Sourcing sustainable textiles is pretty challenging as a small business. You need to find suppliers who either advertise all the information about their where their raw materials come from, and supply chains, or those who are willing to deal with you in supplying answers to your queries. This is not easy at the best of times.
Natural and organic fabrics, and eco-friendly materials such as linen, bamboo, Tencel are very popular at the moment, so should be easy enough to find.
Making A Profit.
The main priority for anyone starting a fashion brand is to make a profit. If you dont make a profit you will not only not survive, but anyone who relies on your business will also suffer. And anyone relying on them will suffer too.
Further Information.
If you are interested in how to start and run a sustainable fashion brand, then please email for pricing and further details :