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Tips to Improve or Create Your Brand’s Look Book

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How your products look along with how they feel are two of the major driving factors behind your clothing brand. But before your customers can feel your products and try them on, the appearance of your designs must first attract them. That’s where the look book comes in. A look book is essentially a high-quality catalog for your brand showing off your clothes’ best sides and making a striking first impression on potential buyers.  Working with the best clothing manufacturers is crucial to building out your fashion line. And the best among them, such as full-service clothing manufacturers Indie Source, will also help you develop a stellar marketing plan and look book. This is essential to getting your brand in front of people and driving sales. Here are a few tips to either improve your existing look book or to create your first one. Choose a Format That Fits Your Brand There are a few different formats that look books utilize, and part of that can depend on the

How to Keep Your Fashion Brand Ahead of the Trends

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You'd be hard-pressed to find an industry more driven by trends than the apparel market. Every year something new is in and something old is out, and it's up to brands to predict these trends accurately and swiftly, or they could miss out on capitalizing on the latest and greatest. Keeping up with fashion trends can be challenging for brands and manufacturers for a variety of reasons, the most evident being the rate at which these trends come and go. The thing is, understanding what your customers are looking for months in advance will allow you time to produce a line and get it on shelves fast. Here are a few tips to help you stay ahead of the curve and design and deliver products that stay on top of trends. Leverage Data Analytics If you want to stay on top of the trends, you need to have a pulse on what your target customers are looking for and what they want to purchase in the coming months. To do this, your data analytics system should cover multipl

Common Mistakes Startup Fashion Brands Make and How to Avoid Them

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Starting any business or brand can be a risky endeavor, but it can pay off big time if you plan carefully, work with the right people, and have a little bit of luck (or positive press) on your side. The thing is, far too often people jump in feet first and make common mistakes that can cost them time, money, or even prevent their brand from launching.  Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common mistakes startup fashion brands make, why they can hurt your brand, and how to avoid them.  Relying Solely on Overseas Suppliers and Manufacturers Many big brands work with companies overseas to produce their goods. The thing is, it takes a lot of time, years even, to create strong relationships with reliable suppliers and to negotiate price points down—which typically involves mass orders of thousands of units. In addition to this, overseas manufacturers don’t have to adhere to the stricter labor and environmental standards that US clothing manufacturers do. And

Why You Should Consider Opening a Pop-Up Shop for Your Clothing Brand

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A pop-up shop is essentially a short-term retail location where brands and businesses sell a (sometimes exclusive) run of products typically for as long as a week or as short as a day. In recent years, major fashion brands, artists, and others have used pop-up shops to drive attention and sales for their brand with great success.  With that in mind, if you're a smaller clothing brand or are just starting your line, are there benefits to launching your own pop-up shop? The answer: absolutely. Here are a few reasons why emerging and established clothing brands alike should consider it. Reach New Customers Pop-up shops are a fantastic tool for generating buzz and getting people talking about your brand. There are tons of websites and blogs online dedicated to finding pop-ups in major cities, and if you market your pop-up well, you can get the attention of bloggers, journalists, and spark a social media wildfire. This can't happen on its own, so make sure you

Why Working with a Clothing Manufacturer Should Be About the Relationship

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When searching for clothing manufacturers in the USA , some may assume that they are all the same and the process is as simple as placing an order and paying the bill. While you can go about it this way, it rarely works out well in the long run. Building a strong relationship with the company that will produce your clothing is crucial in ensuring that your true vision comes to life and that you can sustainably grow the brand over time.  Creating a Clothing Line Shouldn’t Just Be Transactional While purchasing clothes off the rack is a simple transaction, when it comes to designing and manufacturing your clothes, your collaboration with the manufacturer should go deeper than paying the bill. The apparel market is complex, and if you're new to the clothing industry, you'll find that it's challenging to determine the right designs to move forward with, the correct fabric types for the style, your budget, and a variety of other details. When you have stro

Important Questions to Ask Potential Clothing Manufacturers

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Working with clothing manufacturers either overseas or in the US presents its challenges. And, just like how you carefully try on clothes before you make your final purchasing decision, you need to select which manufacturer will produce your clothing line carefully and deliver the quality you’re looking for. As you start your search and get into contact with clothing manufacturers, keep these questions in mind to help identify if they will be a good fit for your brand. 1. Who do they work with? Knowing the brands that clothing manufacturers currently work with can give you a feeling for the quality of their production. If they work with big-name brands that you're familiar with, it says a lot about their quality of work. These relationships can also provide insight into their reputation within the industry and more. 2. Will they work with your budget? As with any manufacturing endeavor, budgets start as immovable constraints placed on the project. But onc

Tips for Producing a Sustainable Fashion Line

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The fashion industry generates immeasurable benefits for the economy and society at large. From job creation to economic productivity to artistic empowerment, fashion has long been valued as a mainstay of any society. In this day and age, however, consumers and businesses alike are interested in the environmental impacts of clothing manufacturing, and for good reason. Fortunately, consumer demands and corporate conscience are driving more sustainable business operations, and it is now easier than ever to build more eco-friendly practices into your partnership with clothing manufacturers . Manufacture Locally Manufacturing your clothing line domestically is one of the best ways to ensure a more environmentally conscious process, since US clothing manufacturers are held to higher environmental standards than foreign operations. Domestic manufacturers must adhere to rules and regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency that govern many aspects of manufac