What can i do to start creating clothes and what connections can I make?

Hi Philip,

Creating a clothing line is a wonderful idea. A great start is to write down what you want to do with this clothing line. Do you want to make custom clothing for each customer? Have your clothes available at retail stores? Design for Gap or Sell your designs to Nordstorm? Have an online store to sell your clothes? Do you want your clothing line to be a hobby or a business? Write these questions & answers down in a notebook. These questions & answers will create a road map of your plans. This road map will show you where you are today and where you want to achieve in the future. It will also begin to help you understand how to reach your goals and/or more questions to ask. You can create these road maps for any type of career you have in mind.

It seems you are trying to pursuing two different career options (clothing design & business admin), and they may work well together. If you are trying to create a clothing company, business admin will help you understand how to streamline & organize your company. If you want to pursue fashion/clothing design, there are also design schools that can help you master the needed skills so when you network with people in your design community, you can speak the design language, understand fashion trends, patterns, sewing, fabrics etc.

Reach out to your guidance counselor and ask him/her about colleges that will help reach your goal. Show them your road map of careers you are thinking of pursuing. Tennessee State may be a great fit, and/or you might find a few others that will also help you reach your goals!

Hello Philip,

Creating a clothing line sounds like a wonderful business venture, and I wish you good luck on your future expansion with your dream! It's great you are going to college for business administration. However, it may be good to take a few creative courses such as fashion design and illustration electives. If you cannot think creatively, make connections with creative people in college. Find friends who share the same passion for fashion as you do.

Every business needs a plan. Start researching fashion markets you enjoy, and make notes about these markets. What makes them enjoyable to you? What designs make the clothing aesthetically pleasing? How are the markets advertising themselves? What are their price ranges? How do these markets create a connection to the public?
Then, make notes on what you wish they would do differently. What are these markets lacking, in both business and design? As a consumer, what would you like to see these markets produce?

Take your notes and think about the clothing line you want to explore. Pin-point an age target. Think about the location on where you want your business to be, whether it is accessible on the internet, or a local independent store that connects with your local community. Think about your budget and price ranges, and how much it would cost to create your line (everything from hiring designers to materials to create the clothing to rent for your store to website costs to business merchandise such as business cards and stickers). Think about the clothing you want to sell, as well as other merchandise. Think about your hours of operation for your customers. Think about how you are going to brand and advertise your business. Are you going to have a logo? Put these thoughts into words to create a business plan.

You can always edit and update your business plan over time, but it's never too early to start. But for now, make connections with fellow business students as well as design students so you can learn from both business and creative perspectives. And continue extensive research so you know exactly what to do to become an innovative business.

Good luck!
Jordan