Fashion Incubator » Rants http://www.fashion-incubator.com How to start a clothing line or run the one you have, better. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 19:36:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 You need to start manufacturing yourself. Period. http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/you-need-to-start-manufacturing-yourself-period/ http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/you-need-to-start-manufacturing-yourself-period/#comments Thu, 29 Dec 2011 01:33:14 +0000 Kathleen Fasanella http://www.fashion-incubator.com/?p=10612 Double-digit unemployment? These firms can't find workers bolsters my all too frequent lament that we are critically short on domestic production resources and with no improvement in sight. Here's an excerpt:
When local fashion firm Pinup Girl Clothing tried to ramp up production of its vintage-inspired apparel recently it hit a snag: It couldn’t find anyone to do the work. The company spent a year trying to add 12 people to its 32-person manufacturing team in downtown Los Angeles. As the search dragged on, Pinup Girl fell two months back in its production schedule.
Do read the entry, call it confirmation bias but this is nothing new. I've been talking about critical labor shortages in US sewing factories for years. Years. I feel vindicated that someone in the media has finally heard but not enough have. For example, anyone who complains that sewing contractors don't make it easy to find them, hasn't been listening. It's not a buyer's market and hasn't been for a very long time (they mostly don't need for you to find them). Anyway, the media is hip to the worker shortage problem in the apparel industry so let's hope new entrants to the business figure it out quickly too. As I've said more times than I can count, those who will succeed over the next ten years are those who will develop their own in house sewing operation. And I know well that statement will alienate a lot of people but it's the truth. You don't have to open a big honking facility; it's amazing what one or two stitchers can put out.]]> http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/you-need-to-start-manufacturing-yourself-period/feed/ 49 Assume stupidity not malice. And, a PR job opening http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/assume-stupidity-not-malice-and-a-pr-job-opening/ http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/assume-stupidity-not-malice-and-a-pr-job-opening/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 23:20:49 +0000 Kathleen Fasanella http://www.fashion-incubator.com/?p=10456 How can we make it easier to do business with us? (and pt.2) many took the position that sewing contractors are bad, evil, arrogant or whatever because they didn't have web pages so potential customers could find them easier. I said it was more than that. Hard as you may find this to believe, the problem is that the businesses you want to find don't know how to do what it takes for you to be able to find them -but they're willing to hire it out. Sounds like a slam dunk, right? Think again. There is a critical lack of PR firms with sufficient grounding in the trade to understand the value of manufacturing products and services, much less know where to find or how to target a client's potential customer base. Lest that sound overly critical of PR firms, it's a near impossible job because this business is highly fragmented. There's no single publication or site where PR firms can place editorial to promote their client's interests. We used to have a variety of niche and regional publishers (Needle Trader, Kogos etc) but most of them are long gone. Others are too limited in distribution (Mannuscript, California Apparel News). Too few people read WWD anymore and besides, it's for retailers not manufacturers. Apparel is an option but it's intended for C-level execs rather than companies like you and even fewer read that now. Maybe a few of you read it but it's too darn few to be cost effective.]]> http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/assume-stupidity-not-malice-and-a-pr-job-opening/feed/ 14 The difference between crap and quality http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/the-difference-between-crap-and-quality/ http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/the-difference-between-crap-and-quality/#comments Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:35:05 +0000 Kathleen Fasanella http://www.fashion-incubator.com/?p=9740 the previous post, for the last five days. My draft is 11 pages long in 10 pt. font with skinny margins. I think it has defeated me. All in an attempt to get to my closing argument. Defeated, I think I will start with that and hope for the best. It is annoying to hear trash talk about "cheap" clothes and from every quarter. I include people who sew for pleasure, to custom clothiers to manufacturers of all sizes. Even in that community, there's an identifiable pattern. The smaller or newer the operation, the more they talk trash. Here are my reasons why you should stop -other than that it identifies you as a wannabe- because is is unbecoming, unkind and gratuitously insults other people. Some of whom you hope will do business with you.
  1. On one hand we pat ourselves on the back that we can make stuff ourselves so we aren't stuck with having to buy cheap crappy stuff. Yay for us, we score one point.
  2. People who don't buy our stuff but buy stuff we think is cheap and crappy should subtract one point.
  3. We also pat ourselves on the back that we can sew stuff so we aren't stuck with having to pay higher prices for the good stuff because we can just copy it. More yay and another point for us.
  4. People who aren't as good as we are because they can't or don't sew, score another minus point.
Now, heard are constant complaints that consumers don't want to pay the price of our stuff, some of it custom made (that some of us make, score another point if you do) yet at the same time, producers get upset when consumers buy other stuff that costs the same or more than our stuff. So which is it? People are too cheap if they don't buy your stuff so if they have the money to buy someone else's more expensive stuff, they're stupid? Stupid or cheap are the only options? It seems more likely that the customer doesn't agree the product represents the same value (so you should do something about that) but saying consumers are stupid or cheap isn't going to win them over. Chances are excellent that the customer in question isn't even your market so why would you worry about it?]]> http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/the-difference-between-crap-and-quality/feed/ 26 Worn-out fashion terms http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/worn-out-fashion-terms/ http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/worn-out-fashion-terms/#comments Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:36:04 +0000 Kathleen Fasanella http://www.fashion-incubator.com/?p=8607 NYT_cartoonI had to laugh at an article titled Worn-out Fashion Terms in the New York Times. Did you read it too? Some terms couture are dated couture; I've been couture complaining couture about some couture fashion words couture for 15 years couture. Guess which word that is? she chirps. I'll never forget the words of one commentor here who said "this is America, anyone with a sewing machine is a couturier". Actually, I thought the accompanying graphic was hysterical (and I hope they don't make me take it down). Here's the run down: Couture Bespoke Statement outfits Smoldering Pop-up Fashionista Collaborations Concept store Geek chic Eco-fashion D.I.Y. fashion Heritage Well-edited Mash-up]]> http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/worn-out-fashion-terms/feed/ 28 8 mistakes on your About page http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/8-mistakes-on-your-about-page/ http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/8-mistakes-on-your-about-page/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:40:38 +0000 Kathleen Fasanella http://www.fashion-incubator.com/?p=8519 topic of discussion on the forum and previous entries on this site are included at close.
  1. Not being brief. The content on your About page should not require a scroll.
  2. Do not write "we" in reference to yourself especially if you're a one person company. This is a common beginning writer's mistake known as "the royal we"; the Queen can do it but few others can. Say "I". Even the largest firms don't use we.
  3. Don't write a book for your About page bio. This is not a resume or an autobiography. Summarize your personal history into one paragraph. Sure, you want to say enough so that people identify with you and surmise you share their values but be brief.
  4. Pass on or severely curtail soliloquies on your sources of inspiration. Everyone has inspiration. People bang on about their pets, kids, religion, politics or whatever as having inspired them to move forward on their dreams. Be careful.
  5. Be very careful about capitalizing nouns (person, place or thing). Names of people and places (Paris etc) can be capitalized but not things ("Suits" "Fashion Designer").
  6. Avoid the dreaded wall of text. Always use white space (double carriage returns).
  7. Failing to use spell check.
  8. This is the biggie (read: what I'm annoyed about today). Do not mention or allude to your politics, race, sex, religion, scientifically dubious positions or controversial topics unless it is germane to your product line. If you make sacred garments, by all means mention your faith etc. Otherwise, let it go. You don't want to alienate people who were ready to buy from you.
]]> http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/8-mistakes-on-your-about-page/feed/ 27 I am stupid and so are you http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/i-am-stupid-and-so-are-you/ http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/i-am-stupid-and-so-are-you/#comments Thu, 13 Jan 2011 21:42:25 +0000 Kathleen Fasanella http://www.fashion-incubator.com/?p=8380 thestupidsOr let's just say, there are times I wish you would treat me like I'm stupid. And uncool. I'm betting you feel the same way too. No, I'm not talking about the meta-cognition thing of trying to get things done. I mean to treat me and everybody else as stupids when the occasion cannot possibly justify the effort to muster formidable IQ and prowess. Case in point: your marketing messages. There is little that annoys me more than to read marketing messages that do not provide pertinent information. Here are three examples (fabricated but typical), my comments appear in brackets:
[Email blast] XXX is the insider's event for press, buyers and stylists to review the finest, undiscovered designer collections. Each Wednesday at 5 PM, XXX located at Over the River and through the Woods hosts the latest designers to take the industry by storm, putting XXX on the map for fresh, up and coming designer talent. [don't expect you to believe it but this is a fair summary] [Advertisement] Please do your holiday shopping at XXX Not for profit Coop to support Little Timmy in war torn starving nations! And tell your friends too! If we don't get get $$$, the planet will implode when we go out of business! Spend money here! Often! [content was reworded three times, really] [Packaging, box bottom, 24 to 30 pt font] Earth-plus #3 www.recycledbysustainablefairiespackaging.com Patent # xxxxxx Made from 100% Recycled Paperboard Endorsed by [comic sans font!] [large logo] Green Restaurant Association [large recycle logo]
The problems with these messages is that they create cognitive clutter with no compensatory gain. I am annoyed if I am required to think to process these messages and still walk away with my questions unanswered. Marketing is only effective if you do the heavy lifting, that's your job. Expecting readers to do it is what is stupid -or if insane if you expect them to read your mind.]]> http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/i-am-stupid-and-so-are-you/feed/ 6 Contract for a clothing sales rep pt.3 http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/contract-for-a-clothing-sales-rep-pt-3/ http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/contract-for-a-clothing-sales-rep-pt-3/#comments Thu, 05 Aug 2010 21:28:20 +0000 Guest Author http://www.fashion-incubator.com/?p=7410 Contract for a clothing sales rep (also pt.2). I'll thank our benefactor in advance for you but feel free to chime in. Thanks B! -------------------------------- As a former director of sales, planning to open a contemporary showroom in NYC, I am a little taken aback with some of the comments in the first published entry. An independent sales rep is a highly professional individual who takes the same risks as any other entrepreneur (designer). We are the first ones out there who introduce a collection to our contacts, work the shows, travel to clients and push for orders, yet there is a profound feeling that sales people should be paid last and are too demanding. In my biased opinion, a sales rep who has successfully sold an emerging collection for 3 years deserves to get a fair contract, including a raise in commission, a guarantee that 85% of her orders will be delivered and a three year contract. This sales rep has contributed to the success of the brand and most importantly, she did her job! The comment with regards to the sales rep not having clearly defined responsibilities let me explain, a sales rep, sells! When we don't sell we don't get paid and every professional sales rep I know of likes to make money.]]> http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/contract-for-a-clothing-sales-rep-pt-3/feed/ 1 Everyone’s nightmare: the investment employee http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/everyones-nightmare-the-investment-employee/ http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/everyones-nightmare-the-investment-employee/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:23:26 +0000 Kathleen Fasanella http://www.fashion-incubator.com/?p=6992 yesterday's entry I threatened to write about a profile worker who can make your life miserable by stubbornly resisting change. A lot of business owners are aware of the downsides of these staffers so they seek to minimize the havoc, discord and mayhem the "investment employee" can create by limiting their role to rank and file rather than supervisory. Unfortunately, that strategy rarely has the desired effect. Here's a fast definition: Very often, this person is the first or nearly first person hired, the owner feels a sense of debt or gratitude toward that employee. They are invested in that person. When I go into a plant, one of the first things I do is find this person because they are usually the one dragging down (directly or indirectly) an entire operation and no other employees are empowered to correct it. Years later, this person is still mucking about creating a horrible situation and lousy morale that will never improve. And here's a previous example: (also edited) This company was doing 50 million in sales and their big hold up was their one sample maker -the investment employee- who sewed on a home sewing machine. In her personal life, she was a battered woman. Professionally this meant she was governed by fear; she was terrified at the prospect of moving up to an industrial machine and resented being compelled to change anything that felt safe to her. Having such a lousy home life, her job meant everything to her, it was the only joy and security she felt. Solving the IE problem required delicacy, I couldn't be stupid and wave it off with a suggestion to replace her. My suggestion was to get her out of her personal situation and transfer her to another function. Officially, they got her an apartment, lent her money for a car and a new start and paid for an attorney to represent her. Unofficially, the corporate body of the company and select spousal units went to visit the stitcher’s husband with baseball bats and shotguns prominently displayed in pick up truck gun racks. And no I’m not kidding, you can still do this in a small Texas town, especially if you bring an off duty Sheriff along with you when you make your social call. The stitcher was moved into a newly created position as supervisor of quality control where she was better suited, and they got two new industrial machines and two new sample makers they’d needed. ]]> http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/everyones-nightmare-the-investment-employee/feed/ 7 The SPESA show is no more http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/the-spesa-show-is-no-more/ http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/the-spesa-show-is-no-more/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:00:28 +0000 Kathleen Fasanella http://www.fashion-incubator.com/?p=6931 the original entry if you're a forum member. The big news is that the SPESA show is no longer. It will be taken over by Messe Frankfurt Exhibition, a German firm specializing in textile related industry events. While I do not like change, this is good news. First, they're very professional, I could write reams about that. They had their own show held in conjunction with SPESA but their section was stellar. It had its own identity and footprint, the booths were clearly marked by number. Their section was brighter, livelier and more heavily trafficked -probably because you could find things there- unlike SPESA. Upon my return, I received several follow up emails from show management, one of which was an excel file that listed all the exhibitors and included their contact information. This is a valuable service for exhibitors and attendees alike. Sometimes bigger is better because bigger is better. They have their act together. The only barrier I see in retrospect is branding the new show in the US. It's well known abroad (Messe Frankfurt currently runs the largest apparel tradeshow in the world) but not so much here. The name for the US show to replace SPESA is Texprocess Americas. Also, the show will be held every two years rather than three. The next event will be April 24-26 2012 in Atlanta GA. I was very dissatisfied with how SPESA ran their section of the event and based on private conversations with several exhibitors, they were less than enchanted too. SPESA is a small family business of which most if not all employees are family members. That may seem like a good thing since we love family businesses but [rant redacted]. Again, sometimes bigger is better because bigger is better. They have their act together. ]]> http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/the-spesa-show-is-no-more/feed/ 3 Clothing sales have increased 300%! http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/clothing-sales-have-increased-300/ http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/clothing-sales-have-increased-300/#comments Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:11:13 +0000 Kathleen Fasanella http://www.fashion-incubator.com/?p=6450 clothing_disposable_income_graphApologies to whoever sent me the link to this because I don't remember who it was. This graph is making the rounds on the intertubes. It is distressing a lot of kindred because it is used to prove our industry is dying because consumer spending on clothes today is half what it was in the 1970's. Here's the money quote: Americans spent almost $326 billion on clothing and footwear in 2009, which as a share of disposable personal income, was the lowest ever in U.S. history, at only 2.98%. Spending on clothing as a share of income has fallen in 20 out of the last 22 years... Compared to 1950 when spending on clothing was 9% of income... and compared to spending on clothing of 6% of income in 1970, spending last year was half of that share. Ugh. This is enough to convince anyone to throw in the towel. This blog author has a lot of credibility -he's a professor of economics- but I disagree with his conclusions. A more comprehensive analysis of the research shows we're doing quite well, far better than anyone realizes. The headline shouldn't be Spending on Clothing and Footwear Falls Below 3% of Disposable Income for First Time in U.S. History but Clothing sales have increased 300%! I think it's time for a bit of optimism amid the continual gloom and doom. Here's why I think this is a great time to get into the industry or expand operations and product lines. Sure, the percentage of disposable income spent on clothing has fallen by half -but is this bad news? Hardly. We have a lot more disposable income than we used to. For example, circa 1970, disposable income amounted to about $4,000. With clothing expenditures of 6% (see the chart above), that's about $240. However, when you consider the increase in disposable income since then (43% in real dollars, adjusted for inflation) and even at today's new low of only 3% of disposable income spent on clothing purchases, this means the average spent is $810 per year, amounting to a 300+% increase. We're doing great! Disposable income only increased 43% but we got a disproportionate percentage of it, namely a 300% increase in spending. Don't let statistics get you down, do the math.]]> http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/clothing-sales-have-increased-300/feed/ 15