Design A Clothing Line After The Pandemic: Tips To Launch A Brand

The pandemic hit everyone hard; businesses, individuals, industries, families, and world economies. Although navigating through the pandemic was tricky, creative individuals could design a clothing line from home. In short, creative industries had to adapt to the new normal.

Thanks to the Maker Movement, in which everyday people pursued their creative interests, designing and creating their own products, clothing manufacturers like The Evans Group saw an increase in people wanting to create their own clothing lines.

How has this pandemic affected the fashion industry as a whole?

How The Pandemic Affected The Industry: Fashion Finds A Way

Whether it’s New York Fashion Week or any red carpet affair, fashion thrived on in-person events, meetings, and gatherings.

As such, you can imagine how that negatively affected fashion. Likewise, people stayed home more, eliminating a significant reason to show off their latest workplace or even avant-garde outfits. Without a need to exhibit clothing choices, the fate of the fashion industry was up in the air.

But, as it turns out, we saw a major uptick in some exciting ways.

Writing for Retail Leader, author Tori Jakpa explained in 2021 how fashion, while affected by a once-in-a-lifetime event, somehow still found a way.

“After more than a year after lockdown, 56.4% plan to buy new clothes specifically for post-pandemic events. Shoppers are shopping for various reasons, such as keeping up with fashion trends, updating their wardrobes, gaining confidence and style, or mostly shopping for more comfortable clothes to fit the remote work lifestyle. 

In short, fashion finds a way.

Finding Business In An Uncertain Time

However, that doesn’t mean clothing manufacturing as a whole felt secure during the first stages of the global pandemic.

As always, McKinsey outlines how uneven the fashion industry was (and still is) from 2020:

“Despite a dip in margins, discount and luxury outperformed the wider market in 2020, while the mid-market continued to be squeezed. However, performance was uneven, as countries with strong healthcare systems and economic resilience fared better than others.”

Although there was little to no consistency with common fashion trends and norms, McKinsey & Company has an optimistic outlook for clothing designers:

“In 2022, the fashion industry can return to growth as changing category landscapes, new digital frontiers, and advances in sustainability continue to present opportunities.”

Aside from some supply chain issues and uneven recoveries for specific countries, there’s much to be excited about in clothing design.

In short, things are looking up for fashion and clothing designers. That being said, let’s examine how to design a clothing line of your own easily.

How To Design A Clothing Line After The Pandemic

As the world is acclimating itself to an endemic pandemic stage, people can take a breath of fresh air and start investing in face-to-face meetings with garment manufacturers to help them start their own clothing brands.

Although the pandemic shifted around priorities, the key to designing a clothing line remains relatively unchanged. If anything, the flexibility to do so increased tenfold. Aside from starting a clothing line from your own home, clothing manufacturers are also adapting to this new normal.

Yes, you can design and create luxury clothing. Let’s see how to get your clothing design journey started.

Design Tip 1: Let Your Creativity Take Control

Design, aside from creating a brand your customers will adore, is about letting your creativity flow. What is that ambitious idea dominating your headspace for the past two years?

Consult The Mood Board When You Design A Clothing Line

That’s where the use of a fashion mood board comes into play.

Think of mood boards as a collage you’d use in an art class. Designers use these mood boards to help inspire and improve initial clothing designs.

Let’s say you’re interested in designing a retro clothing line. Next, you want to have the color red as the central theme. Try to envision and maybe add some colorful, unique pictures from decades past.

What you want to do is consult the board, think of ideas, words, pictures, and themes, and help your clothing line come to life.

Learn To Fashion Sketch

A good sketch can spur a good clothing line design.

But first, you need to know the basics of sketching unique designs. How will the clothing samples fall on your model? What color will the pieces be? When employing the services of a clothing manufacturer, it’s important to defer to expert creative designers to help get you started.

Design Tip 2: Choose Domestic

We’re always singing the praises of choosing a domestic clothing manufacturer over outsourcing labor overseas. And it’s not just our bias showing!

Choosing a domestic clothing manufacturer has some serious benefits for a professional designer.

There are in-depth quality checks, ensuring your designs come to life with accuracy and quality. Likewise, you’ll employ local Los Angeles textile workers to help you create a product, which is always a plus.

Design Tip 3: Consider The Cost

Crafting a clothing line can often cost a lot, especially if it’s your first foray into the new, exciting world of design.

Pay Attention To The MOQ

However, there are ways to cut down on costs. Consider using a clothing manufacturer with a low MOQ or minimum order quantity. These are benchmarks garment manufacturers use to ensure that they’re covering the cost of doing business with a customer. For example, a clothing manufacturer might have little to no incentive to invest in a designer who only commissions ten pieces in a fashion collection.

Low MOQs is a new clothing line designer’s best friend. And sometimes, there are times when apparel makers help launch clothing lines without a minimum order quantity.

At The Evans Group, there are no minimums at all. That means an intrepid designers can consider what they need out of their designs without fear of spending all their resources in one go.

Need only a few pieces in your bespoke clothing line? Consider it done. This practice allows you to launch a small but impactful clothing line to eager customers. Plus, you can more easily market test, and plan for future business.

Design A Clothing Line: Start A Small Business With The Evans Group

Although the pandemic affected how we purchase, design, and launch clothes, it doesn’t damage creativity and ambition.

At The Evans Group, the expert team of Los Angeles patternmakers, seamstresses, and production staff work with you every single step of the way to help you save time, money, and headache when undertaking an ambitious design.

Need help designing a clothing line? The Evans Group is here to provide steps and assistance. Just fill out the form below with some important specifics regarding your potential designs.

Although world events can grind a market and business opportunities to a halt, a good designer starting can make things work for them. And with The Evans Group, that’s never been truer than right now.