If you are considering crowdfunding to launch your fashion product, there are a number of legal issues that should be considered before trying to raise money through such a platform.

Tahir Basheer of Sheridans law firm shares his advice to keep you ahead of the game (note: most of the points are relevant to Equity Crowdfunding).

There are three main types of crowdfunding:

Debt Crowdfunding

Investors loan money directly to an individual and hopefully receive their money back with interest. Also called peer-to-peer (P2P) lending, it allows for the lending of money while bypassing traditional banks. Returns are financial, but investors also have the benefit of having contributed to the success of an idea they believe in. An example of a Debt Crowdfunding platform is the Lending Club.

Equity Crowdfunding

Investors buy shares in a company and become part owners. They make a return on their investment either by being paid a dividend or by selling their shares at a later date, when the ...

A well-written and curated fashion press release is a sure way to get into the inboxes of key fashion editors. If executed well, it may secure you much desired editorial coverage and publicity.

But writing one is easier said than done. So let's take a look and demystify it – shall we?

To begin with, remember that a press release should be clear, informative, visually exciting and specific.

Be clear

Let’s take it from the top, literally.

1) Start with headed paper. Your company logo should appear clearly at the very top of the page, as it appears everywhere else. This consistency should already be a cornerstone of your marketing strategy.

2) Set clear instructions on when this fashion press release should be published. Write ‘FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE’ at the very top of the page on the left.

3) Give it a title: Each collection and a newsworthy story about your brand will require a new fashion press release. Make it easy for the reader to know at a glance what the release is about...

Did you know that it takes 10,000 litres of water to make one pair of jeans? Please don’t let that put you off working with denim fabric. It’s one of the most distinctive, hard-wearing and versatile fabrics available for use in the fashion industry. It can be fashioned into clothing, accessories and footwear. Its cotton base threads can be combined with wool to add warmth, or with silk to add sheen. It absorbs dye fantastically and fades over time to add a distinctive vintage patina.

Denim fabric, as we know it today, was made famous by two Americans: Jacob W. Davis, a tailor from Nevada, and Levi Strauss, a denim manufacturer. They used it in the mid 19^th century to produce their famous jeans. However, it is thought that the name "denim" is derived from serge de  Nîmes, meaning "serge from Nîmes," after weavers in Nîmes, Frances attempted to replicate a fabric originally developed in Gênes (the French word for jeans), but ended up with a different cotton twill, which is what we now k...

Cutting fabric for production is a skill seasoned professionals know about and use as a way to make savings. Scaling up from sampling to production is a huge leap in regards to fabric and trimmings consumption.

The fabric you use represents up to 80% of the total garment cost and is the most important component on your costings sheet. To ensure successful growth in your business, when cutting fabric for production, fabric yield must be properly monitored. Fabric consumption costs must be noted during the sampling phase, so create a simple fabric costings sheet that lists the following: Fabric type, fabric width, fabric supplier and fabric yield. This sheet can then be used to calculate fabric consumption for production purposes.

Producing a moderately sized sample collection of eight to fifteen items will appear to cost you more than it would if you were producing larger quantities of each style. The reason being that fabrics and trims, when bought in bulk will be cheaper than whe...

Working in fashion is often not for the faint-hearted. But starting your own business, your own brand – as some would say - that’s a different ball game. In this article you will get to know about the research you need to do for a successful business plan aka pre business plan.

Starting a business requires tenacity, endurance and dedication. But setting up a fashion business requires one vital element: a ‘passion for fashion’.

The phrase is often used lightly, but when you decide to face the struggle of launching a business the ‘passion for fashion’ is the glue that holds everything together, and despite all the ups and downs it will make you get up in the morning and keep going.
In our first article of the Fashion Insiders Tool Kit Series, we highlight some of the essential elements that you need to address before you take the plunge.

Many young designers and recent graduates hurry - almost blindly - into setting up a business, attracted by the perceived glamour and fun associated w...

Imagine this – you have a great idea, you want to start your own business and everyone you tell is supportive and encouraging, and then they tell you firmly in a non-negotiable tone of voice, “You MUST write a business plan!”

If you are a creative anywhere, but particularly in the fashion industry and the thought of writing a Business Plan sends chills down your spine, please rest assured that you are not alone. And you will be right to say that they take too long to write, you don’t know the answer to many questions, and no one reads them once they are written etc. But not having one and not undertaking any proper business planning is not a good place to be either.

Success is rarely accidental. Most successful businesses may have had some element of luck along the way but mostly they planned for it – one way or another.

Like houses, you cannot build a business without a plan. Properly constructed business plans are the equivalent to architectural blueprints. They are important docu...

Financing a business can come in many forms, but regardless of how you raise cash, more often than not you will be dealing with equity or debt. So, let’s explain what they are, and how they can work for or your fashion business.

Funding the business by equity

Investors, mostly venture capitalists or angel investors, invest money in your company and therefore end up sharing ownership of the company with you. In other words, they take equity in exchange for the cash they invest.

Such investments are made in the hope that your business will grow, and that they will have some positive return through shared profits. Depending on the investors, you may be offered some resources and expertise as part of the investment, to help drive the business further.

There is a general misconception that the best investment is money and nothing more, but in reality, it is great if you find friendly and helpful investors, and draw on their knowledge and experience. In some cases - and in fact more comm...

If you have decided that finding investors for your fashion business is the best option for you, here is some advice on how to prepare yourself to find the right one; whether you’re looking for a venture capitalist, an angel investor, a super-angel or a growth investor.

Finding an investor is not for everyone, but if you have the financial backing that you need, you will be free to work on promoting your fashion business, design more products and sell, sell, sell.

You should have a plan

First things first: You need to make sure that you have a business in place. One that is attractive and stable enough for someone to plough their money into.

One of the main components of a good business plan is the research you put into it. You should be aware of your target audience a.k.a. your "ideal customers," your competition, the demand for your product, and where it would sit in the hopefully hungry market.

You need to make sure that your business sounds, and actually are, worthy of investm...

Once upon a time, not that long ago, the word “logo” was synonymous with “brand.” Fast forward a couple of decades and today a “logo” is merely a shadow of a “brand,” but nowhere near what a “brand” is in its entirety. Yet, not many people seem to make the distinction and realise this, especially start-ups. Let's talk about fashion branding basics.

Fashion Branding Basics – Some Hard Truths

All too often I see or hear of young entrepreneurs spending vast amounts of money on a logo, designed by a top designer or agency who designed the logo for [insert big brand name]. They blindly pay way over the odds, money they don’t have or that can be better spent. The end result doesn’t even scratch the surface of creating a brand. Many start-ups often talk about their “brand,” but dig deeper and ask what the brand is actually about, and I hear detailed explanations about colours, texture, product, ideas, and so on – and then they continue to share their struggles with poor sales, brand reco...

I’ve searched and searched to find out where the name Pantone derived from. So far I have failed so I decided to hazard a guess and assume that it stands for Paint Tone. Between 1956 – 1961 the New Jersey-based company was a small enterprise that manufactured colour cards for cosmetics companies. In 1962, Lawrence Herbert, an existing employee, bought the company. He immediately changed its direction, developing the first colour matching system in 1963.

Pantone Colour

The company’s primary products include the Pantone Guides, which consist of a large number of small (approximately 15×5 cm) thin cardboard sheets, printed on one side with a series of related colour swatches and then bound into a small flip-book.
For instance, a particular "page" might contain a number of yellows varying in luminescence from light to dark.

The idea behind the Pantone Matching System ("PMS") is to allow designers to 'colour match' specific colours when a design enters the production stage – regardless of...