What You Need To Know Before Starting Your Own Fashion Label

How do you set yourself up for a chance of commercial success after you graduate from fashion school? You might’ve learnt all the technical aspects of design, might have honed your creative vision, but no matter how big a fish you think you are, you’re in a small pool filled with sharks. Especially if you consider that finding a showroom, contacting buyers and choosing the right retail location aren’t topics often discussed in fashion school. To help young designers navigate these real-world complexities, 1 Granary hosted a series of talks at Sarabande: The Lee Alexander McQueen Foundation. Last week, they invited the founder of Paris-based showroom Not Summer, who shared his insight into the life of a buyer. Starting a brand straight out of fashion school can feel like jumping into a very expensive and totally unknown world. In the main fashion capitals, the pace of production and the consumption of images, ideas and clothes is ever-accelerating, which leaves little space to stop and think. Approaching industry insiders seems impossible, and the internet — whether that’s Instagram or Facebook — may not be enough to break into the industry on your own. Read more at i-D.