Premium Japanese Denim Mill/Manufacture wants to finance my denim line

Ok so basically I sent an email to a reputable denim mill/manufacture in Japan. Pretty much on a whim thinking to myself "*******, why not, I have nothing to lose". Not really expecting a response, given the absurdity of my request. (I Asked them to financially back and produce a denim line me and two friends would create). I assumed before hand that they must get a ton of lame request like this on a daily basis. So I made sure my email was colorful humorous and did a damn good job selling my personality and telling my story which it did. Sure enough I get a response email from aforementioned mill, telling me they liked my approach/personality and they're willing to give it a shot.

Really I just want to go school, and it looks like this might be my saving grace financially at least. I'm pretty much taking this as a sign from the universe.

I've posted both my email and their response email below.

I'm posting here because I've been lurking since high school, and I know the people here know their **** as far as denim goes. I've been reading up on denim here and over on SuFu all night. Going through all the stickies, etc gathering information....only got about 4 hours of sleep and now I'm back at it.

So Denim Gods bestow upon me your knowledge.

crisp NYC, you posted no such thing below.

-My initial email

Hey_____ I have a very very very absurd request I am half way demanding you guys take into consideration. It is highly highly likely however that you will blow me off in which case my e-cred will be shot and I will be instantly defamed on the interwebz. Nada Meanie? No but seriously this is probably a weird email, however given the shamelessly anonymity of the Internet coupled with the current hard hitting omnipresence of the recession (ha! that rhymed I'm like jeezy!) you've pretty much got the perfect recipe for crazy email soup. But before I get all crazy on you guys, let me tell you a bit about myself. I am born and raised here in NYC, I am 21 and in love with any and everything fashion related, unwashed 14oz. selvage denim included. I can also dunk and I enjoy frozen reese peanut butter cups. Just recently I was accepted to Bunka Language Institute over in Japan, which is the pre-cursor to the prestigious Bunka Fashion College. I am however in a sort of financial rut that is making me desperate to see my dreams through to fruition. Did I say desperate? I meant bold. Anyway time for the crazy part (drum roll please) at this point you should be in a state of extremely deep hypnosis, if not then go get extremely drunk or sniff some paint that way you will agree with absolutely everything I say and suggest in this email from this point forward. Me and two of my very fashion consciousness, style savvy, "authority on everything cool 10 years ahead of current streetwear trends so its probably in your best interest to listen to us" friends one of whom is currently in Japan she's hot by the way, have developed a complete 360 degrees concept for a denim brand that includes identity, philosophy, logo, slogan, aesthetic, and mascot (were thinking something that looks like a cross between a koi fish and pikachu) we believe has the potential to do very very well (We all attended parsons new school for design intensive denim course this pass summer, so yea we know our ****.) and yes you guessed it this is where you guys come in. We would like to offer you 50% of the total brand in exchange for 12 free samples of which we will sell instantly. Send half the money back, request more samples, rinse and repeat, (not the jeans!) until were all laughing with each other over dinner about how that crazy email that gaijin kid from New York sent let us open up more stores than the gap. So yes I am absurdly requesting that you send us 12 pairs of jeans. All of which will turn into an absurdly popular brand. All because you guys decided to take some absurd chance on three kids with and absurdly great idea. And I will look down at my absurdly denim stained white sneakers, and laugh absurdly at the fact that an absurd email I sent is helping me pay my way through college achieve goals chase dreams, and enjoy the occasional beef bowl all the why looking damn good doing it in absurdly nice pair of jeans. All of which will make for and absurdly great story to tell.

P.R.P.S. (denim joke lol) I read you guys F.A.Q. and noticed you all had a sense of humor I'm a pretty funny guy myself obviously not tooting my own horn and though why not, so yea lets do this!

-There response

Hello______ ,

In the words of Senator Clay Davis from The Wire, "Sheeeeeeeeeeeet!"
Line breaks, punctuation.... my eyes!

We are not usually in the business of giving things away, but your elegance of phrase and brash swagger pique my interest.
Tell you what...
Come out to Japan, meet with us. Show me how serious you are. (I get offers like this a lot, believe it or not)
Bring your designs, your partners and your business plan and I will consider it if we like what we see. I'll even sign an NDA if you want. Bring it on.

Beg, borrow or steal. Whatever it takes to get on a plane. You sound like you can do it.

let me know!

Hugs,

_______

ps: Frozen Reese's are the bees knees

Unbelievable, given the fact that I was about three seconds from putting my mouse through my monitor three lines into reading this obnoxious, relentless, slobbering grammar-****.

But kudos, what can I say.

Originally Posted by BLACKCARD_JONES

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So Denim Gods bestow upon me your knowledge.
You and your two friends are going to design some jeans based on knowledge that everyone here is supposed to give you?

Originally Posted by zissou

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You and your two friends are going to design some jeans based on knowledge that everyone here is supposed to give you?

Ha yea right I'm going to bust ****** and make this happen regardless by putting in the needed time effort and work I just know that going here and listening to people talk is better than mentioning it to a bunch of friends/people who probably don't know what there talking about, and having some douche-bag in Ed Hardy yell out something like dude add rips.

However much you think you've learned and know about denim from a consumer side, I'm guessing there's a whole side that's missing and it's the side that counts. The side of actually creating a brand and selling a product. 1. I'd suggest you get to know your competition. Go buy or at least check out a bunch of the top selling brands and models and literally take them apart. Get to know exactly how they're built and why people do or don't like them. 2. Approach people like you, for example Naked and Famous, people who have small startup denim companies and ask them for advice. You'd be surprised how helpful people are. 3. Talk to some of the denim store owners off SF here and ask them questions about what the like or don't, why they chose to carry certain lines/not, things they'd like to see, etc. IE don't reinvent your own wheel, learn from the mistakes of others, or learn what's already working. This guy basically has nothing to lose. The work's on you for now. If you can go there with a very clear list of ideas that are well thought out and researched and have a map and a plan sure he'll back you. People crave leadership from others, it makes their lives easier. Keep your "funny" but don't forget, this is $ business. So start acting like a professional, or hire/partner with someone to manage the "business" portion of this while you design and sell the stuff. Also you've basically just sold your shirt which I think was a dumb move. Sell him on the idea, then start talking about the deal. You just told him that you're giving him half of your business for the price of 12 jeans? His cost is a few hours listening to you and making a few pairs of jeans and he gets 50% of anything this business does? Sounds like a bad deal for you my friend. I'd try to wiggle that to say, what we meant was you get 50% of whatever we make on those 12 pairs for now. Once this thing goes into production, we'll work out some kind of deal (and please please go talk to some designers and find out the industry standard) Kiddo, youz got balls. best of luck with this, but nothing that's worth it is ever easy. I appluad your delusional ambition, it's the most important ingredient in entreprenuership.

Does anyone else think this is an ultra lame troll attempt?

Originally Posted by Master-Classter

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However much you think you've learned and know about denim from a consumer side, I'm guessing there's a whole side that's missing and it's the side that counts. The side of actually creating a brand and selling a product.

1. I'd suggest you get to know your competition. Go buy or at least check out a bunch of the top selling brands and models and literally take them apart. Get to know exactly how they're built and why people do or don't like them.
2. Approach people like you, for example Naked and Famous, people who have small startup denim companies and ask them for advice. You'd be surprised how helpful people are.
3. Talk to some of the denim store owners off SF here and ask them questions about what the like or don't, why they chose to carry certain lines/not, things they'd like to see, etc.
IE don't reinvent your own wheel, learn from the mistakes of others, or learn what's already working.

This guy basically has nothing to lose. The work's on you for now. If you can go there with a very clear list of ideas that are well thought out and researched and have a map and a plan sure he'll back you. People crave leadership from others, it makes their lives easier.

Keep your "funny" but don't forget, this is $ business. So start acting like a professional, or hire/partner with someone to manage the "business" portion of this while you design and sell the stuff.

Also you've basically just sold your shirt which I think was a dumb move. Sell him on the idea, then start talking about the deal. You just told him that you're giving him half of your business for the price of 12 jeans? His cost is a few hours listening to you and making a few pairs of jeans and he gets 50% of anything this business does? Sounds like a bad deal for you my friend. I'd try to wiggle that to say, what we meant was you get 50% of whatever we make on those 12 pairs for now. Once this thing goes into production, we'll work out some kind of deal (and please please go talk to some designers and find out the industry standard)

Kiddo, youz got balls. best of luck with this, but nothing that's worth it is ever easy. I appluad your delusional ambition, it's the most important ingredient in entreprenuership.

Thanks really appreciate it best advice I've gotten so far. I'm really going to have to kill myself to make this happen my life is officially over.

Originally Posted by ToruOkada

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Does anyone else think this is an ultra lame troll attempt?

^ ^ false.

How do you suppose you're going to differentiate yourself in this oversaturated market. Quality, raw denim is available in about every cut, in every price range already. The way I see it, you have two options.

1) You can make the same jeans as everyone else, and then market them better. Keep in mind, I don't think the denim market is growing by much, so you'll have to steal market share. This strategy hinges on your ability to market, and has little to do with your knowledge of design, so it might not align with your expertise.

2) You can design something completely different than every other jean brand, and ditch the status quo. This is arguably even riskier. Unlike haute couture designers, you have no credibility to be making drastic design changes. Once again, this approach has less to do with your knowledge of denim design and construction and more with overall creativity -- may not be your strong suit.

Naked & Famous is a relative newcomer, and differentiated themselves by popularizing a new carrot cut, the Weird Guy. Additionally, they experimented with many new materials and colors: cashmere denim, green denim, etc. They've been pretty damn successful; maybe you could try something similar.

A more recent counter-example, would be 3sixteen. They're main cut is very similar to APC's NS, and they use japanese selvage like everyone else. They have become semi-popular because they offer some variety, but if they're going to grow, marketing will have to take over, because they're just not very different from any other offerings.

Just my $0.02.

Originally Posted by BLACKCARD_JONES

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Ha yea right I'm going to bust ****** and make this happen regardless by putting in the needed time effort and work I just know that going here and listening to people talk is better than mentioning it to a bunch of friends/people who probably don't know what there talking about, and having some douche-bag in Ed Hardy yell out something like dude add rips.
I can't help but think that you are going about this completely backwards. I would think that a person would start a new denim line because they know they can make something different/better than the competition.

That mill has some Americans working there? There is a 0% chance that the person that wrote that email is Japanese.

Originally Posted by BossTweed

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How do you suppose you're going to differentiate yourself in this oversaturated market. Quality, raw denim is available in about every cut, in every price range already. The way I see it, you have two options.

1) You can make the same jeans as everyone else, and then market them better. Keep in mind, I don't think the denim market is growing by much, so you'll have to steal market share. This strategy hinges on your ability to market, and has little to do with your knowledge of design, so it might not align with your expertise.

2) You can design something completely different than every other jean brand, and ditch the status quo. This is arguably even riskier. Unlike haute couture designers, you have no credibility to be making drastic design changes. Once again, this approach has less to do with your knowledge of denim design and construction and more with overall creativity -- may not be your strong suit.

Naked & Famous is a relative newcomer, and differentiated themselves by popularizing a new carrot cut, the Weird Guy. Additionally, they experimented with many new materials and colors: cashmere denim, green denim, etc. They've been pretty damn successful; maybe you could try something similar.

A more recent counter-example, would be 3sixteen. They're main cut is very similar to APC's NS, and they use japanese selvage like everyone else. They have become semi-popular because they offer some variety, but if they're going to grow, marketing will have to take over, because they're just not very different from any other offerings.

Just my $0.02.

Well as far as a general idea/business model goes, we noticed that the "hypebeast generation", and "mainstreamers" (general populace) are all over the place as far cheap stylish denim goes ($20-$50 range). H&M, Gap, Uniqlo (being the fav of the moment), Levi's, Cheap Monday, etc....and we want to create a cheap stylish denim on our low end as our "sort of foot in the door/claim to fame product" ($30-$40) that beats out aforementioned brands in cut quality and aesthetic appeal monopolizing cheap stylish denim.

Within the brand we want to eventually offer/sale good denim ($30-40) great denim($60-150), and super denim($150-800) respectively and each type of denim will adhere to the cut, quality, and appeal of specific market based on price point.