Fashion Startups Business Service

162. So, you are looking for fashion startup advice in London ? You are either thinking of starting a new fashion brand, or you already have a fashion business that you need advice for.

Maybe you have been running your business for a while, but have met some problems on the way. Maybe you just need some information, or direction.

The London Pattern Cutter has been helping and advising fashion startups in London since 1984. We have helped thousands of small businesses just like yours.

Our studios are located in Greenwich South East London.

latter half of my forty years experience in the London fashion industry has been devoted to working with individuals who want to start a fashion business. Many of these fashion startups are complete novices on a shoestring budget.

Startups are a small but significant sector within the clothing industry that is extremely vulnerable and very neglected. Without expert help and mentoring from the beginning, 90% of these businesses will fail within a year. They will fail mostly through very basic, costly but avoidable errors .

We provide a one-stop-shop for these startups – A start-to-finish service for them.

Now is a great time for starting a fashion business in the U.K. For too long we have been dominated by the big corporate businesses. We believe that is about to change. We believe that the next thirty years will belong to the small business producing niche products.

The GB Brand

The GB brand is very strong and we believe that we are about to see a resurgence of small businesses generally. Most of our clients use U.K. factories for production despite the perceived extra cost.

They want to market their products as “Made in Great Britain”. We always strongly advise that our clients use domestic production initially. First find your feet in the UK. Then maybe consider offshore manufacture if it makes sense for you.

It can be really exciting to begin a Fashion brand with your own label and to see your designs come to life. But it can also be soul destroying to have those designs ruined by bad pattern cutting or bad making.

And to see all your hard earned money go down the drain. Our job is to ensure that you avoid the pitfalls, and to advise how to spend your limited money in the most efficient way.

“To get rich you need to be making money while your asleep”

DAVID BAILEY

You dont need to be able to draw fancy pretty sketches to be able to design. As long as you have an idea that you can get across somehow in pictures and words. Or by using ideas or fits from existing garments. Then you are a Designer.

You need to put your idea down concisely on paper in images and words, no matter how bad the drawings. In order to avoid mistakes it is a good idea to provide garments that illustrate the sort of fit that you require too.

If you find this process daunting, we do run a short two hour, one to one workshop to guide you through it. Just bring along all your ideas, inspiration and garments. We will then sit down with you to understand what you really want and to produce working sketches of your ideas.

Patterns.

Patterns need to be made professionally by Pattern Cutters who are very experienced in the specialist field that you are entering – A jacket pattern MUST be made by a Tailoring Pattern Cutter. Menswear patterns MUST be done by a Menswear Pattern Cutter. Childrenswear MUST be done by a Childrenswear Pattern Cutter.

That is not to say that they have to work exclusively on that product, just that they must be very experienced in that field of pattern cutting.

We have specialists in a number of different fields of pattern cutting, but then we have been doing it for a long time. And if we dont consider ourselves adequately experienced we will know someone who is.

Sampling.

Sampling also need to be done by very experienced Sample Machinists. As long as they are experienced they should be able to cope with most jobs if they have the necessary machinery.

It may be that you could save some money by having the factory make the sample as they will have to make a factory sample at some stage anyway.

Often the factory will insist on having a sample before they make a sample though. And they will need very precise information otherwise your samples will probably be made incorrectly…..

Production.

When it comes to Production it is essential to choose the factory carefully, provide good professional patterns with clear information and key measurements. The factory need to make a production sample that you check and measure.

If the sample is perfect then this is what you use to compare the production with. If there are small changes that you need to make, then attach a note to the garment with these changes.

It is important that the factory knows that you are not going to accept anything below par. If the sample is not perfect and you do not make it known, then the factory know that they can get away with an even lower quality than the sample.

If you note a few flaws then they realise that they will have to up their game in order to get the job and to get paid at the end without costly repairs or returns. It is then the factories job to stick to your measurements.It is essential to keep a very close eye on the production, carefully checking at every stage.

UK Production.

I believe that unless there is very good reason, all work should be undertaken within the U.K. rather than abroad, where it may be much cheaper initially, but may well turn out to be disastrous.

However difficult it is dealing with production in the U.K. it is far more difficult and hazardous dealing with production abroad. Stories I hear from Clients about production abroad are both laughable and tragic.

It is far better to learn initially by working with factories in the U.K. keeping all your mistakes small and then at a later stage consider reducing costs by sourcing from abroad.

If you have already had a go at designing and producing a collection of clothes, I can pretty much guarantee that you have already experienced problems with the patterns, the samples and the factory production. If you went abroad for your production then you will have experienced it in spades.

Expert Start-up Advice.

By far the most important part of my job is the expert advice I can give to small fashion startups. If you just want some independent advice without having to pay for my reassuringly expensive pattern cutting services I will be happy to help if you give me a ring.

While an initial consultation is free and with no obligation I do also offer a more extensive consultation service, either based on an hourly rate, or a one off annual fee.

Fashion Start-up Workshops.

We provide a number of one day and half day workshops for those wanting to start a fashion brand. These are invaluable workshops for both complete novices and more experienced fashion people. Please check The London Pattern Cutter for details. Workshops we offer include :-

Four Year Degree Course. 175. When I began my ...

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