After 20+ years in the fashion industry I felt it my duty (oh, how noble of me) to take my knowledge and experience and pass it on to the crowd of makers, crafters, designers, and all round creatives who themselves had a vision of creating.

All too often I have seen companies who do not appreciate the complexity of a development process, the concept of planning, the need to identify a market, and most importantly, the need to treat their suppliers with common curtesy (being polite, gets you places, being a bitch doesn’t): things I believe are essential to the longevity of a collection and of a brand.

So I’ve made it my mission to educate and preach these aspects to anyone who is interested in listening.  To pass on these nuggets that will fundamentally change your business and make a random selection of products into a cohesive line.

My goal is simple: I want people’s businesses to succeed. I want to enable a beautiful product to be made and appreciated. Whether it’s for a huge international brand, or a maker with a spare room and a vision. I want to be part of it.

So join me on the 12th and 13th May in person in San Francisco, or on the live stream at:

https://www.creativelive.com/courses/diversifying-your-product-line-susie-breuer

My consultancy is co-lab54.com

I’m based in San Francisco

It can take anything from six months to one year for a collection to be designed, developed and produced so how does the collection come about and where do designers get their inspiration from?

Designers can find inspiration anywhere, some designers look to historical costume for shape and design, some are inspired by an art exhibition for a colour or texture and some use street culture as a starting point for the mood and overall look. There are also companies who make their living producing trend research for designers which can be used to validate their initial findings, add to what they have already researched, or act as a start point for the season.

The website http://www.styleindicator.com is a great industry resource for trend information and shows you in detail the source of the inspiration and how it has been translated to the collection.

http://www.styleindicator.com/en/style-inspiration-18e-eeuw/

This shows some great examples of colour, fabric and shape from 18th Century clothing, and next to it is the interpretation on the SS15 catwalk.

http://www.styleindicator.com/en/resort-2015-communicating-reds/

Another shows an example of historical dress meeting modern styling.

Design teams across the globe have already started their design research for the Spring Summer 2016 collection. At this early stage they are collecting their ideas of colours, fabrics, shapes and overall mood that they feel are integral to the concept or design direction, for their collection. These concept attributes (colour, fabric, shape and mood) all have an impact on the collection that you see in the stores and each of them starts with one simple moment of inspiration and develops out.

In my book, Blue is The New Black, The 10 Step Guide to Developing and Producing a Fashion Collection I devote a whole chapter the concept creation as it influences not only the start of the collection, but also how it’s displayed and sold to the customer as a finished product. Taking a look at each element, will help you to understand and appreciate the thoughts and actions behind the clothes you buy.

Fabrics are very important to the feeling of the concept as they provide a tangible expression of the feeling you want to convey. If you want to evoke a 1920s romantic, nostalgic feeling in a concept, chiffon would be perfect to conjure up an image.

Sitting alongside the selection of fabrics is the colour palette. The palette is a collection of colours (or tones, tints, shades, hues, stain wash or dyes) that is used throughout the collection. The shades selected have to work not only in many of the types of garments but also in the colours of buttons, zips, prints and embroideries.

Shapes within a concept refer to the sizing aspects of the garments in the collection ( length of skirt, height of a heel), and every season the shape of garments and accessories changes for both men and women. For example, in the early 70s the style for trousers was flared at the hem and tight at the waist and hip whilst In the late 70s there was the drain pipe jean that was super tight all over.

When I talk about ‘mood’ I’m talking about an emotional connection that a concept will give. A spring collection for the Hilfiger Runway line had the theme: ‘New York’ Country Club. The concept began with the words Country Club, and from there, images of 60s and 70s women’s sporting clothes, pleated tennis whites, halter neck tops and mini dresses were added to the concept visuals. Images of Katherine Hepburn in her signature high-waist wide leg pants matched with bra tops gave the movie star reference, and the fabrics for the mood were fine chiffon, and checked linens. This ‘mood’ element to the concept can also be used for packaging,  a shop display or an advertising campaign.

Example of a concept from the Amsterdam Fashion Institute AW09 collection.

Above shows the mood, colour, fabric and shape.

So next time you are looking at a collection online or in a store, take a look at the colours and fabrics to see if you can understand the concept and mood that the brand is trying to express. Sometimes, it’s easy to see and sometimes it’s quite subtle, but every collection will have one.

Here’s why:

I recently worked with an accessory company who had grown quickly and organically over the past 2 years to a stage where they successfully managed an online, and retail business. Their product was very strong, and they had a polished leathery future ahead of them, but as they’d grown they’d failed to document their timelines and processes resulting in a vulnerable position without an internally shared knowledge base and virtually no formal planning. The knowledge was in the heads of the management with no consistent planning tool in place for the team below them to follow and implement. What this meant was that the leadership team, instead of the team of assistants, were driving the day-to-day workings instead of being the face of the growing business and tending to the business development side. They were creating the bottleneck for their own company.

This is not a unique position. It happens a lot with companies as they grow from one person into a team, heck, I’ve done it myself, often finding it easier to manage the process myself instead of delegating it down to my team. But believe me, it is a false economy and it will come back to bite you. There are, of course, simple processes that you can implement which can alleviate this problem. I’m sharing some below:

Assumptions:

Make a list of assumptions for each departmental process which can be shared as the companies grows. These assumptions should include timelines for trim, fabric, washing, manufacture and shipping by location. It should also list the timelines relating to company process: proto reviews, concept building, range plan creation etc.  With this list anyone can make a simple plan to determine a time and action. Without it and no one know how long each process could or should take. These assumptions will be used in the next point:

Matrix/Linelist:

This matrix/linelist is a document that should contain all the styles you are developing, (by style name, fabric, colour, factory and by product group). At the beginning of each season, build the clear and simple document that lists the details of your whole collection and treat it as a one stop shop for all collection information. Add in the financials (cost price, retail price and margin), the delivery drops planned, and also the production planning with milestone dates for fabric and trim buying and you have a complete and very detailed document.

By adding in the product planning section and the delivery drops, and by using the assumption sheet in point 1, you can build out a data driven set of reminders and milestones to enable more strategic bulk raw material procurement and seamless manufacturing order placement (with buffer time included). The pain of spending 2 hours of data entry can save you days of confusion, late deliveries and cancelled orders. Yes, it is time-consuming to build this out half way through a season, but so is having to find a second source for trims or materials when you have missed a deadline to order and your production is jeopardized.

Shared ownership:

Ever heard of the phrase, “A problem shared is a problem halved”? Have at least 2 people in the company that can manage or at least articulate these processes so there is a sharable system. If you are a team of 3 people, at least 2 of you should know how long every process takes in the company. If 1 person is travelling, the other can manage the ordering. Keeping the information in your head and not shared will damage the growth of your business.

So, whether you are starting out, or at the next level growth stage, look at your development, procurement and production processes and ask yourself:

• Are your timelines documented?
• Is there a document in place that lists the collection details with milestone reminders to help you plan?
• Is it in a shared drive and available?

If it’s a no to all to 1 or more, you may be causing a bottleneck.

For more information of product development, planning and production, check out my book Blue is The New Black.
My consultancy Co-lab54 specialises in strategic product development for fashion companies.

This ‘blindness’ is not intentional, it’s a result of excitement and fearless ambition and can result in sometimes obvious oversights in your business plan or investor pitch.

So whether you are looking for investment, or just out on your own and looking to build a credible business, here are some nuggets of advise, from personal experience, that you should ask yourself.

Will you cause disruption in the market?

Is your idea already out there? Does your product already exist? If it does, is there enough of a point of difference in what you are offering? Do you have a unique twist on the product? Are you providing a service that doesn’t exist? Or of it does exist, will yours be better?

Is your idea scalable?

If you are manufacturing, are you limited on order size or can you scale up as the business grows? If you are selling, are you able to grow your sales team at a fast enough rate? Do you have the tools in place to manage this sudden growth if your idea becomes an instant hit on social media?

Who’s the competition?

Have you done your due diligence on the competition? Do you know your market? Do you know where you sit in price? Is there any competition? Be honest, there is nearly always someone else doing the same thing and this is a good thing. It means the market is already prepped for it. You don’t have to be the first, but you can be the best.

Are you superhero?

Do you have all the skills needed to bring this product to market? Are you a one man show? Are you the creative, the financial and the tech wizkid that will bring the world to it’s knees or are you just one cog in the machine? If you are the solo entrepreneur, do you have support in all the other areas to launch or do you need to hire? Be honest with capabilities. Know your strengths and do not be afraid to job-out a skill set, it could save your business.

Are you detail obsessed?

Have you looked at every aspect of your product, the manufacturing, the supply chain, the distribution, the sales, the marketing and the design? Have you thought about a realistic timescale for all this to fall into place? Do you know exactly how long each aspect takes and how much it will cost? Have you thought about how you will survive financially for the first year bearing in mind that most of your contractors and manufacturers will have payment terms which are more than 30days. These are hard questions but they are necessary.

So ask yourself these questions, line up the answers you have and find answers to those you don’t and you will have that air of confidence that will carry you through the launch of your product.

My book, Blue is the new Black is a how to guide for the fashion industry. My consultancy co-lab54, finds product development solutions for fashion companies large and small.

What is a concept?

A concept is the design direction for the colour, shape, mood and fabric for any fashion collection, and is created at the beginning of the season. It creates the mood of the collection and is always open to different interpretations. The initial idea first needs to be analysed carefully and translated into something that people can actually look at, and that can set out the direction of the collection.

Tips:

• Understanding how elements of a concept influence a range is very important for the developer. Watch how the designer works  and ask questions to get a clear understanding.
• Not every colour in the colourcard is used for a fabric, some are just used for trims, but they are still important to the range.
• Having a personal interest in fashion and trends will help you with design and style references, which will be used throughout the creative process.
• Don’t be afraid to offer up ideas for colour and fabric sourcing. Developing a range is a collaborative process.
• Try to keep a copy of the concept with you throughout the development process so that you have a constant reference point and reminder.

For more information of the concept or other aspects of building a fashion collection, check out Blue is The New Black

Susie / Co-lab54.com

Blue is the New Black: The 10 Step Guide to Developing and Producing a Fashion Collection

Looking back, I seem to have spent most of my career applying for jobs that were just a little out of my league, and in some cases, I got them. How did I feel? Terrified!

Terrified that I would get discovered as a fraud and then thrown out on my ear. But it never happened because I spent a many hours learning the job on the spot so that I wouldn’t get discovered and thrown into fashion exile.

Here’s the story of when I oversold a little too far:

Around 16 years ago, I applied for a job in apparel production based in Amsterdam. I had never done apparel production before, I had no clue where to start and I had never visited Amsterdam. With my previous experience being mainly in buying and retail where I had worked with garments but never measured or constructed them, I felt it necessary to embellish my experience a ‘little’ in order to stand a chance of getting the job offer. In my naivety it didn’t even cross my mind that when I was offered the position, I would find myself a little out of my depth in some or, in reality, most areas of the role.

On the first day in the job, after having landed in a new country two hours earlier with my life in three suitcases I, along with the other sourcing assistants had to measure the collection to start the production process. It was only at that point that I started to panic. I was in a new country and in a new job that I had no clue about.

With tape measure in hand, the reality of my overselling kicked in. I had never measured a garment before. Feeling the blood rush to my head in panic, I casually observed my colleague starting to measure. Leaning across I asked:

“ So, you measure the chest like that… right, yes – I do the same”

“ And the shoulders, yes, ok, same as well”

And so it went, stage after stage she measured, I copied and memorised.

The nervous panic slowly subsided; I quickly studied the measuring technique and slowly worked my way through the collection. As the weeks and months progressed, I took notes, I learnt quickly, I used my initiative and I asked questions, lots of questions. But they didn’t find out until I left the company of my initial inexperience.  I did confessed all but after my two years there, they laughed (some more nervously than others). It was a bold move, but luckily it paid off.

From then on, when applying for a job, I made a point to always understand the role before I applied for it. I may not have been able to do everything, but at least I had an understanding of, or basic level skill at, most of the tasks.

My overselling of myself in that role was irresponsible of me,  and could have been a financial disaster for the collection and the company, but I followed through on the job, worked above and beyond to make up for any knowledge shortfall and had a great experience.

So with that experience in mind, here are my tips:

• Overselling your capabilities can have financial implications so never stray too far from your skill set.
• Think on your feet, watch and learn from the experts.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
• Take notes and learn from them.
• Never make the same mistake twice.

For more information on the industry and about measuring read my book: Blue is the New Black

Without factories the world would have no ‘stuff’, it really is a simple as that; we would have no clothes, no toys, no cars and no books. Referring to themselves as factories, manufacturers, vendors or sources, they are all technically the same entity: they all produce items that are sold in stores.

If you are starting a brand from scratch, the first time the factory gets involved in the process is when they agree to work with you. After that, the next stage is usually the handing over of the initial technical pack to make the prototype.  However, the more the factory understands about who you are as a brand and what the concept direction of the new collection is, the more they can help you to realize the designer’s vision. I would always recommend sharing some aspects of the concept with them, so that from the outset they can be aware of the types of shapes and styles they will be called upon to make.

Tips: 

• Without factories you have no garments so a good portion of your time in development and production should be spent finding new factories and trialing styles with them.
• Always be clear and honest with a factory in your working practice. The industry is small, and an unprofessional approach will be remembered.
• Whenever you can, always visit a factory to understand their capabilities and specialties first hand rather than rely on an email introduction, as this will strengthen the relationship between both parties.
• Making a style allocation needs flexibility and patience. It will change many, many times, with added styles and changes to fabrics. Don’t get frustrated; see it as a giant jigsaw puzzle with more than one solution.
• Spend time understanding how a cost price is built up. Once you know this, it is much easier to negotiate with the factory and the designer to get the best end product.

For more tips and tricks from the industry check out my book, Blue is the New Black 

Co-lab54 is my consultancy.

Below I give a prime example of one of these sweeteners from my past.

Many years ago at the start of the 90’s, I worked for a men’s retailer in the UK as a buyers assistant on the accessory team. Jokes, directed my way, many times included:

I was “big in men’s socks” or I was ‘finding an opening in men’s underwear’. Both funny, and both accurate.

My buyer at the time was a very strong-willed Scottish lady, fantastic to work with but scary at the same time due to her volcanic temper. She held nothing back when it came to swearing and to get on the wrong side of her was quite frankly foolish. She missed nothing, had an amazing eye for detail, and was very giving when it came to responsibilities in the job. As such, I received a great training in buying and merchandising from her.  She still, however, scared the living life out of me.

During my 1-year stint on that department, one of the projects she worked on was to create a plastic hanger upon which displayed pairs of socks. Specifically it allowed a tiered ladder effect, which displayed a 3 and 5 pack perfectly, whilst keeping the socks flat and in line. This helped for the shop floor display and also meant that all the colours of the pack could be seen at once without the customer having to flip through a lumpy pack to determine the option.

This sock ladder was her baby. It took months to design and even longer to develop, but the vision of the coloured socks, water falling with such ease and refinement was the motor that drove the process. So much so, that I discovered that this ladder and its vast array of colour combinations was this buyers sweetener to the extent that even the briefest of glimpses, led to a Scottish coo of excitement and a proclamation of love towards the article and its contents.

I picked up on this ‘cooing’ at an early stage and kept the board both close at hand and updated with new shades ready in preparation for the crisis de jour (short shipment of briefs or delivery extensions for ties were commonplace explosions).

For several weeks, the effect of ‘The board’ was quite amazing…… a hushed silence was requested….. The board surveyed and the proclamation of joy and love was made across the department on the functionality of the hanger and the aesthetic pleasure of the socks. Each time, after calm was restored, the board was gently removed and the day continued.

Of course, this particular sweetener didn’t last forever. She found me out and she also found it funny (which was lucky), but it still worked for what I needed which was to distract away from the negative, if only for a second, to focus on the positive.

Delivery delays, short shipments, late fabrics and floods in factories are always going to happen, but shouting and screaming won’t change the fact.  Even now, I make a point of always having a sweetener close by, even if it’s just for myself to step back from the crap and focus on the good.

It works, it helps and it reminds us all, especially our leaders that it’s not just about the one thing that is bad, it’s about the 10 things which are good. Which in this case, was in fact 6 things, 1 hanger, 5 pairs of socks.

Co-lab54 is my consultancy

For more industry tips and stories check out my book:  Blue is the New Black.

The creation, design, development and production of a collection involve the generation, sharing and distribution of a huge amount of information. The information flow from the start of the development process to the end of production is a crucial element for the successful internal workings of the brand and for the external relationships with the factories, trim suppliers and customers.

Tips:

• In development and production you need to manage the flow of information. If you don’t consider yourself organized or able to multi task, choose a different area of the business.
• Writing up technical information needs to be clear and precise. Never make assumptions that the factory understands; check and double-check everything until they are clear.
• As the development matrix is the hub for the style information, keep it updated and without error, as it will reduce problems at a later stage. This is your responsibility.
• If you are using more than one factory, be careful when sending the matrix to them. Filter the sheet so that only the information relevant to that factory goes out.
• If more than one person uses the planning sheets and you are concerned about other people changing details without your knowledge, password protect it so only you can change details.

For more information on the Information flow or other aspects of building a fashion collection, check out Blue is The New Black

Susie / Co-lab54.com

I think it’s fair to say that to be good at fashion development or production you need to be organized. Some people use paper, some use apps like Trello and Evernote but whatever the method, using some form of ‘list’ or organizational tool is essential practice with the number of aspects that need to be juggled within a project. But list making is not just about being organized; it’s also about helping to maintain a focused and motivated outlook in the task ahead so that you see progress as it happens.  For me, these points are key and these are what I’ll be giving you tips on in this post.

Now, I think it’s also fair to say that being organized doesn’t always come naturally to people and for me it was the same. It’s something that has taken me years to manage and I have learnt the hard way by forgetting things or by just feeling overwhelmed by workloads.

Here is how I learned to love a list:

Around 20 years ago, I went to a time management course paid for by my then employer. It was one of those two day set ups in a beige, characterless conference room of a London Hotel filled with eager folk, pens and papers to the ready, waiting to soak up those all essential words of wisdom by some guy called Frits. I remember his name, randomly enough because usually Fritz is with a ‘z’ but he announced himself as ‘Frits–with-an-s’. This course was 20 years ago, strange what you remember: ‘Frits-with-an-s’.

Without going into a minute by minute run down of the course, what he taught us was to break things down stage by stage into bite size pieces, a piece of advise which I give to teams even now. His route was starting with a monthly schedule and dividing it first weekly, then daily,then hourly. What this does is make tasks or events more manageable which is crucial when faced with something big like planning a wedding or a product launch.

For me, the first time that this method of planning really kicked in, I was working at a new brand, which was setting up from scratch in its development and production department. What this meant was that I needed to hire a team, build a sourcing strategy (find factories), create internal processes, and build the information flow documentation (decide who did what). Quite a complex set of tasks and not something I had actually done before. So how did I start? Being old school and preferring to use a pen and paper (don’t judge) I took each section and divided it so that it was broken down into the smallest of detail:

Sourcing Strategy:

Product groups / Countries of manufacture / buying office / agent / factories /Contact person / email address

Team:

Departments / Positions / / Salary / Job Specs / Recruitment agents / Adverts

Internal Process:

Key Documents / Format / Templates

Once I had listed all these in a ‘waterfall list’ (items trickling down in size) I found it easier and less daunting to  attack each point and I was able to cross things off the list giving me a sense of accomplishment and  progression. If my list had been simply: ’ Set up the whole development and production structure for a large  international fashion brand’ I would have probably quit after 3 hours and taken up basket weaving instead. As  it was, I worked through the detailed list striking things off it, reviewing and updating the list daily and weekly.  I’m not saying that this set up was easy or things went according to plan, but by having a detailed plan of  action and by reviewing and updating it on a regular basis, I was able to make progress and slowly build the  department.

This takes me to another point: Reviewing and updating your list on a regular basis is a good thing and is essential for progression.

While working through a project, large or small, work or personal, you will notice that tasks and deadlines will change on a regular basis. This is not because you are not managing the list efficiently, it’s the just the nature of the beast. You are working with external forces (in development: factories and fabric mills, for a wedding, cake makers and florists) that also have their own lists and priorities, which may not match yours. Because of this, be prepared to update and review your list on a regular basis, changing priorities and adding new tasks. This process is a positive thing as there is nothing more satisfying that starting a new list and seeing how much has been crossed off the old one, or at least I think so.

Overtime, maybe your list will get smaller as you strike things through, or maybe it will stay the same length but will have different tasks on it because of a different project. But what should stay consistent is the way you approach it.

Here are my key tips on learning to love a list.

–       Break the task down into bite size pieces, from large to small (don’t be afraid of adding detail to make it easier)

–       Literally strike things through when they are done so that you see the progress.

–       Accept that things will change and that you can’t control everything.

–       Review and update on a regular basis.

Susie Breuer runs the consultancy Co-Lab54.

For more Industry related tips check out the book Blue is The New Black.