How to Set up a Fashion Business: Zoë Jordan's Story | #BoFEducation Video Lecture | How to start your own Fashion Business: Fashion Business Basics - Entrepreneurship

I think there was a week between when
I'd left the city and got on a plane to
Thailand to go saw silks Hong Kong's go
and look for hardware and then we were
back in London I've learned as I've gone
and worked with pattern cutters helped
me along the way once we created that
set of samples the samples were in the
back of the car we were driving from
store to store going in store showing
and the samples instead of them that way
for me my girl she's got a natural
confidence to her I don't limit her by
age or a particular look it's more about
an attitude and I think she does have
that kind of boyish elegance to her she
wasn't perhaps driven by the seasons so
much her life exists outside of that and
that's where we went about creating a
collection that wasn't drawn to a
particular season that it was season
this and that seems to have made quite a
big impact to our business
neat lab is a collection of cashmere
cutouts essentially we found our hero
product and I think that's a really
crucial thing for a young brand to do as
early on as possible we've been able to
identify that through working with their
stores and then been able to launch it
as a bigger offering bigger capsule
collection I think one of the key
takeaways that I would kind of like to
pass on to a young designer is that for
me I've always held the stores as
paramount they're the most important
person to me that relationship with the
buyer you've got to treat them as a
partner rather than selling and then
forgetting about it till next season and
just really listening to what they want
any feedback that's how you can get
great feedback on your customer as well
one of the hardest things is production
getting your production to prioritize
you even though you're doing minimums
probably takes up a lot more time than
you would envisage at the beginning I'm
still trying to get them it's bribery
gifts and chocolate we go and see them
it's about again treating them like a
business partner when we get an award
from the PSC that we share that with
them and that they feel part of the
journey with us
I think there's a certain time span to a
brand I think there's a natural
progression that you need to embrace
early on you just want it warm right now
and actually your business probably is
not ready to work with those kind of
department stores until you've had a
good few seasons on your belt it's
thinking you have to be a little bit
patient with the growth you really need
to manage your cash flow carefully that
is every brands kryptonite working with
River Islands been really an enjoyable
experience I've really enjoyed the
design challenge aspect of it and just
learning a little bit more about a
different area of the industry River
Island presents us with a great
opportunity to introduce the line to our
brand new audience my advice
personally would be that if it's
something that you really feel strongly
about it's in your heart that you can't
stop thinking about that you've got to
just dive in it's important you have
that risk appetite to have some
resilience there's certainly a lot of up
and downs along the way but you need to
be ready to enjoy the journey
you