Do You Want to Launch a Fashion Brand? Have a Vision But Don’t Know Where to Start?
Brand Creation: Garment Costing in 4 Steps
We know it’s tempting to dive right into development, but in order to do well, one must plan well! And that means you will need to create a COSTING STRUCTURE for your brand. In other words, how much do you want your styles to sell for, and how do you break that down so you can budget your materials, labor, and other costs?
This is a common obstacle our clients face so we have broken it down for you.
Here are the 4 basic steps for pre-development garment costing:
1. Know how and where you will sell your collection.
Are you opening a shop online and therefore selling retail? Are you selling your collection at trade shows or online b2b wholesale sites? Deciding this makes a big impact on your budget and costing structure.
2. Define your target selling price for each style.
It is ideal to do this when you are still in the design phase so you can factor your budget needs into your design, construction, and material decisions. Use your costing sheet as a guide when in development and make adjustments as you find out your actual costs from your suppliers and production team. Each style will need its own costing sheet and do your best to stick with your plan and stay on track.
3. Decide what your markup will be.
In general, most brands multiply their costs by 2 or 3, giving them between a 100%-200% markup. Higher markups can make hitting your target price difficult when you are first launching because that is when your costs are the highest. If you are not sure what your numbers should be, think back to your target customer and ask yourself, “what would she/he pay for this type of product?”.
4. Do the math!
Run your style’s projected final price through your costing plan and see if you can work with the results. Remember that once you have your final cost goal, that number will be the total of all of your costs including material, labor, packaging, shipping, and more.
Example: Dress with a target price of $120, and a launch plan of 150% markup means the total of your costs per dress should not be greater than $48.
So what does that mean? This gives you an idea of how complex to make the construction, how much you can spend per yard for fabric, and what to budget for the packaging, shipping, and more.
Need help with your collection? Check out our costing template on our website at fashionproto.com or give us a call to schedule a consultation!