Would you guys considering clothing a need with a good market?

[lowkeymogul]

I'm thinking about digging into the clothing industry but I'm wondering if people REALLY need it or if I'm going to be like that guy from the carpet cleaning company in Mj's book :/

 

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[DeletedUser394]

Unfortunately, everyone and their mother has a clothing company. Things like Zazzle and TeeSpring also let most people just design their own stuff.

You might be able to get a niche and own it, but the industry itself is extremely competitive and saturated.

An example of a niche would be the company that I buy the majority of my clothing from. They manufacture all of their product in the same country that they sell it in, so I like that I'm not buying from China, Bangladesh, etc. And the prices are comparable to a mid range 'name brand.'

 

[AntEmpire]

No. The problem with clothing lines is that the entry to start one is low. And if everyone is doing it you can bet someone else wants to do it too. Simply put: it's too easy.

 

[Duane]

I don't know much about the clothing business, but if I were going to get into it, I'd get into wholesale distribution of brands that have already been established, but aren't in every shelf of every store yet (if you get what I mean, they're still growing as a brand, but aren't too big). You buy these clothes from a person manufacturing them and Wholesaling these clothes in bulk to retailers rather than being a direct to consumer seller. I feel there is more money in it, but it requires more work to get started. A warehouse wholesaling clothes will make a lot more money per building vs a retail store and people are only getting paid when you have orders, so no money is lost from people sitting around waiting for a customer to come in.

I have a friend that is in the wholesaling business dealing with clothes and novelty items. He's an older lad that built it from the ground up. Started with him going small business to small business showing them what he had and getting clients, from there he would do the deliveries himself, keeping the items stored in his garage. Now, he hires people to go out and find businesses that want to buy his clothes in bulk, they only make money on committed buyers. He has other guys that work in his warehouse putting the shipments in line and his own delivery boys that ship it out. Since he sells in BULK, his orders are massive, which is so much more than one shirt at a time at a 60% discount or w/e.

This guy started off looking for buyers and driving the routes, to only looking for buyers and having his men load/ship the items, to now all he does is look at where to build more warehouses to grow his company while his employees do the rest (not super passive because you have to manage the employees). He makes tons of money now, but he is a hustler that didn't stop pushing forward. So if you were to go this route, gotta hustle. Hit businesses up and cold call potential clients. Get told no a million times before you get a yes.

If this isn't what you're interested in doing, I personally wouldn't go for it, lots of big dogs and 99% fail in the online/retail clothing business. There are bigger needs that can be filled and be worth your time.

 

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[Jon L]

the only thing to add here is something that MJ said in his book...you have to be EXCEPTIONAL in order to be successful.

 

[Damage Inc.]

There are a couple of guys around here who have done well with fashion accessories. I think there's a little more opportunity to add value when you can put a creative new twist on a commonly used accessory as opposed to something like just printing a new brand logo on a shirt or sewing a pair of jeans with a slightly different shape. I think people are more willing to buy into a new brand when the product itself is new and useful. If I wanted to get into something like this I'd be looking for ways to add new functionality or new style to belt buckles, shoe laces, glasses retainers, cuff links, money clips / wallets, etc.

 

[AgainstAllOdds]

Do accessories if you want to get into that market.

 

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[JustAskBenWhy]

Haha - only the underwear. @jon.a and I can get along wihtout everything else. Come to think of it, Jon could probably do without underwear too

 

[LynnD5000]

I'm thinking about digging into the clothing industry but I'm wondering if people REALLY need it or if I'm going to be like that guy from the carpet cleaning company in Mj's book :/

For what it's worth - if you design a line of clothes for women 2x and larger with a head /neck size of a normal person my wife would be a customer FOREVER - larger women's clothing designers seem to think their heads get bigger too - so they design the neck opening for a huge headed woman and after it's on it plunges to the belly button because they figure it has to fit over their head...(small exageration) but still it's a real problem for larger women who don't want plunging neck lines.

L

 

[TJPB]

I'm thinking about digging into the clothing industry but I'm wondering if people REALLY need it or if I'm going to be like that guy from the carpet cleaning company in Mj's book :/

People need water, food, and shelter (depending on the climate). Selling them anything else involves different levels of convincing.

My thread alone on the Inside would be worth the entry fee to you

 

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[Wisith]

No. The problem with clothing lines is that the entry to start one is low. And if everyone is doing it you can bet someone else wants to do it too. Simply put: it's too easy.

Especially given how many 't shirt lines' there are nowadays. Check social media to verify how many are out there.

I've been into clothing/fashion all of my life and thought about starting my own brand (menswear) back in 2012, but I reconsidered considering how much money you actually need to start a real line, ie drafting patterns, sourcing quality fabrics, etc.

What avenue of fashion/clothing do you want to get into? You essentially have streetwear and menswear. Menswear is typical suiting while streetwear is the stuff kids wear. You can go deeper and break things into fast fashion, ie H&M, Zara, etc. where they just rip off high end pieces and produce a billion pieces of them, high end brands, or mall brands. This is where the money is at and that's why those are billion dollar companies (referring to fast fashion brands).

I have a couple of friends who are into wholesaling. They buy at wholesale and sell them at their store in the fashion district. You don't want to get into this space because you're competing on price. They constantly need to lower their prices because they sell the exact same stuff as the store next door.

Marketing is king. If you look at 'hot brands', right now it would be HBA (Hood By Air), Off White, etc. they are selling screen printed t shirts for $500+. I'm pretty sure these are wholesale t shirts with their own labels. They are hot because celebs wear them.

There's no real money in menswear because it costs a lot to make. These are usually older brands and guys who got into the business 'for the love'. You really have to cater to the clothing hobbyists here, usually selling on quality over everything.

Fashion is volatile, and if you are not heavily in the scene, I don't think it would be a good space to get into. What is hot one year may not be. Right now...the whole 'dressing like a homeless' is very in (sorry for a lack of better words). Look at brands like "Fear of God", selling faded and ripped shirts and jeans that sell out almost instantly at very expensive prices.

If you want to get in, you really need to find a niche. Sneakers are really big now (this is coming from a former sneaker addict). There are brands that make socks to match the newest sneakers. The whole retro look is in...there are brands that make 80s inspired clothing. Again...how long will these trends last? 1 year? 3 years? Very volatile.