Hello Everyone, I have a great idea for a high-end clothing line that I think can become very, very successful. Yet I am not a very good designer myself and I am unsure of how to get started or anything of the sorts. Any tips/advice?
If you are serious about this then I suggest you hire a professional designer. They will be able to provide you with a website that looks stylish and professional, and should revise it to suit your needs. I've always thought that for any site, and e-commerce in particular, that you need a really good looking website, because it's people's real money you are dealing with, and they wont part with it easily. The site design is the first impression: make it a good one.
It sounds like you need a clothes designer, first, then you should worry about a web site to sell the clothing. You basically need to study up on the clothing industry and learn how new apparel is designed, how it is manufactured, how it is distributed, etc. This will also allow you to vet your idea to be sure that it is, in fact, do-able. Many ideas come to people with no experience in an industry; some of them are silly and/or impractical while others revolutionize the industry. By learning about and understanding the industry, you should get a better idea as to whether your concept is viable.
Thanks for the tips. Is there any way that I can go about getting investments/designers without the fear of someone taking my idea and running?
Good question...be very careful who you tell your idea too. My advice is just be very general, and don't tell them exactly what your idea is, just generally.
I agree with Canadian. Try to keep your idea to yourself when researching the industry. Only run with the idea once you understand the business and know how you need to proceed to succeed.
I know a person who started a high-end clothing line and they went for some venture capital and it was predicted that they needed around 800k minimum but to do the full business plan they needed 2.5 million over 3 years for the start-up which is even somewhat low. They also had over 25 years combined experience in the clothing and marketing industry and still were turned down on funding because of lack of experience. You can of course start smaller but it is very hard without any type of major funding to start a clothing company. I think you are better off to go with a smaller investment and start small and try to sell most of your clothes from the internet. You will still need some start up capital for hiring a designer and getting a great website done. Use google to find more information and realistically intern or get an entry level job in the fashion industry to at least get the basics down.
While you mentioned clothing in general, http://www.t-shirtforums.com/, may be of some help to a few of your advanced questions. When I was just starting out making shirts in the past there was a LOT of useful information buried in there. Yes you will need to search a bit but at least a few of your questions should get answered there!
Patent, Copyright, Trademark. Simple. Have contractors sign NDA's. Non disclosure agreements. If you thinking of like logo, print design on normal shirts.....make a couple from those online sites...Or goto a printing shop and get them made. Dont go telling everyone your great idea because not having the capital will hinder you and enable your competitor if they do steal it.... Catch 22. I have a few friens in NYC and they did it ground up and gave them to friends and started a trend. From their went to stores and grew. Your best bet though, is not the forum because this topic will die down before you learn everything you possibly can....goto the library and pick up anything related to your business plan and how to achieve it. It can be done, the road to success if often a lonely one.