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Smaller Labels Over Looked In the UK

With the increasing number of fashion design graduates starting their own labels, companies which only a few years ago would not have catered for the fledgling independent label are now starting to cater for these individual labels. Designers interested in producing intial smaller collections can now find studio space, manufacturers who specialise in producing salesman samples and small runs at reasonable costs. Slowly but surely, these small companies are opening their doors to these young creatives, willingly feeding this growing trend.

However, the next hurdle of finding enthusiastic stockists in the UK is still proving to be difficult. You may think that it is down to the buyers' nervousness in regards to lead times and quality, but even once the designer fulfils these business obligations, problems still sometimes fail to end there.

To some, these labels may pass as small hobbies, but in fact it is these labels that posses the raw creative ability to be highly popular and therefore profitable. It is important to note that the consumer is always looking for the next big trend, the next big label to follow; so if more buyers were to just invest in these new smaller labels, the recognisable talent that continues to spill out of British Fashion Design courses would be an even bigger talking point than it already is. This could be achieved by offering them more support by ordering more manageable quantities. This agreement could be held between the buyer and the label and would only be for an agreed period of time giving the label more time to build up their brand without exceeding their resources.

The other thing that would help tremendously would be for the label to be paid within a reasonable time limit and not be forced to wait for important cash flow that could be used to fund the fledgling independent's expansion.

FashionFinders Team