When I said I wanted to create a clothing line from scratch. First thing in everyone’s mind (including mine) is probably “Nice, and what’s the budget?”
There is no budget. When I say I’m starting from scratch I really mean from scratch.
I may have some nice fabrics left from my fashion school life and of course I can continue to work in the factory to earn some coins. I have lots of artsy friends that might help me out where I cannot. But right now I have not checked my fabrics, not set a budget and not contacted any of my friends yet. It’s all part of the journey after all.
With that out of the way, I did some research online. (I also read books but all of those I found in the library seem to assume you have thousands of dollars to spare for your project) A professional brand is obviously way out of reach, but I don’t want to handle it as an amateur either. (I found a pretty good article here, which explains the differences between amateur, indie and professional. I would put myself in indie) So the plan is to save money where it won’t damage the quality of the brand too much.
Use of free online platforms Maybe setting up a site or a blog isn’t that expensive. But I have found that many little things that ‘aren’t that expensive’ together is still a very big bite in your budget. I have decided on tumblr as my first startup website due to the possibility of text-pictures and the already large chump of artistic people present. (But I’ll be making another blog on online media)
Free promotion Paid promotion will reach faster and is definitely better, but for now the only option I have is to try and build up a small fanbase with free promotion. When time comes I can put in some extra money in this department.
Use of art Think prints on clothing, logo, promotional materials. I consider myself a decent artist (not the greatest but also not the worst). I have knowledge in Concept Art, Graphic Design and Fashion Illustration. So for now, the cheapest option is to do all this myself. Another reason it might be the best idea is that Mona Moth is still developing, drawing it yourself might give me a better idea where I want to go with it.
Quality of clothing Is something I’m going to compensate as little as possible on. The quality of the clothing is very important. This is the only category I won’t be a cheapstake on. Since this is the actual product being sold.
Branding Bags, tags, boxing... all that extra (but important) stuff that dresses up your brand. I will be looking at each subject seperately and try to find cheaper substitutes without sacrificing too much quality (For example making the tags myself)
Photography In the future I want pictures of my clothing of course. For promotional reasons and to show the clothes in action on a model. I have knowledge about photography and I have done shoots before. What I am not, however, is a model. Luckily I have friends who’d love to build up their portfolio as beginning models. So maybe we could strike a deal together there.
