How to create your own clothing brand?

Inspired by the TV series How to Make It in America or at a party with friends, you come up with the second best idea in the world – starting your own clothing brand. The first best idea, of course, is to open a restaurant. If the day after the party, the idea of your own clothing label is still on your mind, it might be worth putting it into practice. So what needs to be done to turn an idea into a reality?

You are about to learn a system of 7 steps that will allow you to create your own clothing label and avoid mistakes that could drive you into a corner. You won’t have to reinvent the wheel either, because everything you need has been figured out long ago. And that’s a very good thing, because it makes things easier. If you just have a cool idea for a T-shirt for yourself and your friends then you don’t need this guide to be happy. Just order custom printed T-shirts. You don’t need to start your own clothing brand for this purpose 😉

1. Why are you doing this?

As with any task in life, you should know why you are doing it. Most people don’t really know why they do things and thus perform mediocre or even less well. If you want to be successful in any way you have to be above average. Not necessarily right away, because it is a process. The Japanese have their own term for this – kaizen. Therefore, honestly and deeply answer the question: why do I want to do this? Most often, it will be the need to satisfy your creative self, combined with financial motivation. At the end of the day, you don’t want to add to the business, you just want to make money from it. Your personal motivation may be different, but pin it down so that it provides a reference point for the moments of doubt and laziness that will undoubtedly follow.

2. The brand concept

What separates a cohesive clothing brand from just another store with funny T-shirts is the overall concept. You may have heard the folk wisdom “If something is for everything, it’s for nothing.” It’s not a universal revealed truth, but in the case of a niche clothing brand, it works 100%. Answer the question: who will be willing to take out their hard-earned money from their wallet and give it to you in exchange for T-shirts, sweatshirts, or caps? Who specifically will be the recipient of your idea? Don’t try to play to the audience. You will be authentic in what you do if your roots come from the target audience you want to reach. You should know it inside out. It’s completely different what fans of Darth Vader expect, and what fans of the metal band Vader expect. Nor will you hit the tastes of hip-hop youth and hipsters at the same time. In the same way, you will not reconcile en masse the tastes of culturalists and bodybuilders despite the phonetic convergence. By creating your own clothing brand with a view to measurable profit, not just your own satisfaction, you become an entrepreneur. The role of an entrepreneur is to satisfy an already existing need or to trigger a previously unknown need. So you should be aware of their existence or know how to trigger them in order to sell the finished product. It is mainly good marketing that makes it possible for some brands to sell the same or similar products, but several to several times more expensive than the competition. When preparing your own apparel brand, you will have to refer to the brand’s initial concept at every step. Think it through as much as possible and you will save a lot of time, money and nerves.

3. Brand name and logo design

At this point, the brand begins to take physical shape. Make sure the logo and name fit the brand concept. While you don’t need specialized skills to come up with a good name, it’s worth entrusting logo design to someone who knows what they’re doing, not just thinks they do. Knowing how to use Photoshop at a basic level doesn’t make anyone a graphic designer yet. Just as writing a report in Word does not make a writer. Designing a good logo is an art, and if you don’t have the skills yourself you should entrust the subject to professionals. The role of an entrepreneur, even if you don’t formally own a company, is not to do everything yourself, but to embrace the whole thing and delegate tasks to people who can do, something better or more efficiently (cheaper) than you (I know, ego suffers, but the end result is what counts). Remember that you are investing not only money, but also time, which is not made of rubber.

4. Obtaining clothes

Whether you want to start with just T-shirts or go straight into the breadth of the assortment (sweatshirts, jackets, hats, accessories) you have two paths to choose from:

a) Ordering ready-made promotional clothing

Don’t let the name “promotional clothing” fool you. Here’s the knowledge that will save you a lot of money: the quality of ready-made promotional clothing is often much higher than that of well-known “original” brands in shopping malls. Well-known brands sell their clothes relatively more expensive not because they are better, but because they spent more money on marketing, as I wrote above. You don’t need to sell a kidney to order dozens or hundreds of ready-made T-shirts from a wide range of ready-made clothing. The range of promotional clothing manufacturers is so wide that it will satisfy most “casual” brands, even those with high quality requirements. With the help of professionals, discern what cut and type of cotton will best suit your customers. Order some samples and bear with them personally.

b) Sewing from scratch

Ordering garments from a specialized sewing shop is an idea for the financially well-off. The advantage (or disadvantage) is that you decide the entire production process. You can order bales of the finest combed Egyptian cotton and have the garment sewn to your own cut. You also have more design options when it comes to patterns, because the fabric can be printed before sewing, allowing you to print all over the garment. Finding a good sewing shop is not an easy task, and most of the really good ones do not advertise on the Internet. Also, those who already have their access are diligently guarding their contacts from potential competition. The question also remains, are you willing and able to pay two or even three times as much for the listed opportunities as you would when ordering ready-made garments? After all, the price will reflect on the end customer. If you are creating an exclusive brand, or the price for the target group is a secondary – or tertiary – aspect then you can seriously consider sewing in a sewing room. In other cases, I advise you to choose option a)

5. Labeling

The label gives your brand class and is a clear sign to the customer that they can count on quality they are willing to pay for. As with other aspects of branding, there are several options for clothing labeling:

a) Jacquard labels

Made of polyester yarns, they give the brand an exclusive touch. The advantage is the elegant look of the label enhanced by the texture of the yarn. The disadvantage is the minimum order of about 2000 pieces.

b) Sublimation tags

Printed on smooth “satin” ribbon. They are used by many top brands, so they should not necessarily be considered “inferior” to jacquard ones. A matter of taste, needs and possibilities. The undoubted advantage of sublimation tags is the low volume in which they can be ordered, starting from 100 pieces. Jacquard and sublimation labels can be sewn in two ways: at the stage of sewing the garment, or by ripping out the labels from promotional clothing and replacing them with your own.

c) Printed labels

Printed labels are an interesting alternative. They can be screen-printed or heat-transferred on the inside of the shirt. They present themselves very well and you make exactly as many of them as needed, without the need to invest in jacquard or sublimation labels. In the case of sweatshirts, the use of printed labels is impossible due to the nature of the material on the inside of the sweatshirt.

6. Pattern design

As with the logo – here, too, I advise you to consider working with a professional. The idea is most important, but it should be properly presented and identical to the brand concept developed at the very beginning. You probably don’t want your brand to be identified with T-shirts from stalls by the sea, where the pinnacle of design is changing the font from Times New Roman to Arial Black.

7. Print

Choosing the right printing technique depends on your expectations and financial possibilities. In most cases, screen printing will be the most adequate solution, but it requires some investment. If you create designs in terms of thermal transfer, you will spend less money on the investment in printing, but per unit you will pay more and be more limited in the design.

By following the above timetable you are able to create your own brand of clothing. So what else are you waiting for? Get to work! Luck favors the brave. You’re probably wondering how much it costs overall to create your own clothing brand?

If you have any questions contact us and we will present you with specific solutions for your situation. We’ve printed for a variety of brands, and we’ve also created them ourselves, so we’ll present different possible ways to implement, while advising you on what might be the most sensible solution for you.