The fashion designer survival guide : an insider's look at starting and running your own fashion business / Mary Gehlhar ; [foreword by Zac Posen].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gehlhar, Mary.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fashion merchandising.

New business enterprises--Management.

New business enterprises.

Fashion designers.

Physical Description:

xv, 205 pages : illustrations ; 28 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago : Kaplan Pub., [2005]

Summary:

The national retail apparel business has grown to a $172 billion per year industry, and the employment rate for designers is expected to outpace that of all other occupations through the year 2008. The Fashion Designer Survival Guide provides the necessary tools to get a fashion line or label up and moving on the right track, including: start-up costs and financing, legal issues, business plans, public relations and sales, marketing and manufacturing, distribution-trade, trunk, and runway shows. This book also provides case studies from independent designers at different stages of their careers, including tough letdowns and exciting successes. Young designers weigh-in on topics important to them when they were starting out, while several top name designers offer personal perspectives on a single question, providing a window to their world and a variety of answers. Designers are bursting with creativity but often fall flat going into business as an independent.

Contents:

One piece of advice

Before you start : The reality ; You survived the bad news

The fundamentals : The plan ; Elements of the plan : Setting up the business / by Melanie Jones

The money : How much do you need ; Where to find money ; Factoring / by Tim Moore

Product development : Know your customer ; Have a point of view ; The trends ; The collection ; Signature items ; The quality standard ; It must look the price ; Commerciality and show

Fabric and materials : Learn first ; The challenges ; The sources ; Once you order

Production : The production plan ; Sample production ; Tips and considerations when hiring a patternmaker / Sally Beers ; Production options ; Production management ; Factory management

Marketing and branding : Be your brand ; Press and sales kits ; Other marketing materials

Sales : The financial realities of selling ; Where to sell ; Selling to stores ; The appointment ; The order ; Getting paid ; Customer service and supporting sales ; Who should sell the line? ; Tradeshows : Making the most of the show / Barbara Kramer

Press and public relations : Good news/bad news ; The PR strategy : Dressing celebrities / Roger Padilha ; Who should handle PR?

The runway : To show or not to show ; Producing a runway show ; Sponsorship

Copyrights and knock-offs : Fashion design and the copyright laws / Jason Gabbard

Expanding the business : Licensing ; A second line ; Partnership/consulting ; Investors and partners.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 189-194) and index.

ISBN:

0793198992

9780793198993

OCLC:

75968260

Online:

Table of contents

Publisher description