How to advertise a luxury streetwear brand?

[AgainstAllOdds]

I've seen this one too many times, and it's always the same pattern.

1. A young, usually college aged kid decides that he wants to start a business.
2. He likes clothing, so he decides to make "a clothing brand" -- usually this decision is fueled by his inability to see other market opportunities, because he's arrogant enough to think it's easy, and because he wants to do something cool that he can talk about.
3. He tells everyone that he's starting a clothing company. But not just any clothing company. This one is better because it's a "[adjective] [adjective] brand"
4. He learns a little bit of photoshop and considers himself a designer
5. He makes 4 t-shirt designs and gets super hyped
6. He shows his friends, and they think it's cool since he's the first person they've met in their circle that's trying something
7. They go out and take ten cool pictures
8. He then does a little bit of research on how to build a website, and starts working on his site
9. At first, the site is horrible...but after a couple weeks of trying, it's not that bad and he's impressed by how it looks and thinks he has something great (though his progress is impressive, the website is still trash).
10. Now he decides it's time to act. He has $500 and is gonna invest it all in this company. He goes to a printing shop and spends his whole budget on the 4 designs.
11. He has the first batch of t-shirts in hand.
12. He sells a handful of the first print to his friends. He then enthusiastically pushes his product on anyone that will listen. A number of people buy because it's easier to give him $25 than to ruin a friendship... and if we're being fair, it's a decent t-shirt so screw it, they'll help out this guy they know since it's not that bad of a design.
13. Now it's time to sell to the real market... people he doesn't know.
14. Shit.
15. He's stuck.
16. He goes through a list of things he thinks might work.
17. People turn him down because the designs aren't good enough.
18. ... because the website they land on sucks, so they close out
19. ... because there's only 4 designs - they don't see it as a real brand
20. ... the price is too high for them
21. ... the instagram page has 5 followers, why would they buy this brand?
22. ... "why is this guy trying to sell me a F*cking t-shirt?"
23. ... the "brand" has no story, movement behind it, or any semblance of branding
24. He fails.

If he's smart, he realizes that the brand is not actually a brand. It's a few t-shirts and something that was fun. There's a lot more to creating a clothing brand than just a few designs. Designing, manufacturing, branding, marketing, selling - that's hard. He realizes that it's actual work.

He failed, but he learned a lot about taking action, and can use that on his next venture.

The "t-shirt business" was a great way for him to learn the basics. Now that he knows the basics, he understands that he's only 0.5% on the way to success. He has 99.5% more to go. The journey begins.

 

[biophase]

I don't know if you want feedback on your website so I won't go there.

However, you are basically saying that because a McDonald's commercials comes on before a BMW commercial that it makes the BMW look cheap?

My question to you is why do you feel that your brand is a luxury brand? Putting a design on a t-shirt doesn't make it worth $150. You need to do something to elevate your brand. What have you done?

 

[biophase]

Then how do you create exclusivity? My goal isn't for everyone to see my product on the first launch.

You have to make a product that people want first. And when there aren't enough to satisfy demand, it becomes exclusive.

Your goal should be for EVERYONE to see your product on the first launch.

What kind of a business says, I'm going to make product and then limit the number of viewers. Do you realize that even with 1000 units sold, chances are you won't ever see another person with the same shirt. I've sold over 150,000 dog collars and leashes. Guess how many I've seen on a dog by random chance in the USA? Zero. And I look every time I see someone walking their dog.

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

Now, here's how I'd launch a clothing brand if I were to do it today:

• Go to Manila, Ho Ch Minh, Medellin, and similar big cities in poor countries.
• Tap into the streetwear scene there. Find brands that you like.
• Offer the designers of these brands $3,000 upfront, and $5,000 a year for 80% of their company.
• Have them design product, source product, produce product (it'll be a lot cheaper in their country), take pictures, make catalogs, etc.
• Meanwhile you concentrate on distribution in the U.S. and branding it as an American company.

You'd be surprised at how many people in these countries have clothing brands that could compete with niche American ones. The only difference is that they're happy if they make $3,000 a year in Manila doing it. Give them a fair deal and suddenly you have something to build on top of.

Once you get some traction, start buying out other brands/acquiring the owners. Increase the salary to $10,000 a year for 100% of their designs. Scale the brand and team.

 

[Xeon]

1) Website is really crappy. Sorry to say, but even some 1990s Geocities sites look better than this.

2) Logo and clothing design looks amateurish.

3) Unless you've a giant celeb in the rap scene or pop culture endorsing your products (which is how those now-famous streetwear brands got their start), no one is going to pay $150 for these.

4) Personally, I feel there's a gap in the streetwear industry and that is good design. Looking at all the streetwear brands out there, their designs actually look the same as OP's, so I guess OP should not feel disheartened. Seems that streetwear clothing are all designed by rappers who know jack shit about aesthetics. The founder of Supreme didn't have connections, he wouldn't even have sold a single shirt.

5) You got the steps wrong. Currently, from your post, you're doing Make Products > Tack on a marketing plan.
It should be Think of Target Audience > Marketing plan for them > Make Products.

6) If you really must get into clothing, you need to market it from a different angle. E.g. Johnny Cupcakes (still don't understand who buys his stuff but I assume it's young folks who love weird and crazy shit), LifeIsGood and OldGuysRule.

Oh, another epic one I came across recently: Kjp.com. This guy is the epitome of marketing. These guys show that if you've the marketing chops, you can sell even your saliva.

 

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[JM35]

Hello Fastlane,
I am new here. For the past 5 months, I have been working on a clothing brand called 2-ICONIC. Recently, I have reached the marketing stage for my brand. My product is finished and currently being produced, now it is time for me to create a marketing strategy. Today, there is the easy and popular option of Instagram/Facebook adds. My experience with these adds as a consumer has made them unattractive for the reasons that follow: brands that use Instagram/Facebook adds have a feel of "cheapness" to them. One of the advertisements may be a bracelet that is free, all you have to do is pay for shipping. Multiple advertisements like this create a cheesy worn out strategy that leaves the market full of cheaply made dropshipped products. Several of these adds pollute the general quality of products within that specific advertising market, making the advertisements somewhat unofficial for other brands and grouping them with the dropshipped products.

Influencer marketing interests me but seems unfeasible. In this circumstance, it is highly probable other aspiring entrepreneurs have the same idea. It is posted on almost any "learn how to market," thread. The problem with this is it creates a flood of product an influencer receives. Wasting your product and time.

My question: What is a realistic way to attract attention to my brand/media to expand through market strategies and advertising?

Website Address for more INFO on brand: 2-iconic.com

THANKYOU!

I will go there on the website. First, I think you need a professional website. Doesn't have to be "professionally designed" but it needs to look professional. Right now you are trying to sell shirts that probably cost more than your website did. I would also recommend a professionally designed logo.

And then the second part is, why are your shirts worth $170-310? Your shirts have your brand all over it, but no one knows the brand - so where is the value?

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

but am not targeting this market because it is "cool," but because I saw a market opportunity.

Do you have any advice you can share with me here?

The biggest piece of advice: Define whether your goal is specifically to have a successful clothing brand, or if your goal is to have a successful business that does not have to be clothing?

Starting a clothing brand, especially in the streetwear space, is a great learning opportunity, but extremely uphill battle with limited upside. You're competing against:

• People willing to work for free (since they're passionate)
• Established brands (if someone spends their budget on Supreme, they're less likely to buy from you)
• Huge marketing budgets, branding budgets, expensive photo shoots, etc
• Competitive supply chains (top companies aren't paying the price you're paying for product, leaving them with more margin to beat you on marketing)
• Established distribution
• Etc.

Then when you finally become the top brand, there's no telling if you'll end up like Bape and go bankrupt since your marketing budget eats all your profit.

Your expected payout is extremely low. You're better off starting something else if your goal is profit.

Stick to it if your goal is strictly clothing oriented.

 

[biophase]

But, how do you obtain hype? By combining these three aspects:

Number One Exclusivity: Limited quantity supplied for a product creates exclusivity

Number Two Quality: My products are EarthPositive meaning they are produced exclusively from organic Indian cotton. The entire production process is controlled and certified in accordance with the latest version of GOTS. All products are labeled as Organic. The production of these products undergoes annual audits to comply with the FWF Code of Labour Practices in accordance with the International Labour Organisation’s conventions. My products are also made in manufacturing facilities powered by green renewable energy, from low-impact raw materials. The carbon footprint of my products by this is reduced by some 90%.

The material used to produce the garment are 100% combed organic cotton that has been brushed and triple ring spun leaving it durable and soft. 2-ICONIC's products are hand assembled, whether it is the application of the design or the accessories of the product: patches, embroidery, etc...

Number Three Popularity/Recognition:
The third step, what I am currently working on and seeking help for. Influential people bring light to many brands, most popularly Off-White.

So I'm not going to rag on your website because others have done so already but it is definitely not close to the level it needs to be.

To respond to your above points. You do not create exclusivity by not making as many. If you only make 12, how many people in the world will see anyone wearing your brand? Zero.

The funny thing about quality, you typed up 2 paragraphs about the quality of your clothing and not a single mention on your website about it. Why not?

The funny thing about quality is that your website has to convey it. You talk about instagram, "brands that use Instagram/Facebook adds have a feel of "cheapness" to them" and yet you don't even recognize a cheapness feel on your site.

Lastly, popularity... don't we all want this for our business? If only you could get a celebrity to wear your product... If that's your marketing strategy, good luck.

 

[0VO]

AgainstAllOdds hit it pretty well on the head for most general cases of "I have a fashion brand".

OP, if you are SERIOUS about your venture then I would highly recommend researching into Damon Dash (he built RocaWear) and he has a wealth of knowledge in this area.

If you have a following and create branding around that it's one thing. But real fashion, design, cut and sew, fabrics, colours... that's what Louis V (and other big names do). They're in high end Magazines like Vogue ... that's like Lifestyle Marketing... You can do the mechanics of how you do that. ($$$$$$$)

They have loss leader products. They Lose a LOT of money marketing and giving away products, and getting products into retail, and in magazines, and on yatche's and high end fashion shows, and onto "popular" bodies (celebrities).

OP what you describe with exclusivity can be quite the double edged sword. It's easy to say you're going to create an exclusive product. But what happens if you're truly exclusive product becomes popular and now everyone is wearing it..... it becomes un-exclusive.

What I am seeing a lot of successful people do is "Collaboration" Projects with other brands which might be an easier way to get into the industry without having to worry about all the logistics. (The Rock x Under Armour , GaryVaynerchuck x K Swiss , Kanye West x Adidas , etc.).

 

[Jonny Blaze]

Hello Fastlane,
I am new here. For the past 5 months, I have been working on a clothing brand called 2-ICONIC. Recently, I have reached the marketing stage for my brand. My product is finished and currently being produced, now it is time for me to create a marketing strategy. Today, there is the easy and popular option of Instagram/Facebook adds. My experience with these adds as a consumer has made them unattractive for the reasons that follow: brands that use Instagram/Facebook adds have a feel of "cheapness" to them. One of the advertisements may be a bracelet that is free, all you have to do is pay for shipping. Multiple advertisements like this create a cheesy worn out strategy that leaves the market full of cheaply made dropshipped products. Several of these adds pollute the general quality of products within that specific advertising market, making the advertisements somewhat unofficial for other brands and grouping them with the dropshipped products.

Influencer marketing interests me but seems unfeasible. In this circumstance, it is highly probable other aspiring entrepreneurs have the same idea. It is posted on almost any "learn how to market," thread. The problem with this is it creates a flood of product an influencer receives. Wasting your product and time.

My question: What is a realistic way to attract attention to my brand/media to expand through market strategies and advertising?

Website Address for more INFO on brand: 2-iconic.com

THANKYOU!

I think againstallodds hit this pretty spot on: if you're not passionate about this shit, and just want to make money you need to stop worrying about what your friends will think and just cut your losses early. This isn't the best type of business for making a lot of money in little time, you're trying to make art into a business, which is two separate realities and it seems like the two of them converging may be confusing you a little bit.

Either you have a lot of money and can pay people to do the work for you, or you do the work by yourself. That is a business. There is a lot of shit you need to be doing when it comes to running a clothing brand. Marketing and creating product should be taking up 90% of your time. From the looks of it, you're probably like 19? Right? You don't have the product to keep up with the amount of marketing you need to be doing to stir up business, so let me tell you what you do have. Alot of time. How do you get more product? Money. I'm not sure what you do with your time, but if it's not making you money and getting you closer to your goals, cut it out of your life.

If you're really passionate about your clothing brand, you should be working 2-3 jobs so you can have enough money coming in to pay your rent (move out ASAP if you haven't), put food on your table, put a little aside for a rainy day, and to buy product. Maybe those are fast food jobs, or bussing jobs, so F*cking what. This is what I'm trying to get at if it's your goal to have a successful clothing brand than the way you get there is BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

People get bored really quickly in today's times. Especially with clothing brands who post the same F*cking shirt 10 times in 2 weeks. You need to constantly be dropping shit (IN SMALL QUANTITIES) so more and more people are seeing the product and you're testing what people like. I get what you're saying about supreme and limited availability, but that's not you. You should do small quantities so you're not sitting on the product for too long and so you can get right back to creating your next piece. Think of your Instagram as a resume. If people look at it and only see 2 pieces, they're going to look at you like a small-time brand and you won't get any attention. But if people look at it and see 50 pieces, maybe now they'll give you the time of day depending on how cool your shit is.

The best advice I can give you is: create. Keep making shit, whatever doesn't sell just give it away, make money at your jobs, buy more product, drop more shit, rinse and repeat. Always sharpen the axe and take in information that will make you smarter (like this wonderful forum)

You need to stop comparing yourself to other brands or looking at the strategies that other brands are using. You are competing with other brands creatively, people can tell when you're just dick riding or copying someone else's shit. You need to be creative. If you're not, I don't know why you're even trying to start a clothing brand. You are NOT off-white or even anything relevant for that manner. Drop the ego, and your ego is very prevalent in the price you are charging. Are you serious? I bet you if I bought that shirt, I would receive a Gildan shirt in a USPS envelope.

Now is there anything wrong with printing on Gildan shirts? No. Is there anything wrong with shipping in USPS envelopes? No. Is there something wrong with this and charging a customer $200+? Yeah. The brands that are charging that much per shirt ARE doing shit like that to enhance the customer's experience and also make their product stand out ESPECIALLY in terms of the quality of the product. They have employees traveling all over the world sourcing the best materials. You do not have that. You have a wholesale website with blanks and a screen printer in your local town, so the high price you're putting out is total bullshit.

You also have no cred dude. You're trying to fly before you can even walk. Some brands that are new can get away with this, mainly because they're dick riding off of one of their famous friends. But im guessing you don't know anyone, or else you wouldn't be on this forum. Charge normal prices so you can attract more customers, stop being so F*cking greedy. Shirts: $20-30 Longsleeves: $30-40 Jackets/Hoodies/Sweaters: $45-60

Also what the hell is your message? There's no story, no goal, no purpose, its just clothes. Like the other thousands of brands on Instagram running ads. Shit stands out to people when they can relate to it, and I can't relate to anything that doesn't have a description or any purpose. There is plenty of content on youtube for you to consume about this.

Hope this helps a little, I'm about to head out to my bartending job so I cant go much deeper into this. If you can't tell, I have been in your shoes before. Stop being a little bitch and make something happen with your hustle is the advice I would have given myself. You have thepotential dude, but potential doesnt make shit happen, drive does.

 

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[Scot]

Why is your shirt worth $170?

If you can’t answer this question easily, you need to figure that out first.

 

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[rollerskates]

Number One Exclusivity: Limited quantity supplied for a product creates exclusivity by decreasing the chance of someone else having one. Limited supply increases the uniqueness of the given product in contrast to mass production. None of the products are vastly available, creating a demand for them. There is a certain value to have something no one else has. Some consumers are willing to pay top dollar for this. The first pieces of 2-ICONIC's collection are only stocked to twelve.

First I want to commend you for actually starting something, that's the only way to learn and at your age, I am sure I wouldn't have. Ok, now on to the lessons:

As someone who has made and sold one of a kind and limited edition items for over 10 years, I will say this: In any industry, whether clothing or anything else, you have to offer more compelling reasons then you have so far. Luxury items don't spring up out of nowhere, most have legacy attached (think Hermes and LV).

Luxury is going to be better than organic cotton, better than "Chinese slaves didn't make it", better than a celebrity likes it, better than limited edition. Just because you could only afford to make 12 t-shirts, doesn't mean everyone is going to want your limited edition.

From an artist and luxury lover standpoint, your website is badly designed and does not say "luxury" to me.

Harsh lessons, bro, but take it from someone who has designed and handmade hundreds of things, you need a lot more of a lot of things to get anywhere. You need better design, a better product, and a better overall presentation.

 

[Madame Peccato]

AgainstAllOdds, this is genius! Making note of this now.
Wouldn't there be a language barrier with these countries?

I only know about Manila. Their language is like a mixture of whatever base language they speak (Tagalog is the language's name I believe) and English. Basically everyone in the Philippines speaks English. In fact English is one of the official languages of the Philippines, the other one being Filipino.

 

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[Chris25]

My question: What is a realistic way to attract attention to my brand/media to expand through market strategies and advertising?

Whoa everyone just decided to brush away constructive criticism and jumped straight to dream crushing

I'd say the website does need some more work but I can see the millennial/urban style you're going for. If millennials are the target audience, it so happens that not everything has to look clean and super professional. For example, look at the cover of one of the most anticipated rap albums this year.

​

WEBSITE:
- Polish the footer
- Add quality info/page
- Add brand mission, vision and purpose
- Add more product info on individual product pages
- Add a call to action ( ex. View collection, Find Out More, See Latest )
- Add Privacy Policy and Terms Of Service
- Consider putting an lower initial price ( SALE )
- Improve the logo a bit

SOCIAL:
- Start posting every day. You will need to build up a gallery and a following.
- Social proof is much needed if you want to sell luxury products.
- You can send something for free to influencers and maybe they will decide to wear it if they think its cool.
- Run brand awareness ads after you have a gallery and a good website. ( not product ads )
- Run product ads later on, to the followers you gained from the previous awareness campaigns and other organic followers.

PRODUCT:
- I don't know if adding 2018 on the hoodies is a great idea. Especially if its about to end.
- Are you sure about the copyrights of your designs?
- Are your prices realistically set?

That is all i can think of at the moment. It is just my opinion. As someone who enjoys urban clothing I can say that you have the potential to create a cool brand ( maybe not luxury, at least for the starter collections ).

Don't rush it, and don't chase big profit margins with your first products. Read up on UX material or books and start slowly improving things. Good Luck!

 

[Kase]

I think againstallodds hit this pretty spot on: if you're not passionate about this sh*t, and just want to make money you need to stop worrying about what your friends will think and just cut your losses early. This isn't the best type of business for making a lot of money in little time, you're trying to make art into a business, which is two separate realities and it seems like the two of them converging may be confusing you a little bit.

Either you have a lot of money and can pay people to do the work for you, or you do the work by yourself. That is a business. There is a lot of sh*t you need to be doing when it comes to running a clothing brand. Marketing and creating product should be taking up 90% of your time. From the looks of it, you're probably like 19? Right? You don't have the product to keep up with the amount of marketing you need to be doing to stir up business, so let me tell you what you do have. Alot of time. How do you get more product? Money. I'm not sure what you do with your time, but if it's not making you money and getting you closer to your goals, cut it out of your life.

If you're really passionate about your clothing brand, you should be working 2-3 jobs so you can have enough money coming in to pay your rent (move out ASAP if you haven't), put food on your table, put a little aside for a rainy day, and to buy product. Maybe those are fast food jobs, or bussing jobs, so f*cking what. This is what I'm trying to get at if it's your goal to have a successful clothing brand than the way you get there is BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

People get bored really quickly in today's times. Especially with clothing brands who post the same f*cking shirt 10 times in 2 weeks. You need to constantly be dropping sh*t (IN SMALL QUANTITIES) so more and more people are seeing the product and you're testing what people like. I get what you're saying about supreme and limited availability, but that's not you. You should do small quantities so you're not sitting on the product for too long and so you can get right back to creating your next piece. Think of your Instagram as a resume. If people look at it and only see 2 pieces, they're going to look at you like a small-time brand and you won't get any attention. But if people look at it and see 50 pieces, maybe now they'll give you the time of day depending on how cool your sh*t is.

The best advice I can give you is: create. Keep making sh*t, whatever doesn't sell just give it away, make money at your jobs, buy more product, drop more sh*t, rinse and repeat. Always sharpen the axe and take in information that will make you smarter (like this wonderful forum)

You need to stop comparing yourself to other brands or looking at the strategies that other brands are using. You are competing with other brands creatively, people can tell when you're just dick riding or copying someone else's sh*t. You need to be creative. If you're not, I don't know why you're even trying to start a clothing brand. You are NOT off-white or even anything relevant for that manner. Drop the ego, and your ego is very prevalent in the price you are charging. Are you serious? I bet you if I bought that shirt, I would receive a Gildan shirt in a USPS envelope.

Now is there anything wrong with printing on Gildan shirts? No. Is there anything wrong with shipping in USPS envelopes? No. Is there something wrong with this and charging a customer $200+? Yeah. The brands that are charging that much per shirt ARE doing sh*t like that to enhance the customer's experience and also make their product stand out ESPECIALLY in terms of the quality of the product. They have employees traveling all over the world sourcing the best materials. You do not have that. You have a wholesale website with blanks and a screen printer in your local town, so the high price you're putting out is total bullshit.

You also have no cred dude. You're trying to fly before you can even walk. Some brands that are new can get away with this, mainly because they're dick riding off of one of their famous friends. But im guessing you don't know anyone, or else you wouldn't be on this forum. Charge normal prices so you can attract more customers, stop being so f*cking greedy. Shirts: $20-30 Longsleeves: $30-40 Jackets/Hoodies/Sweaters: $45-60

Also what the hell is your message? There's no story, no goal, no purpose, its just clothes. Like the other thousands of brands on Instagram running ads. sh*t stands out to people when they can relate to it, and I can't relate to anything that doesn't have a description or any purpose. There is plenty of content on youtube for you to consume about this.

Hope this helps a little, I'm about to head out to my bartending job so I cant go much deeper into this. If you can't tell, I have been in your shoes before. Stop being a little bitch and make something happen with your hustle is the advice I would have given myself. You have thepotential dude, but potential doesnt make sh*t happen, drive does.

First off, Jonny Blaze, thank you so much for the message. "Marketing and creating product should be taking up 90%." Totally agree with you on this point, you have to build recognition for people to see your product. That is why I made the post originally about marketing, I was looking to get some advice on how to market and advertise.

"This is what I'm trying to get at if it's your goal to have a successful clothing brand than the way you get there is BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY." So true...

"sh*t stands out to people when they can relate to it." Working on this now I believe it is somewhat unclear too.

Thank you again man. I will get these changes implemented soon!

 

[ZCP]

@Kase proud of you for taking positives from all replies and for taking the step forward to begin with...... your attitude says you will do well! Rep+

 

[DVU]

Dude, STOP!

If you never ran a successful business, this is not the idea to do it.

The website is trash, and when I say trash I mean it looks like you deliberately tried to make it ugly.

Same goes with the shirts, putting random shit on shirts that makes 0 sense and pricing them 310$? Are you out of your mind?

If you think I'm being an a**hole, I'm not. I'm trying to save you some money.

Go read some books, find a need and solve it. Clothing isn't it.

 

[Kase]

Dude, STOP!

If you never ran a successful business, this is not the idea to do it.

The website is trash, and when I say trash I mean it looks like you deliberately tried to make it ugly.

Same goes with the shirts, putting random sh*t on shirts that makes 0 sense and pricing them 310$? Are you out of your mind?

If you think I'm being an a**hole, I'm not. I'm trying to save you some money.

Go read some books, find a need and solve it. Clothing isn't it.

1) Website is really crappy. Sorry to say, but even some 1990s Geocities sites look better than this.

2) Logo and clothing design looks amateurish.

3) Unless you've a giant celeb in the rap scene or pop culture endorsing your products (which is how those now-famous streetwear brands got their start), no one is going to pay $150 for these.

4) Personally, I feel there's a gap in the streetwear industry and that is good design. Looking at all the streetwear brands out there, their designs actually look the same as OP's, so I guess OP should not feel disheartened. Seems that streetwear clothing are all designed by rappers who know jack sh*t about aesthetics. The founder of Supreme didn't have connections, he wouldn't even have sold a single shirt.

5) You got the steps wrong. Currently, from your post, you're doing Make Products > Tack on a marketing plan.
It should be Think of Target Audience > Marketing plan for them > Make Products.

6) If you really must get into clothing, you need to market it from a different angle. E.g. Johnny Cupcakes (still don't understand who buys his stuff but I assume it's young folks who love weird and crazy sh*t), LifeIsGood and OldGuysRule.

Oh, another epic one I came across recently: Kjp.com. This guy is the epitome of marketing. These guys show that if you've the marketing chops, you can sell even your saliva.

~DVU
Thank you for the advice! What would you suggest I change on the website?

~Xeon
Understandable, what would you suggest changing on the website? #5 is true, you are right, that is a mistake made by me. This is my first time around, all clothing companies start at the bottom then learn from there.
Thank you for the links of marketing examples, I appreciate it!

 

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[Chris25]

What changes would you suggest me to make to the logo and footer?

You must insert the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service in the footer and organize everything a bit better so it looks nicer visually. As for the logo, I don't think the barb wire blends in nicely with the letters. The name gets lost and it's hard to even read. The name should be the main element, and the barb wire should be the supporting element. Again this is just in my opinion.

How can I bring people to my media should a look into paid promotions?
What are brand awareness ads?

Brand awareness ads are paid promotions that will expose your brand to new people. You're not selling anything through them. They are just there to get peoples attention. Something in the lines of people wearing your clothes and doing something random/cool. Another example would be cool graphics with your logo somewhere in them. You're not pushing your products but you're making people aware of them. Maybe they like the picture, they check out your account and follow you. They can become buyers later on.

You can do this organically by using hashtags and liking, commenting and following other accounts but it will take much longer.

You can do a combination of both paid and organic reach.

The images I am using are in the public domain. Should I bother with trademarking designs and logo before release? What is UX material?

I am not very familiar with specific trademarking rules.

UX is short for User eXperience. Get some books or read articles on e-commerce UX design. You can learn how to design your website and product pages that will guide the user to purchase something.

"Add more product info on individual product pages," what sort of info should I add to my products that I do not have already?

You have no info at all and no size guide. Check out this Kenzo sweatshirt description.

A classic wardrobe piece, this sweatshirt Tiger KENZO is made elegant with its sleek lines and refined finishes. Versatile, it enhances any outfit with its smart yet sporty style. For a casual chic look, wear it with graphic printed trousers and black boots.

Long-sleeved sweatshirt.
Round neck.
Tiger embroidered on the front.
Ribbed collar, cuffs and hem.
100% cotton.
Size Guide (link to size guide table with detailed info on sizes)

 

[rollerskates]

Does this website say luxury to you?: HERON PRESTON

EGADS! No. That purple and orangey red header is ghastly. I should tell you I am middle aged and preppy and I wear a lot of Ralph Lauren and I don't like any clothing with writing on it. I would never wear a hoodie (although I admit to owing one thin zip up one I wear to physical therapy), especially one with writing on it. Price doesn't make luxury.

More than anything I would say firstly design, and secondly, materials. A plain black v neck non-organic cotton t-shirt is going to look a lot more like luxury than an organic cotton crew neck with any design on it, regardless of price.

Luxury isn't what high spending rappers would wear.

 

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[Xeon]

IMO, just forget about the luxury part and just focus on the streetwear part if you're adamant on going this route.
Doing luxury + streetwear is basically fighting two gigantic world wars at the same time at this point.

Also, if you want to build nice, beautiful websites, learning from those streetwear websites like that Heron Preston site, is a bad idea. Most streetwear labels have ugly clothing designs and ugly site designs. Not sure if they deliberately designed it that way, but they can all get away with it because they already have great connections (read: celeb backing).

One thing I realize about the whole underground streetwear culture niche, is that it's hard to succeed unless you've "street cred". Meaning you're a rapper / some kind of celeb / grew up in the "hood".
If you hang around enough on the Reddit /streetwear forum, you'll start to notice a pattern in terms of demographics.

Put it in a more obvious way, if you're a preppy white-collar executive working at a 9-to-5 job who goes home for dinner with his family every day, well, you likely lack the "street cred" that these streetwear brands have.

 

[0VO]

I looked over your post again. I have some suggestions, again they're only my opinions. As always, Easy to say, harder to implement.

I see you feel Insta/FB ads are only for cheaper products/feel. A lot of people are directing traffic with those channels to High Ticket 4/5-figure-funnels.
On that same note, most "luxury" brands don't advertise...to clarify...They're seen everywhere (selectively) but they rarely advertise in the traditional sense.

You mentioned not wanting to do influencer marketing because others brands may be doing the same thing. Don't worry about what others are doing. Besides, if a lot of people are doing it maybe it's working?

"Poppington" is Damon Dash's new umbrella brand. He has a website for it. Maybe you can get some inspiration from it. Notice how it's really simple, really clean, and shows quality without saying "hey, we are quality, we are luxury".

You can no compete solely on price alone. Be it pushing heavy prices or barrelling down low prices.

You mentioned Limited Production on your site. That is great for people who have high demand to quickly sell out, artists who sell "limited edition merchandise" after concerts for example. As a new brand you might want to take as many sales as you can. Do you have any orders or interest yet?

Try to think about where you target audience hangs. See if you can sponor events or brands in that area. See if you can host parties, get your brand visible there. Go to clubs? I don't know where your audience hangs. Hope you get the idea!

 

[DeletedUser0287]

Anti Social Social Club, the guy made it. With crappy designs and not high quality materials. There website sucks too.

But a celebrity wore it and well thats where all the value came from. I don't think if a celebrity wore ASSC, it would be dead like any other.

 

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[DST]

I don't really like the question "why is this worth $xxx" because people will rationalise and come up with shit excuses that a lot of other brands also have but doesn't really say much about the reality. People will either buy it or not, without much conscious thought, especially in something like a $300 shirt. And its also an art component to it, and I can't really wrap my head around most of expensive art out there.

Luxury brands can have high quality, but high quality usually isn't the reason for why we choose it. People don't buy Louis Vuitton bags because they are going to last after wear and tear. In fact they're usually very cautious of its use.

Back to 2-iconic. Pricing is the most effective marketing tool. A $300 shirt puts you in a very small minority segment few are usually willing to pay for. Most likely, no marketing efforts you can come up with will make me buy it for instance. You should find those who're more potent and might be willing to do so. I'm gonna guess you can't find somebody willing to pay that much who haven't done it previously, because its seen as high risk purchase (risk as in you don't get any acknowledgement for its high price). People who buy for that price probably want acknowledgement for it. So maybe try to find others who have previously bought clothing in that price range and see how you can appeal to them.


As for the items itself. I'm somewhat aware of the niche subcultures who use this type, but it still looks cheap and screams kitsch (which is 2-ironic since you worried about ads being cheap). If you paid a designer money for those designs you'd probably be dissatisfied. But just because you did them yourself you think its worth a lot. Its sellable for some, but maybe not for that price yet.

 

[deep singh]

Recently, I have reached the marketing stage for my brand.

Hi Kase,

Have you got to the "selling" stage for your brand yet?

If not, do that first.

Work on the brand, the following, the legend that is 2-ICONIC later.

First see if you anyone will buy it.

And you do that today, by walking out of the door and in to a clothing store.

Do it by hand, and then work on Instagram and Facebook stuff later.

You say that "there is the easy and popular option of Instagram/Facebook adds". While entering the market via IG and FB is easy, gaining traction isn't because EVERYONE is on there doing it.

Forget influencer marketing now, and try selling one of your t-shirts today.

Here is a tried and tested strategy by either Daymond John or Stussy or The Hundreds. I can't remember who. Maybe they all did it. You do it too.

1 - Get a friend (ideally an attractive woman) to walk into a store and ask for your brand by name. Do that today.

2 - Do it again with another friend next week.

3 - On Friday of the second week, walk in to the store with some samples, and ask if they'd like to take an order, sale of return.

4 - Take the order and then order the shirts.

Reply to this thread and tell us what happened.

And by the way, I think your stuff looks good. Nice one.

 

[Jeff Noel]

I won't go into suggesting changes as others with way more experience than me did it already.

I only wanted to salute your attitude in this thread. At first I was expecting you to answer defensively, but you kept the discussion going and took every bit of advice with an open mind. Whatever you do, keep that attitude. People that met success already have gave you a ton of suggestion already, so take good note of those !

Keep it up and I wish you the best !

 

[Scot]

AgainstAllOdds,
Your points are true. I have seen this in others and myself, but many have to start somewhere.
I do have an interest in fashion, but am not targeting this market because it is "cool," but because I saw a market opportunity.

Designing, manufacturing, branding, marketing, selling: yes these are all important aspects of creating a successful clothing brand all of which are being developed, my question was targeted towards marketing. I have researched and watched videos, but nothing was of use. That is why I created a post to gather information to help me learn about this sector of development. Do you have any advice you can share with me here?

What market opportunity though? You’re telling me there’s a lack of luxury t shirts on the market? You listed several brands earlier.

What we are trying to show you is that you’re not providing any genuine value with your products. You’re swimming in a pond full of thousands of other “brands”. Do you think you’re even in the first 100 people to market a luxury T-shirt made with organic cotton through celebrity endorsement?

Is it possible? Sure. Probable? Not even close.

 

[DVU]

I've seen this one too many times, and it's always the same pattern.

1. A young, usually college aged kid decides that he wants to start a business.
2. He likes clothing, so he decides to make "a clothing brand" -- usually this decision is fueled by his inability to see other market opportunities, because he's arrogant enough to think it's easy, and because he wants to do something cool that he can talk about.
3. He tells everyone that he's starting a clothing company. But not just any clothing company. This one is better because it's a "[adjective] [adjective] brand"
4. He learns a little bit of photoshop and considers himself a designer
5. He makes 4 t-shirt designs and gets super hyped
6. He shows his friends, and they think it's cool since he's the first person they've met in their circle that's trying something
7. They go out and take ten cool pictures
8. He then does a little bit of research on how to build a website, and starts working on his site
9. At first, the site is horrible...but after a couple weeks of trying, it's not that bad and he's impressed by how it looks and thinks he has something great (though his progress is impressive, the website is still trash).
10. Now he decides it's time to act. He has $500 and is gonna invest it all in this company. He goes to a printing shop and spends his whole budget on the 4 designs.
11. He has the first batch of t-shirts in hand.
12. He sells a handful of the first print to his friends. He then enthusiastically pushes his product on anyone that will listen. A number of people buy because it's easier to give him $25 than to ruin a friendship... and if we're being fair, it's a decent t-shirt so screw it, they'll help out this guy they know since it's not that bad of a design.
13. Now it's time to sell to the real market... people he doesn't know.

Wow, free business idea and a marketing plan. Thanks, dude, ill send you a couple of mil after I make billions.

 

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[Kase]

I don't really like the question "why is this worth $xxx" because people will rationalise and come up with sh*t excuses that a lot of other brands also have but doesn't really say much about the reality. People will either buy it or not, without much conscious thought, especially in something like a $300 shirt. And its also an art component to it, and I can't really wrap my head around most of expensive art out there.

Luxury brands can have high quality, but high quality usually isn't the reason for why we choose it. People don't buy Louis Vuitton bags because they are going to last after wear and tear. In fact they're usually very cautious of its use.

Back to 2-iconic. Pricing is the most effective marketing tool. A $300 shirt puts you in a very small minority segment few are usually willing to pay for. Most likely, no marketing efforts you can come up with will make me buy it for instance. You should find those who're more potent and might be willing to do so. I'm gonna guess you can't find somebody willing to pay that much who haven't done it previously, because its seen as high risk purchase (risk as in you don't get any acknowledgement for its high price). People who buy for that price probably want acknowledgement for it. So maybe try to find others who have previously bought clothing in that price range and see how you can appeal to them.


As for the items itself. I'm somewhat aware of the niche subcultures who use this type, but it still looks cheap and screams kitsch (which is 2-ironic since you worried about ads being cheap). If you paid a designer money for those designs you'd probably be dissatisfied. But just because you did them yourself you think its worth a lot. Its sellable for some, but maybe not for that price yet.

That is a good point, they are high-risk purchases because my brand doesn't have recognition yet. To obtain recognition it falls back on the original question: how to market and advertise.

Thank you for the feedback!

 

[Kase]

I won't go into suggesting changes as others with way more experience than me did it already.

I only wanted to salute your attitude in this thread. At first I was expecting you to answer defensively, but you kept the discussion going and took every bit of advice with an open mind. Whatever you do, keep that attitude. People that met success already have gave you a ton of suggestion already, so take good note of those !

Keep it up and I wish you the best !

I appreciate anyone who takes their time to help me with this project, can't get mad at them for that! I appreciate it man.