Mary Beth,

Your comments to Lauren are just not realistic. You shouldn't confuse old school ideas (that address practical issues) with your vision for how vendors should conduct themselves going forward; frankly it is just self serving. With this said, you need to separate your problems:

1. Depending on your designs there are good vendors that can reliably develop and produce your designs.
2. The vendor needs to know they can make a fair profit and that they will get paid.
3. You can not expect to push down your start-up costs onto your vendors; giving them a piece of your pie that is worth nothing at this stage is neither fair or realistic .
4. Crowd funding is one way to raise working capital to get going but you will need to spend some money to create a concept line to show investors, retail buyers, consumers.
5. Social media is your friend; you must be very good at it.
6. Influencers could help you build an online customer base (following).
7. You need to establish a proof of concept; bringing quantities that are already sold to produce will get the vendors interested.
8. You will need an infrastructure to execute your business; whether on-line or wholesale.
9. Go to work for an established jobber/wholesaler who wants to expand his/her business; workout some sort of partnership with them.
10. Amazon is a marketplace not really a retailer in any traditional sense; you are way ahead of yourself and out of your league talking about the death of carrying inventory, customized production, and an India fashion brand that in reality is probably unreliable.

mary beth,

there is no easy answer. its really networking and shopping your idea around to different facilities.

you will find, there are not many far east "forward" thinkers believe it or not. therefore, i would suggest looking at europe, mexico and USA depending on what you are looking to do

may i ask what you design? i have a pretty strong far east network and can probably help you out.

hit me on the side at dbrooks@metricdesignlab.com, and ill see if i can help.

i have a group in Fujian looking for a partnership, maybe it will work out.

donnie
617-347-0433

Mary Beth,

It really depends are your objective. Yes, you can be looking for forward thinkers, but in the end, what would you do with those forward thinkers. What is YOUR BOTTOM LINE? I have a vast background in fashion, from design to production to art direction, to publication, to management. When I'm looking to work with a new fashion designer, I'm looking for edge, someone who loves a challenge and sticks with it. If I were you, I may try to open up your pool a little bit. Try connecting with people on social media, both FB and IG who specialize in EXACTLY what you are looking for. They may be able to connect with you and start meshing their ideas with yours. It's also an ideal way to start a power team!

 Raul, thank you for ALL your feedback but I think you misunderstand my position. I am looking to establish a win-win for all parties involved. There are a lot of excellent factories out there but my experience is they are used to the way things have been for the past 100 years. There are so many new ideas and new technologies that we must embrace instead of fearing. This is the future my friend. That being said I will address your points (I copied them from above):
 

1. Depending on your designs there are good vendors that can reliably develop and produce your designs.

>True story but the turnaround times are too slow and if they are open to quick turnaround it is for simple or cheap styles/designs. The factories are used to working a year out and this is no longer viable. If you know of any factories that do quality product in 3-4 month turnaround at a fair price… please tell me who they are I would be grateful. I’m willing to take less profit for quality and efficiency.
 
2.    The vendor needs to know they can make a fair profit and that they will get paid.
>I am all for a fair profit. I believe it can only be a win-win if all involved are treated as partners. I don’t even haggle with my factories with they give me prices, whatever they say I compensate as they do excellent work and quality. However, my point is if the factory is your partner they get a percentage of your profit, to me this is far more equitable and not self-serving. 
 
3.    You cannot expect to push down your start-up costs onto your vendors; giving them a piece of your pie that is worth nothing at this stage is neither fair or realistic.
>So then tell me what would make the vendor happy? Tell me what is realistic. I’m open to hearing your suggestions. Because as is, most of these vendors won’t last unless they start thinking strategically.
 
4.    Crowd funding is one way to raise working capital to get going but you will need to spend some money to create a concept line to show investors, retail buyers, consumers.
>Yes, there are certainly a lot of crowdfunding platforms. However, I’m looking at the big picture. I have a collection and I’m building a brand. I am being futuristic and thinking how can I make a brand that lasts. To me the future is going to be about collaboration. 
 
5-6.       Social media is your friend; you must be very good at it. Influencers could help you build an online customer base (following).
>I’ve identified 40 influencers that align with my brand. I've been building this business for the last 2 years so I have a plan for social media and I’ve secured a leader in this industry on my team.
 
7.    You need to establish a proof of concept; bringing quantities that are already sold to produce will get the vendors interested.
>I have proof of concept. This isn’t my first trip to the rodeo. This is my 2^nd company.  However, this is the old way of thinking. Vendors need to understand that there is going to be a lot of direct to consumer fashion brands surfacing, the brick & mortar model is cracked and really the only way to build a brand these days is direct to consumer. However, I think it would be a great thing if vendors would work on demand. I have no problem getting the sales.
 
8.   You will need an infrastructure to execute your business; whether on-line or wholesale. 
>Yes, indeed you are correct and this is why I am trying to find business partnerships instead of looking at factories as a contract service.
 
9.    Go to work for an established jobber/wholesaler who wants to expand his/her business; workout some sort of partnership with them.
>This is indeed a great idea.
 
10.  Amazon is a marketplace not really a retailer in any traditional sense; you are way ahead of yourself and out of your league talking about the death of carrying inventory, customized production, and an India fashion brand that in reality is probably unreliable.
>I’d rather be ahead then behind. Actually, fashion is the fastest growing vertical within Amazon’s largest revenue source and they are scooping up little labels like mine because of strategic value. Today, you need to think the long game not the short game. 
 
Thanks for taking the time, giving your feedback and sharing your ideas.
 
 
 

Before anyone is going to want to partner with you, you need to show proof of concept. Is there are market for what you are designing and how big is the potential market? You also need to be willing to put out some of your own cash to have some "skin" in the game. There are lots of factories out there that can turn production quickly and do small minimums. The prices will be higher if the qtys are small, and you will have to take that into consideration when you price your product. You should always start with what the customer will pay/feels the product is worth, then you work into how you profitably back into that retail. The longest part of the manufacturing process is often getting your fabric or materials. If you use open line fabric or jobber fabric, then you can turn production in 4-6 weeks (once all your patterns and packaging are ready).

Lisa.. continued..
Jobber fabric / openline is an idea. However, I'm a stickler for quality and you don't have the opportunity for QC to test fabric qualities. Another thing is dye lots, can you get greige with jobbers? Anyway, if you do have contacts of factories both domestic or China that can turn quality production quickly and do small minimums with capacity to do large, please email me (mbl@inlarkin.com). I'd be grateful. Thanks again for taking the time and effort to answer my post.