The Fashion Designer Survival Guide: Start and Run Your Own Fashion Business

Description

“Mary Gehlhar’s third edition of her seminal Fashion Designer Survival Guide is the definitive how-to for navigating the fashion industry, post-pandemic. Mary’s trailblazing book illuminates and inspires. She is a fashion treasure and this new edition is a rare gem.” Tim Gunn “ The Fashion Designer Survival Guide is packed with essential knowledge and advice from industry experts and experienced designers to set you on the right path. These insights will give you the solid foundation to create a plan and make smart decisions…” Christian Siriano In this updated and expanded edition of The Fashion Designer Survival Guide , Mary Gehlhar, industry authority and consultant to hundreds of fashion design entrepreneurs, offers behind-the-scenes insight and essential information to launch and grow your own fashion label. You’ll hear from experts in social media, financing, and sales, along with advice from dozens of designers on solutions to their biggest challenges and their keys to success. A new section of full color photos from 25 independent designers bring the concepts to life. In this must-have guide, Gehlhar reveals essential information on: Creating a viable business plan Social media strategies to grow your customer base Maximizing online sales to get your designs directly into customers’ closets Integrating sustainability in your sourcing and manufacturing Collaborating with influencers, stylists and brands to expand your audience Landing the right financing for your type of business Establishing wholesale partnerships with the best retail stores Navigating the pitfalls of production both at home and abroad Review: Outstanding! It's a great book on fashion. - This book is amazing! I want to become a fashion designer. I got this book in the mail a few days ago and am only on the first chapter, but I can already tell it's of great quality. It goes into great detail, yet is an easy read. I'm obsessed already! Buy it, you won't be disappointed! Review: New edition is well worth it! - If you are like me, you may have a copy of one of the older editions of this book. I have a dog-eared copy that I refer to often, but I am really happy I picked up the new edition. Times have changed and so has this book. It probably has more than half new content which includes: - A new premise. Older editions focused more on designers building a career like Zac Posen, but the world changed and so has the authors perspective. She explains there are many paths to success and many ways to design and create a fashion business. But she does emphasize that however you approach it, you must be really focused on what you are setting out to do and what makes it different. - How to sell & market directly to customers vs. the traditional way of trying to get into stores. This edition includes both but she really encourages designers to lean on social media and online media to build a loyal following so they don’t become overly dependent on traditional retail chains. - New advice from many fashion experts. What I always loved about this book is it includes wisdom from many designers who are in the field with all different kinds of businesses. There are a lot of new photos to show their work and support the chapters. - A bigger focus on sustainability. I like how she it breaks it down into ways to approach the issues because no one can do it all. - Ways to think about new opportunities. There definitely isn’t a one size fits all approach to being a designer but the book triggered new ideas for me to connect to my customer and tap into collabs and new technologies. This book is a great buy for anyone who is a designer or interested in really understanding what has to be done to create any fashion brand. This is the business side that isn’t taught in fashion school. That said, it’s not a text book with forms and charts…so, if you are looking for that, another business book might be a better option. While some reviews point out the harsh reality chapter upfront, I think its actually encouraging and is just intended to show to that the day to day of being a designer and running a business is not as simple as it looks on TV.