How These Listener-Favorite Episodes Have Shaped Your Fashion Business
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fitsShow Notes
It’s episode 100 of How Fitting®! Each of these conversations with fashion designers and business owners has explored how they create clothing and grow a business that fits their customer, lifestyle, and values. I have enjoyed getting to know each of these people and seeing what drives their decisions and it has been a privilege to share their stories with you on this podcast over the past four years. Fashion has meaning and significance far beyond the superficial look.
To celebrate this 100-episode milestone, I asked you, the listeners, which episodes and guests have stood out to you the most. Whether it was because you saw your own story in theirs, picked up a new business idea, or gained the courage to pursue your own values more fully, I want to celebrate the impact these stories have had.
In this episode, you’ll hear highlights from five past episodes and what made them a favorite. Each guest and brand have found their unique fit, but there is so much in each story that we can relate to and learn from. How Fitting is that?
In this episode, you’ll learn:
How to reframe sales and marketing from sleazy to being of service to your customers and your business
The benefit of putting your community and lifestyle first in your business
What it takes to make it as a fashion entrepreneur
How long it took for this founder to go from zero knowledge of how clothes are made to turning a profit in her fashion brand.
How to find support and inspiration from your friends and family
How to overcome the fear of failure
Favorite episodes mentioned in this episode:
HF#72: Selling Your Products Without Selling Your Soul with Elizabeth Stiles
HF#90: Prioritizing Customer Research and Values To Shape A Modest Activewear Brand with Aja Cohen of Transcendent Active
HF#37: The Fun & The Reality of Fashion Entrepreneurship with Laura Briggs of The Shortlist
HF#92: Reaching Profitability In Fashion Business with Laura Briggs of The Shortlist
HF#81: The Basics of Timeless Slow Fashion with Emily Bracey of Juuney
HF#29: Equality, Power, and Functional Pockets For All with Kimberly Borges and Miriam McDonald of PWR WMN
HF#77: The Fat Success of Comfort and Good Fit with Marina Hayes of Peridot Robes
HF#95: The Underrated Skills That Will Get You Far in Fashion Business with Madison Powers of Madison Victoria
HF#58: Perfecting The Craft of High-End Tailoring with Keti McKenna of Ketivani
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More from How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
If we’re talking about how values show up in the creation of specific clothing styles, you won’t find a better example of this than fair trade fashion. For fair trade fashion brands, the process is just as important as the product. Collections don’t begin with design inspiration, they stem from family-owned production partners, long-term boutique relationships, cross-cultural collaborations, and a commitment to each person involved.
A good product is not enough. As much as we’d like to pour our creative time and resources into creating the most beautiful design and exquisitely crafted product and then let it sell itself, it just doesn’t. In fashion business, the job doesn’t stop when the garment is produced. Marketing it is just as important. And that job actually starts before the product even exists.
If you run a slow fashion brand, you’ve probably experienced this. You saw how wasteful the fashion industry can be and vowed to run your brand differently. You want to pursue quality over quantity, sustainable materials and practices, fair labor, and avoid over-production. But how does this slow fashion intent meet the reality of factory MOQs, wash tests, and production costs for a new brand? Plus, as the brand grows, is there a scale where a slow fashion brand is no longer slow fashion?
As entrepreneurs, we didn’t start businesses to create a job that we hate. In fact, for most of us, it is quite the opposite. We want our work to be fulfilling. But we also want it to pay the bills and not burn us out. So how do we build a business that is both fun and financially stable? That offers both creative confidence and commercial control? Where the day-to-day process feels magical, but also manageable?
We’re told in fashion business that your brand’s patterns are your IP, don’t let anyone else have access to them. It is true that your patterns are one of the most legally protectable aspects of your brand’s unique fit and design aesthetic, but is gatekeeping patterns really necessary for fashion business success?