Sustainable fashion terminology can be confusing to most. Like many other industries, fashion is shaped by economic and political forces. It is like a living organism – always evolving and changing. I'm sure – like me – you must find it hard to keep up with all the terminology used by industry insiders. Not only are there new words and labels emerging, but often they overlap in meaning and it is confusing to know what they all mean exactly.

So, here is a handy guide that will clear up the confusion. Even help you understand, if you are in fashion, what you should look out for and stand for.

Conscious Fashion

Conscious fashion is a catch-all term. It is often used by people to imply “sustainability”, “ethical” practices or “eco”. Some brands use the name to imply “mindful” and “purposeful” and in fact even use it as part of the brand name. They don’t always have to be a sustainable fashion brand, though some may be. It is best to check for more information on their website and even c...

Vegan Leather or Real Animal Leather? Sustainability and making fashion more responsible and better for the planet have been on the global environmental agenda for a number of years now. 

According to the global fashion aggregator Lyst, the appetite for more sustainable fashion is on the increase, reflected in searches for sustainable fashion brands up by 75 per cent year on year.

One of the hot topics in the industry for a while now has been the debate if faux or often referred to as “vegan” leather is better environmental and sustainable choice than real animal leather?

The answer is complicated with passionate arguments for both “for” and “against”.

Personal preferences aside – let’s take a look at the factual side of the evidence.

REAL ANIMAL LEATHER

It is often cited and said that the animal leather is a by-product of the meat industry. While not all animal leather used in fashion is of a single type and classed as a “by-product”, it is certainly the case for cow derived lea...

Years ago when the British manufacturing industry was thriving, there would have been no question as to whether local manufacturing would have been your first option or a preferred one. However, during its decline, the rise of alternative options offshore was too attractive to brands to overlook. In this article, we will talk about what the right manufacturing method is, for your brand - offshore manufacturing or local manufacturing.

Before embarking on production for your fashion start-up, it would be wise to research the differences between local manufacturing or offshore manufacturing.

The main reasons designers and brands choose either of these options is rarely on personal grounds. Usually, it has something to do with one or more of the following:

• Tangible factors of consideration: cost, minimum order quantity (MOQ), skill, location (distance)
• Intangible factors of consideration: level of experience manufacturing, trust, communication

Making a choice, to begin with, is...

If you want to discover what invaluable lessons I learned from launching a fashion fine jewellery brand, then read on.

It is often said that hindsight is 20/20 and in the case of launching and growing fashion business, this most certainly is the case. When you are fresh and new to an industry it is easy to go down a path and make a decision that monumentally alters the course of events for you and your business. Sometimes in a good way and often in not so good ways.

When we look at start-up brands in the fashion space that become successful quickly, we often justify their success by way of assuming it is because they had insider knowledge, connections, money…etc Which sometimes may be the case but often no matter who and what you know, there is no substitute to doing the work and learning the lessons first hand.

This certainly was the case for me. After working in the fashion industry for ten or so years, I was confident that I knew a lot about how the fashion industry worked, the A...

Have you thought about running a pop-up shop to sell your products? Have you thought about where you would hold it, when you would hold it and how you would kit the space out? These are all very important points to consider in order to ensure that your brand’s message is translated to your target audience.

There are so many benefits to setting up a temporary shop in a location chosen by you, the fashion business owner, such as testing your products and interacting directly with your customers offline. Setting up a pop-up shop can also be a low-cost way to launch your fashion business.

You need to make sure that in the short space of time that your pop-up shop is open, you establish your brand to the foot traffic and beyond. Leave your mark and make sure that people remember you – and that those who missed out are so saddened they chase you down online!

Remember: you might not be there for a long time, but you are there for a good time. That means a good shop front, a good atmosphere...

Technology is fantastic, but there are steps you should take to ensure your data is kept cyber-secure.

As a fashion business owner, there are more than just deals and a workspace to secure at the end of your working day. You also need to make sure that you are cyber-secure. Tahir Basheer of Sheridans law firm shares his advice on how to do so.

The issue of cyber-security is always a hot topic, especially after last year's well-documented case of online thieves stealing personal data from iCloud accounts. Celebrities reportedly targeted included Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton, Ariana Grande, and Rihanna.

There are a number of legal issues involved with this kind of incident, including data protection, breach of privacy and theft. Securely storing sensitive information is really important: this applies to commercially sensitive information (such as designs and prints) and personally sensitive information (such as private photographs).

Here are some useful tips to ensure that informati...

The word mentor has its roots in Greek mythology. It was the name of Athena disguised as a trusted adviser to the young Telemachus. Sometime between then and now the name stuck and usually these days refers to a trusted and experienced advisor, mostly in business relationships.

Having a business mentor is one of the things in life that those that most need it – either don’t know about it or don’t know how to find one; and those that we would consider as least needing one i.e. they are already successful – almost without fail currently have or have had one in the past, because they know and understand the value a good advisor brings.

So while most young entrepreneurs may smirk and be a little nonchalant at the thought of needing to find a business mentor, an older and wiser person will put them right by explaining that if you want to do better at what you do, advance your career, try a new venture, increase the chances of your start-up’s survival, etc. – you need a mentor. Someone you...

Once you make the decision to go into fashion wholesale with your products, to shops, you will need to ensure that you have all of the necessary supporting materials. These include sales items and selling information packs.

Fashion wholesale buyers, surprisingly, are not very visual and need a lot of information from the designer in order to make a constructive decision. If you can provide answers to all of their questions immediately, that is preferable to leaving with a list of queries that will have to be answered after the momentum of your meeting has died down. Arm yourself with the following and make the best first impression:

Fashion Wholesale Samples

First and foremost, present an edited selection of well-made samples to wholesale buyers.

Arm yourself with a full selection of Sales Samples corresponding to every design in your Line Sheet.

The Sales Sample is a version of your design that includes all brand-approved fabric and trims. This is the version that you would sho...

Fashion Trend Forecasting agencies' foresight into future trends is not limited to predicting the colours and materials that will be popular over the next two years. Forecasters also delve into the lifestyles and buying habits of your brands' consumer to gain insight into their present values and future desires. Let's take a look at what these agencies do and why they are important.

What is Fashion Trend Forecasting?

Fashion forecasting is the technique of predicting buying habits and moods of the consumers. It includes the prediction or forecasting of colours, fabrics, textures, and various other styles that are going to be presented on the runway and will be in the stores for the upcoming seasons.

What are the Types of Fashion Forecasting?

Short-term: This is used by merchandisers, production managers or products developers to generate style directions and to shape collections. Most apparel companies these days subscribe to the services which easily provides them with reports ...

The Fashion Fair used to be all about selling. Buyers would descend on the fairs in droves, seeking out new brands to place orders with, while checking on their existing brands new season's products. But it is now much more difficult to actually take an order at a Fashion Fair as they have now become marketing exercises and not sales events.

If you had the right product it would sell.

Fast forward to the age of social media and things have changed drastically.

It is now much more difficult to actually take an order at a Fashion Fair as they have now become marketing exercises and not sales events.

However, don’t be fooled into thinking that no business occurs. It does but this usually happens over an email after the show has ended. Just be aware that the Fashion Fair is a chance for buyers to be wined and dined by their contacts in the industry.

Why a Fashion Fair?

You may be asking yourself whether it would benefit you to show at a fair considering that you may not sell anything...