Who actually has a successful clothing label or brand?
Hello everyone, I apologize if this question has been asked plenty of times before, but I feel like its hard to find a direct answer for the question. Who out here actually has a brand they started themselves and can make a living off of it?
I'm tempted to dump a lot of time and devotion into making a brand. I feel like it is possible and I read a good amount of articles on "how to's" but I don't see any other good success stories but Johnny Cupcakes.
Re: Who actually has a successful clothing label or brand?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DowntownClothing
Hello everyone, I apologize if this question has been asked plenty of times before, but I feel like its hard to find a direct answer for the question. Who out here actually has a brand they started themselves and can make a living off of it?
I'm tempted to dump a lot of time and devotion into making a brand. I feel like it is possible and I read a good amount of articles on "how to's" but I don't see any other good success stories but Johnny Cupcakes.
Thanks!
Ben
Ben,
If you don't find any other stories would you not want to start a brand? If you answer that you wouldn't start a brand if that was the case, then you really shouldn't start.
As with any other business, you need to do it because you have a drive for it. Whether it will become successful enough for you to make a living off of is up to you. There are plenty of successful brands besides JC. Theres the hundreds, tshirt hell, ecko, nike...
Surprised I mentioned ecko and nike? They started small too.
Re: Who actually has a successful clothing label or brand?
Quote:
Originally Posted by TshirtGuru
Ben,
If you don't find any other stories would you not want to start a brand? If you answer that you wouldn't start a brand if that was the case, then you really shouldn't start.
As with any other business, you need to do it because you have a drive for it. Whether it will become successful enough for you to make a living off of is up to you. There are plenty of successful brands besides JC. Theres the hundreds, tshirt hell, ecko, nike...
Surprised I mentioned ecko and nike? They started small too.
I totally agree. Unless you've been in this industry and know the ropes you are going to have a ton of work ahead of you and if you aren't passionate about what you do you will surely fail.
The "how to's" are there as tools to help you get to where you want to go, many shared by people who have already been there and done that. They definitely won't be a guarantee of your success, but you can learn from the experience of others by reading the great posts that have been made here.
Re: Who actually has a successful clothing label or brand?
I spent most of my life making good money working for a
large corporation. Never really cared for what I did, but the money was good. Now it's time for me to do something I really am passionate about. I love to design shirts and I will put everything I have into making my new business successful. But successful to me, may be way different then what successful to you or someone else might think.
Re: Who actually has a successful clothing label or brand?
Tommy Hilfiger has a pretty interesting/inspiring story. He went from bankrupt and now has a $1.6 billion company. All brands usually have pretty humble beginnings. Good luck!
Re: Who actually has a successful clothing label or brand?
Thank you everyone for all the information. I didn't mean to sound like I'm going to base my decisions off of other people's stories, I was just curious to hear some peoples success stories. Its hard to find much information on smaller brands and where they came up from. I've seen numerous posts of peoples ideas and wish lists.. but sometimes the experience is lacking. Thanks for all the info so far and by and means if anyone here would like to tell me about how yours went please do. Thanks
Ben
Re: Who actually has a successful clothing label or brand?
I've been in the business for over 18 years now.
I met my present partner through some contacts that I had been working with and one day he calls me and asks if he can come by my office. He proposes that we should join forces with all the resources we have and start a mens T-Shirt line. At first I was a little hesitant since I had only known him through doing private label but a little investigation on my part revealed that he had designed most of Monarchy's first 2 seasons and had been instrumental in their success so I called him back and we worked out what we wanted to do and who we wanted to focus on.
This is a discussion about Who actually has a successful clothing label or brand? that was posted in the General T-Shirt Selling Discussion section of the forums.
Who actually has a successful clothing label or brand? 
Except mine....
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