Two men sit on a stoop on a city street
Expert: Alex O’Byrne, director of WeMakeWebsites
Alex’s advice: “Building a fashion business is all about creating a brand. Sure, the product is important, but the brand is much bigger. Ask yourself this: Do people buy Nike sneakers because they’re better than other sneakers? No. They buy them because Nike has created an extremely desirable brand. They buy them because of what wearing Nike sneakers says about them.
“A great example I like to use when talking about building a brand is P&Co. Take a look at their Instagram—the bikes, the beards, the coffee, the tats. All you need to do to become a part of their brand is buy one of their t-shirts.
“Fashion branding needs to be about the emotional experience for your target audience. Exceptional branding provides a sense of comfort and acceptance, yet inspiration to keep your clients coming back for more each season. These three questions are a good place to start:
What do you want your brand reputation to be?
What are your brand’s core values?
How does your brand belgium mobile database want to be visually seen?
“Once you’ve answered these, then you need to start executing on them.”
6. Take your time
Portrait of Odessa Paloma Parker wearing a yellow halter jumpsuit
Odessa Paloma Parker/Instagram
Expert: Odessa Paloma Parker, fashion writer and art editor
“Branding is important because it helps tell the story of your product—it communicates what your values are, your michaela mills perspective, and helps illuminate small character elements that are part of the bigger picture of your business.
“Take your time! Creatives and entrepreneurs often rush themselves because we all now operate at such a fast pace. If your business and brand represent something meaningful—and creating such a thing doesn’t happen aleart news overnight—then the world can wait, because it’s worth it.”
7. Tap into influencer power
Portrait of Madelyn Chung
Madelyn Chung
Expert: Madelyn Chung, founder and editor-in-chief of Represent Asian Project, former fashion journalist (The Huffington Post, Fashion, Chatelaine, Flare, and Yahoo! Style)
Madelyn’s advice: “A great example of a brand that understands social media is Calvin Klein. The brand enlists the ‘it’ models, celebrities, and influencers of the moment to promote its brand in a simple yet fresh way. It created a want in the market that would eventually turn into free press and advertising. And, as its latest campaigns feature a diverse cast of individuals, more and more people feel like they too can rock their Calvins with pride and confidence.”
