Designing/Selling Clothes - Page 3

I can't think of any actual designers that lack sewing/pattern drafting experience

mcqueen - savile row paul smith - savile row slimane - tailor van noten - antwerp academy yamamoto - bunka fashion college etc. etc. etc. You need to learn the trade if you want to succeed. You can teach yourself if you work hard, but don't expect ANYTHING to be easy about it.

If the OP is serious (or anyone else for that matter) I can show interested parties how to make menswear at a sellable level. There would be a training cost involved, but that money would be made back quickly and then pay for itself many times over, like a vocational education. I'm 100% serious about this. It could be an incredible investment financially, as long as one really wanted to do the work.

You can start small with t-shirts and the like, but I wouldn't put your own name to the label until you have tried a few ventures and learned from your mistakes.

You also have to build up a list of trusted contacts.

There are a lot of shady people in the fashion game and you need to prove yourself to be genuine.

It all takes time......

That site looks so legit... all the spelling is correct and stuff, and it just looks great. I feel 100% confident that when I provide my billing info that I won't be scammed out of my money.

Drew do you draw out your ideas or do you just go straight to patterning?

well, I'm not doing fashion plates or anything, but I do have to draw out the ideas. Spec drawing is a lot different than 'real' drawing and doesn't require the same kind of drawing ability by nature, but I am prtty good at drawing anyway. The drawing side of fashion design though, many people can do.

Having gone through this process over the last 4-5 years I can tell you it is an incredible uphil battle. We started by taking basic classes to acquire working knowledge of sewing and pattern drafting. This is important for both a working knowledge and to develop the vocabulary necessary to interact with contractors. We then found a pattern maker that we could trust and work with closely to develop our fit and the basic pattern blocks for our line. This is where you start spending gobs of money because if you are not a proficient pattern maker yourself you need to be preparred to go through lots of revisions before you get sometihng to something you are happy with. You then need to make inroads with every fabric house and contractor in the industrytahtyou can come in contact with. I spent a year while between jobs calling door after door from LA to London and Milan to meet people in the industry and to try to build a working relationship. I could go on and on but this would turn into a small novel. You are more then welcome to PM if you would like advice by email or phone. Long story short there is no quick or easy way to get into this business. Learn as much as you can and save up your pennies. We spent $30k developing our first block of patterns before we ever saw our first sale. Best of luck go take some classes and get hungry you got a long road ahead of you

Wait, seriously?

Yigal Azrouel - Skills were self taught, with no formal training in clothing or design before starting his label in 1998





(not implying a background in clothing isn't extremely valuable, just playing devils advocate)

This is a nice story, and not to discount your work done, we are not competitiors, but this sounds pretty glamorizing and overly glorious, IMO; it should not take 4-5 years, nor should it cost the '$30K before seeing a sale'... those are just factors dependent on how much work you want to do, you can make as much money as you want to in this business, whenever you want to. You just need to know what you are doing.
I could complete the same amount of work or show anyone else how to complete this same amount of work in 2 weeks, for less then $30K. That is not to show you up, I'm just saying that when you throw words like 'fashion designer, Milan, London, New York City, drawings, patterns, $30K' together, you're asking for costs that you don't need or need to pay to play.
I won't disclose what I've made in this business, because it comes from varying sources beyond the actual clothing as merchandise, but less than a year ago, I started with $300 that I borrowed from a friend, and I've made XXX times that amount of money on my investment, while selling below wholesale and at prices too low to give an exchange or refund on an item and not take a hit. $30K on a first pattern is insane. I spent $50 for a rough pattern, $30 for a set of swiss curves and hooks, $1.50 on a measuring tape, and $3 for a pack of paper and some pencils, and rolled up my sleeves and got to work. Not every one is going to be able to do that, but there's definitely something out there for people, between the $100 mark and $30,000.

Do not question the (0)! But he could still sew

yes, 100% serious. the fattest cash cow I've ever heard of, if you like to milk.

Most of my heroes are self-taught men. Raf Simons to Tadao Ando. Part of being a man is to take up a challenge on your own, and develop your own 'scent' (foblish) through tenacity and determination.

baller as fuck