Can I start a clothing brand with a single design idea?

[BenjaminO]

Hello everyone,

First post on the forums. Quick background: I'm a 27 year old male. I am just beginning my journey into business and entrepreneurship; I've never started a business before.

I have this idea for a really cool sweater design. I have a gut feeling that it would be very marketable and resonate with consumers. I know absolutely nothing about business, clothes, or the fashion industry.

My question is: can you build a clothing business off a single design/product? I should point out that the design allows for variation, meaning that all the sweaters would have the same basic "layout", but the finer details within the layout can vary, if that makes sense. I could use the analogy of a water bottle: the structure of the bottle is the same from bottle to bottle, but the colors, decals, etc. can change.

Thanks,

Ben

 

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[Nicole]

This reminds me of 'The Snuggie.' It's sort of a one-hit wonder in the fashion realm, isn't it? There aren't a whole bunch of Snuggie brand clothing items, Snuggie pants, Snuggie shoes, Snuggie hats and coats, just one type of Snuggie.

 

[allen.zhao]

for the idea itself, it's workable, you can see this concept on uniqolo store.

Hello everyone,

First post on the forums. Quick background: I'm a 27 year old male. I am just beginning my journey into business and entrepreneurship; I've never started a business before.

I have this idea for a really cool sweater design. I have a gut feeling that it would be very marketable and resonate with consumers. I know absolutely nothing about business, clothes, or the fashion industry.

My question is: can you build a clothing business off a single design/product? I should point out that the design allows for variation, meaning that all the sweaters would have the same basic "layout", but the finer details within the layout can vary, if that makes sense. I could use the analogy of a water bottle: the structure of the bottle is the same from bottle to bottle, but the colors, decals, etc. can change.

Thanks,

Ben

t

 

[Devilery]

Take literary any POD platform - Printful or Printful, place your design on the clothing piece, create a product page, and run ads on it. You can literary do it all in one day, and will get actual feedback.

As you're asking for subjective opinions, I think your design probably seems cool to you, but not many other people would care. Prove me right or wrong by doing what I described in the first sentence.

 

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[Brandaris]

I totally agree with @Devilery. Get your idea validated asap.

I would do one of the following:

1. Validate your idea through a POD platform as already mentioned. You mention that your design allows for variation. Allright, go create some different designs and post them on those platforms as well.

2. Order a handful of custom-made sweaters with your design online somewhere. This is probably not that expensive and you can simply wear them to see what people think.

The first is probably the fastest way to validate your idea and know if it could have business potential. Imagine spending a lot of hours trying to create something for yourself only to find out that no one wants to buy it. That means a lot of time wasted.

If you just like to create the sweater because you like the design and creating a business out of it is not your primary goal, go do the second option and if the designs are liked by people, the business option will still be there.