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Online womenswear start up

7 replies

Jmangel · 14/09/2016 19:42

I would love advice please on how viable it would be to start an independent online ladies outerwear site with my own ideas for designs. I know what I want to sell - 5 different styles of coating retailing in the £50-80 each region in 3 different sizes.
How best would I go around sourcing a pattern maker and manufacturer especially if I wanted to look outside UK to keep costs down?
Also would I need a designer or could a pattern maker work with very rudimentary sketches?
Does anyone have any experience of how much such a venture might initially cost including website design and basic marketing? Thinking of targeting the mum market via blogs/mumsnet etc.
I have no idea how much any of this would cost but willing to sink up to 5 grand initially - viable?

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olderthanyouthink · 15/09/2016 09:11

I really don't know much about this sort of thing but I know someone who sells stationary who found a manufacturer on alibaba, I believe. I think, he said he looked for someone making/selling similar to what he wanted and contacted them to ask if they would make some for him to his spec. Might be an idea to try that?

Again I'm not sure but as long as you can provide a sketch with enough detail (number & type of buttons, placement of pockets, trim etc) you might not need a designer and I think the manufacturer makes the pattern. Bare in mind I'm no expert but have read a bit about this in the past because I'm curious.

I do know something about websites thought, they can be really fricken expensive, but it varies massively. I personally don't like sites that look... Cookie cutter, came from a website builder etc because they seem throw away (maybe because I know it's not hard to make one the 'proper way'). Same goes with not having your own domain name and using gmail/hotmail etc.

So in theory you could get a site for free/very cheap (diy) or few hundred pounds to a few thousand. That might not sound very helpful but honestly the variation is huge eg the company I work for is charging £££££ for a site that, on my own would only charge £££ for, but with just me you don't get the project manager, account manage and more experienced designer.

(Didn't mean to go on but I'm a web dev and dodgy websites are a bug bear for me)

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Jmangel · 15/09/2016 19:08

Thanks older that's really helpful re the website - I would want the website to look professional.
Maybe I could contact Sheinside or similar for manufacturing but would want good quality so would need to be sure of this.
Lots to think about!

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olderthanyouthink · 15/09/2016 20:08

No problem, I figure the more people I talk to about it, the less shit sites will be published.

I googled sheinside and they seem to have a dubious reputation. I found a London based company called sewport, it might be worth looking in to manufacturing in UK/Europe and charging a premium for this because some people put stock in made in Britain vs made in China. Could add to your USP and set you apart from h&m, topshop etc, maybe?

(Feel free to ignore me, I'm just spitballing)

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Justwanttoweeinpeace · 15/09/2016 20:20

JM Angel - this is my area. PM me.

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Justwanttoweeinpeace · 15/09/2016 20:47

Oh hang on; I'll PM you!

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ashleysummer87 · 18/10/2016 13:15

It's a great idea to start an independent online ladies outerwear site with your own ideas for designs. I can recommend you to go with a fashion WordPress theme (you can choose here www.templatemonster.com ). Using a WordPress theme that is especially designed for fashion blog/website can help you build a unique and functional website. Good luck!

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avabrooks · 27/06/2019 09:50

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