How to start a clothing brand, without falling flat on your face.
I Did it My-y Wa-a-a-y-y-y-y! When I think about the unusual way I started my swim brand, and how it is still in existence, then think about the dozens of new swim brands I have seen launch in the meantime, only to disappear in six months, I get so smug that I want to start quoting the Bible: For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14) The narrow road I took, was one of manufacturing my swimsuits myself . It involved a big investment in skills and machinery, but the alternative (the wide road) would have seen me paying factories who had minimum order quantities of 100 pieces, per colour, per style. To launch my brand the way they were suggesting, even if it was only with one bikini top, one bikini bottom, one one-piece swimming costume, and one men's style, all in just two-colour options, would have required me to have ...