How to start an activewear brand - 5 start up tips!
Let’s sit back and take a look through the new and improved steps you need to be taking to launch your activewear brand successfully.
- Market Research! Who are your products for?
If you haven’t already noticed, there are hundreds of active wear brands hitting the market EVERY DAY. Now this could easily discourage you which is understandable however there is a huge market for activewear which has grown exponentially in the past few years. So rather than feel scared, dig deeper and find a niche that is actually needed.
Undertake some serious market research and begin to find certain gaps in the market such as;
- Maternity Activewear
- Eco Friendly Activewear
- Size Inclusive Activewear
- Swim friendly Activewear
- Non Sweat Activewear
- Bra Friendly/ Bigger Bust Activewear
- Conservative Activewear
- Brightly Coloured Activewear
Now these ideas may not align with your current brand image but ask yourself WHY you are even starting an activewear brand. Is it to make money? Or are you wanting to compete with similar products that are already offered in hundreds of other stores. As a startup, there is no point in competing with huge brands like LuluLemon and Nike, I can bet they have larger marketing budgets than you.
So before starting, establish a WHY because you will need to convince those initial customers to take a chance on your product for most likely a higher price than competing brands.
- Styling your brand. This can range from brand logos, colour palette, fonts, aesthetic and even product placement!
I want you to imagine the end product, and consider the following,
What is the kind of brand the customer is looking at? High end? Thoughtful? Environmentally conscious? Edgy and Alternative?
Branding is the quickest and most long lasting way to convey a message to consumers. The crop top your thinking of producing won’t tell the whole story about your brand but your website, social media and logo sure will!
People are shocked when I talk about how the branding process should take 2-3 months. You need to create an image to consumers that is established, thought of and carefully curated. Branding is a way to communicate a clear and strong message to anyone that may come across your band. Take your time on this step and get lots of feedback before launching anything!
- Product Design: Tech Packs! This is how we will give you pricing and guidance to the manufacturer and a step made easy for you, we create these for you!
Have you ever seen a terrible makeover? This is what happens when you are not equipped with a tech pack. A factory will take your great idea and turn it into a garment which might resemble something completely different. This is not their fault as you did not provide any instructions and they simply cannot read your mind.
Unsure of what a tech pack is? Check out this post.
- Quoting and Sampling 🪡 Once your design board and packs are complete, you can now move into sourcing your fabrics and quoting your range.
When the tech packs are ready - it is time for the fun part, sampling! It is an incredible experience to be able to bring your garments to life and I can guarantee you will never buy clothes again in the same way after developing your own clothing. Samping is an amazing process which you will learn about fabrics, trims, how garments are made and much much more!
To receive quotes, you send your tech packs to various manufacturers who align with your brands visions and they will provide quotes based on your garments and quantities.
- Manufacturing… once samples are approved its time to begin production where Fibr Studios is able to find a manufacturer for you.
So, sampling has gone great and you are ready to bring these products to the market.The most standard practice for paying for your production is to pay 50% upfront and 50% once good are delivered.
The manufacturing process can take up to three months (6 weeks for fabric production, 6 weeks for garment production) so ensure you factor this into any timeline you are following. During this time you can set up things like packaging, marketing plans, website design and deciding whether to wholesale your product
To find out more, book a FREE consultation with us here!