Start Up Kids Line

Launching is more than production

May 20th, 2010

I figure a good place to start talking about planning the Fall ’11 collection is to just start listing some of the things that I need to start getting together NOW and the things that I need to make sure stay on my radar the whole time.

Get it together

Literally – I want a collection that goes together. No matter how many styles I settle on for the final collection, they must be cohesive. Cohesiveness matters to more than just the look and feel of my collection- it matters to my overall brand building and my bottom line. If you are a small, just-starting-out business, then you are going to want to maximize your buying ability. You will want to use the same fabric in more than one style – this will help ensure you can ‘make the cut’ (meet the minimum yardage required by the supplier).

To get it together, I’m starting with a theme. I feel incredibly lucky to have been struck by a theme idea when I was doodling the other night. Right now, there is nothing solid behind my theme idea – but it gives me ideas for discovery. I’m starting with a combination of two keywords – those keywords are already inspiring me to look at fashions, cinema, movie posters, etc. from certain eras. They are basically a great starting point for exploring. Just an idea to kick-start your theme hunt  – try random keywords together, jot down words that strike your fancy.

Plan, plan, plan

Right now – I’m  gathering some discovery tools (sketchbooks, color books, reference books) and hashing out a broad time line for the production of my collection. From there, I can layer my marketing and sales plans on top of the production plan. To start your production plan, work backwards from your launch date (selling season for Fall collections is late Jan/early February through May; shipping starts end of July; of course, nothing is ever set in stone) and set at least the following milestone dates:

• Salesman’s samples complete
• Trade show booth (and/or marketing materials) complete
• Website/wholesale ordering information complete
• Sample (production or technical kits) dropped for assembly
• Sample fabrics ordered (I have a lot to share about sourcing in the next couple of weeks)
• Final patterns approved
• At least two cycles of: pattern design, test sample for fit, fit meetings, pattern edits, test sample for fit….etc.
• Technical Sketches complete
• Styles approved for pattern-making
• Final style meeting
• Fabrics sourced
• Logo, website, and stationary design underway
• Collection theme finalized

Keeping on my radar

So much goes into just developing a collection, that it’s easy for me to let a lot of the “launching a business” activities get pushed to the side. I will keep bookkeeping activities on my radar daily. Stay on top of your bookkeeping from the very beginning, if you can manage. In addition, I have to constantly and consistently work on your branding, pr, and marketing –>both the plans and implementation. We just wrapped up a new logo design today – I’ll need it on my hang tags and care labels, website and marketing materials, email signatures, social media site avatars, website, and on and on.  This time around, I promise to keep the trade show booth design and trade show schedule on my radar from the beginning too. Also – supporting my sales rep by providing them with pre-launch information and sneak peeks at the collection.

Ok – enough to do right now and more than enough to keep on my radar, I think I just made myself dizzy!!

Entry Filed under: Design Project Schedules,Planning beyond the collection,Product Development,Production,Sales & Marketing,Sourcing,The Startup Phase,The Tools You Need