Starting a Fashion Brand? Three Common Mistakes to Avoid Before You Launch
I wanted to talk a little bit today about some common pitfalls that new designers and clothing brand founders fall into. Whether you have never started a company before or are new to fashion altogether, these mistakes are easy to make. Often, they come from assumptions about how development and production work that do not quite match the reality.
Being aware of them early can save you a lot of money, time, and frustration. Let’s get into three that I think are especially important.
Mistake #1: Committing to too much inventory before you have proven demand
One of the first mistakes I see is being ready to commit to a large production run before doing the legwork to understand whether there is demand for the product.
That might mean launching with too many styles, sizes, or colorways. Or it might mean agreeing to a much larger order than you originally intended because the factory has high minimums and you are trying to get the unit cost down.
A lower cost per garment can look appealing, but you still have to sell those garments. If getting that price requires purchasing far more inventory than you can reasonably move, it may not be the savings you think it is.
Of course, starting a brand involves some risk. Sometimes you will need to produce a little more than you are completely comfortable with during your first few collections. But committing to thousands of units on your first run should only be supported by strong demand signals, ideally something concrete like preorders or wholesale orders. Do NOT let a factory minimum become your sales forecast. They are not the same.
What to do instead:
Look for suppliers and factories that are a good fit for where you are now and have the capacity to grow with you. You want partners who are willing to work with an emerging brand and can support larger orders as the business develops. Some premiums placed for smaller runs are expected. Producing fewer units generally costs more per piece, and that is part of the reality of small-batch production. But the pricing should be clear, and the factory should be open to working at your scale, and clear about the price breaks so that they premium price is not your forever price.
If a factory is consistently resistant to the quantities you need, pay attention to that. They may have excellent capabilities and still be the wrong partner for your business at this time.
The least risky way to test demand and determine how much to produce? Operate on a pre-order model or build up funding through a crowdsourcing platform (Kickstarter, for example) so you are only producing things that you have a promise to be paid for ahead of time. That does not work for every business, but is something worth looking into.
Mistake #2: Skipping apparel product development
Another common mistake is skipping the tech pack or technical sketches, or trying to breeze through that part of the process. That includes relying entirely on AI-generated documents without professional input to check whether the information is physically possible, accurate, complete, and usable.
Please do NOT, I repeat do NOT, use AI-generated documents when approaching a factory. These generated documents will very likely have at least one, if not many, inconsistencies or gaps. This would lead to factory confusion and costly production errors. Any form of creative design as well as complex files like tech packs are meant to be made by experienced humans and must be editable, so that they can be continuously refined.
A simple sketch or AI render communicates an idea. It does not necessarily tell a factory everything it needs to know to make that idea correctly.
Someone still needs to determine and test the measurements, construction, materials, proportions, and other specifications. If you have not made those decisions before approaching the factory, you are leaving more of them for the factory to make.
Some factories say they will offer development services and can create the documentation and patterns for you. But you need to understand what they are providing, how much input you will have, and whether you will receive or even own any rights to the finished files. Do not assume that paying for development automatically means every file will be handed over.
What to do instead:
For custom apparel, I generally recommend developing your technical sketches, tech pack, and pattern, and working through sourcing with a product developer (hello, Masha DeHaan Fashion Development at your service!) before committing to a factory partner. That gives you the opportunity to make intentional decisions about the design and understand exactly what you are asking the factory to produce.
That way, you know where your fabric came from. You know what your pattern looks like, what measurements you have approved, and how the garment is supposed to fit. You have the supplier contacts and development files available when you need them.
Having those assets also puts you in a better position if you need to change factories later (for example, if they increase prices significantly or their quality goes down over time). You can bring a new factory partner a documented product and let them jump in instead of trying to reconstruct decisions from a finished sample.
You have control over your website and your social media. Why give up visibility and control over the product that your entire business is built around?
What if you are using apparel blanks? Do I still need to work with a product developer before I reach out to a factory?
An exception is a line built around existing blanks (plain, base garments), such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, or joggers that you purchase and customize with graphics. This is common practice in streetwear design. In many cases, the styles can then be printed and/or shipped on demand.
In that case, you are selecting an existing garment rather than developing one from scratch, so creating your own pattern and full garment tech pack may not be necessary. Remember, you will still need clear specifications for the customization, including artwork size, placement, colors, and application method. That could be a two-page document, rather than a full tech pack. A product developer can still be helpful in this case, but some founders may choose to create this themselves. Either way is fine, as long as it is completed for the factory to understand what you are going for.
In the case that your supplier changes or discontinues the blank style, it is possible you may also be able to find a similar blank elsewhere, but nothing is guaranteed. Two basic T-shirts can fit and feel very differently, and your customer might have a certain preference and will 100% notice if you change the weight or fit of the t-shirt they are used to even slightly.
If a particular fit, color, or fabric becomes essential to your brand, it may eventually make sense to develop your own proprietary version with a product developer so that you have a pattern and specifications you control. This ensures consistency and gives you peace of mind as well as flexibility to work with various factories that can accurately re-produce an existing design. This becomes imperative if you are marketing yourself as a higher-end, designer-led brand (rather than a “merch” brand).
By going to a product developer (like Masha DeHaan Fashion Development) before approaching a factory, you don’t end up with sales that you cannot fulfill if the blanks manufacturer discontinues your style.
Mistake #3: Underestimating how long the design process takes
This applies to much more than the factory’s production schedule. It starts when you are making your business plan, setting up your website, researching factories, looking for fabrics, and deciding which product developer to work with.
Those things take time, and the first option you find may not be the one you ultimately choose. Give yourself room to research, compare, and properly evaluate what you are buying.
Fabric is a great example. Something might look amazing online: the perfect color, the right texture, and all the sustainability certifications you are looking for. Then the swatch arrives, and it feels scratchy.
Say you are designing a sports bra, that is a big problem. You cannot judge whether a fabric is right for your product from a photograph and a description alone.
Building in the appropriate lead time time to order swatches, evaluate materials, and try alternatives is part of the process.
Even when nothing goes “wrong”, design development takes time
Think about developing a new style as creating a custom garment. It is the first time that particular design has been made.
There may be an existing style or reference garment to work from, but your combination of fit, fabric, construction, and details is likely unique. It takes time to bring those elements together and iterate on the design until it is perfected.
After you provide a design brief, the process may include preparing an estimate, creating design sketches, developing a tech pack, producing a first pattern and prototype, arranging a fitting, and a few rounds of revisions.
For garments that fit close to the body, you may need multiple rounds of fitting and revisions. Allow time for those rounds so you can make thoughtful decisions that you stand behind instead of accepting something you are unhappy with because the launch date is approaching.
A technical drawing on its own, such as a front-and-back line drawing in Adobe Illustrator, can often be completed on a short timeline. Full product development that prepares a custom garment for factory production is a much larger scope. Expecting that entire process to happen within a few weeks or one month is rarely realistic.
Materials, treatments, and shipping need time too
Your calendar also needs to account for any additional work required for your materials. That might include:
Custom fabric development or dyeing
Waterproof or metallic coatings and other finishes
Pre-washing or other treatments
Sending fabric to a specialist for pleating, embellishment, etc.
Each step has its own lead time and may depend on another step being completed first. A collection with several fabrics, custom treatments, and different suppliers will have more moving parts to coordinate.
Then there is shipping: getting fabric and trims to the factory, moving samples back and forth, and getting finished garments to your warehouse or studio. If materials or products are crossing borders, customs needs to be accounted for as well.
And if stores have placed orders, their required delivery windows also need to be part of your plan from the beginning.
What to do instead:
Give yourself plenty of lead time. For a completely new brand starting from scratch, I would generally plan around 6 to 12 months from early planning through launch, depending on the collection and production route. If you are bootstrapping or completely new to design and entrepreneurship, let’s say 8-16 months, for good measure, to give you the time to learn and build.
An existing brand with base styles to build on, a clear design direction, and some sourcing already completed may be able to move much faster. Something closer to 3 to 7 months may be achievable, depending on what still needs to happen.
These are planning ranges, and the right timeline for your project should be discussed early. The point is to give the work enough room to happen properly and avoid cutting corners on things that matter to your customer, with fit being a key consideration.
Before you commit your start-up budget, get a clear plan
You do not need to have every answer before you start your clothing brand. But before you invest in development or commit to production, you should understand how many your need to produce, how to bring your product design to life efficiently and accurately, and whether your timeline is realistic. These decisions can be expensive to undo.
This is where working with a product developer can make a real difference. I help you refine your designs, work through the technical details, and prepare for production with a clearer understanding of your product and the process. Together, we can identify gaps early, make informed decisions, and keep your creative vision at the center of the work.
If you are planning your first collection or feeling unsure about your next step, get in touch. Tell me what you are working on, where you are in the process, and what you need help with. You do not need a finished plan to reach out. Building that strategic plan and completing the design process is where Masha DeHaan Fashion Development comes in. Learn more about our services here.
